Stone Forest (石林) & Kunming City Private Tour

The Stone Forest in Kunming, Yunnan, China, is a UNESCO World Heritage site featuring towering limestone formations resembling stone trees. Formed over millions of years, these unique pillars create a maze-like terrain. The site holds cultural significance for the Sani people, a Yi ethnic subgroup, who celebrate the Torch Festival here. Visitors can explore scenic spots, caves, and lakes, experiencing both natural beauty and cultural heritage.

Begin your day with a hotel pick-up, visit the Stone Forest, and then enjoy a lunch at a famous roast duck restaurant in Yiliang, with a Halal option available. This dish is a Yiliang County specialty, known for its unique preparation and flavors, making it a must-try for food lovers.

Yi food culture experience

Sheep soup pot: The local black goat is selected, the meat is delicate, fragrant but not fat. It is often cut into large pieces with the skin, boiled in a large iron pot until seven or eight medium-cooked, and then cut into thin slices with the skin and added to the original soup to boil, and served with dried chili noodles, Sichuan pepper noodles, salt, green onions, mint, etc. You can also use a small iron pot to cook and eat, and you can put in a variety of vegetables, noodles, flour skin, etc.

Wild mushrooms: Shilin Mountain is densely forested, wild mushroom resources are abundant, the top grade has chicken palm, dry mushroom, cow dried mushroom, green head mushroom, etc., the practice is different, but the taste is inseparable from the word fresh fragrance.

Fried bee pupa: Pick wild bee plates, take bee pupae and fry them fragrant, without any seasoning, the taste is wonderful, and the nutritional value of high-quality protein is high, but it is easy to get hot if you eat more.

Visit Asia's largest cut flower market

Located on the east bank of Dianchi Lake in Chenggong District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province, Dounan Street is known as the "Asian Flower Capital". In 2024, it will trade 14.176 billion flower branches with a transaction volume of 11.574 billion yuan, leading the country in trading volume for 25 consecutive years and exporting to over 50 countries, including Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Russia.

Over 40 years, Dounan Town has transformed from flower fields to a "romantic economy" with over 10 billion in transactions, evolving from counterparty transactions and electronic auctions to flower e-commerce and global cold chain logistics.

More than 40 years ago, Dounan villagers lived by growing grain and vegetables. In 1983, a villager imported gladiolus seedlings from Guangdong, which thrived and sold well, earning his family 3,000 yuan, far exceeding previous vegetable farming income.

Flower farmers in Dounan began selling flowers in 1994. Seeing the profitability, by 1990, 95% of farmers had switched from vegetables to flowers, turning Dounan into a "sea of flowers." Hua Mingsheng, a 62-year-old first-generation flower farmer, recalled selling flowers along the street. As living standards improved, flowers became a common consumer good, leading to rapid growth in Dounan's flower industry. In the late 1990s, the Dounan flower market emerged, evolving into a major industrial hub. Today, Dounan Flower Market is the largest in Asia and the second-largest globally for fresh cut flowers, serving as China's "market vane" and "price barometer" for flowers.

How to buy flowers in Dounan Flower Market?

Price comparison

Ask for the price of the same flower at different stalls. Due to the high level of competition, prices may vary from booth to booth. For example, some stalls may be 10 yuan a bouquet, while another stall may be 8 yuan to buy the same quality.

Pay attention to the quality of the flowers, including the openness of the flowers, the freshness of the branches and leaves, etc. Don't buy poor quality flowers just because the price is low.

Drive a hard bargain

At the Dounan Flower Market, most of the goods are bargainable. Negotiate the price with the stall owner in a friendly manner, for example, if you buy multiple bouquets of flowers, you can ask the stall owner to give a certain discount.