Our overnight bus to Kunming arrived early yesterday morning. Still dark out and not knowing any Chinese, we were lucky to be traveling with Caitlin and Philip who knew enough Chinese to arrange a cab to a hostel. The Hump Hostel (named after the Allied trans-Himalayan flights of WWII that landed in Kunming) came highly recommended by Matt, who we met way back in Goa. And it was really nice. It was near the center of town, and on the third floor, it overlooked Jinmabiji Square. It had all sorts of traveler-oriented services, including a few I hadn’t expected in a hostel: 24-hour hot water, wifi, and private rooms. We were initially worried because we had read that China’s accommodation was pretty expensive and hostels were the main budget option. But it turns out that hostels include private rooms too. And the hostel surpassed my expectations, given what I’ve heard from a few other travelers. Many more of my expectations were surpassed after two days of exploring Kunming.

Kunming really impressed both of us. Although it’s a smaller city, with just one million inhabitants, its far bigger and more developed than any other Asian city of one million people that I’ve seen. At first I couldn’t comprehend how such a small population could support such a city. Tall buildings, wide streets with barely any traffic, its clean, and even had multiple supermarkets. What a contrast to the numerous Indian towns of one million, or Kathmandu with just under a million people, or capitols with well over a million like Phnom Penh and Hanoi. The level of development was really astounding to me. Although its usually discussed in a third world context, China is the most developed “third world” country I’ve ever seen. At least Kunming. It has none of the characteristics of a third-world city: traffic, noise, pollution, ugly architecture, litter, tons of scammers and touts. Besides the tall buildings and cleanness of the city, the first thing I noticed was the quietness of the city. At first, the city seemed eerily quiet and I couldn’t figure out why. But it was the absence of the literally millions of motorbikes honking that we’d grown accustomed to in Vietnam. The streets were filled with quiet cars and electric (!) scooters, rather than noisy and polluting motorbikes. It was also quieter because we didn’t have a dozen people a minute tugging on our arms and saying, “Hello, yes looking.” Goodbye SEA. Chinese people seem quiet polite and educated in the sense that they’re not chasing foreigners around trying to make money. On the other hand, in two days we’ve barely met anyone that speaks English. For the first time in the past year, we’re in a place where even basic English isn’t understood, much less understood. No numbers, no basic nouns, nothing. In that way, the past two days have been difficult, as we’ve pointed and gestured our way through stores and restaurants. But on the other hand, people have been extremely kind and helpful. A couple people have gone really far out of their way to help us. It got me thinking perhaps it’s the Chinese influence that makes Malaysia such a warm and hospitable place. And coming from Vietnam, China seems even more kind and friendly. The last thing I really noticed was how clean Kunming is. Unlike most of Asia, China has public trash bins! Even more amazing is the presence of recycle bins everywhere too! I noticed there’s still a lot of people that are too lazy to walk to the trash cans and just litter (a worldwide affliction, I feel), but China has hordes of street cleaners. We saw dozens of orange-vested crews sweeping the streets and sidewalks, as well as collecting trash.

Kunming itself doesn’t really have any sites, beyond a couple of restored historic buildings devoid of any character. But it was a very interesting two days as it was our first experience in China. Simply strolling around the city or sitting to people watch was both enlightening and educational. Initial impressions (surprises) of China: clean, developed, no English.