A brief report of week 3 in China:
Frans Vandenbosch 14.10.2024
On Thursday 10/10/2024 I had an extensive business dinner in Fengxian district, in the far south of Shanghai, across the Huanghe River, at the Gulf of Hangzhou.  
Immediately afterwards we left for Kunming.
Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province, in the south of China, near the border with Laos and Myanmar. The landscape and nature here are very different from the rest of China. The Yi, Bai, Zhuang, Miao and Dai minorities live here. Not everyone here knows Standard Putongua Chinese. Road signs here are trilingual:
No complaints about the hotel. Excellent service, recommended:
Yesterday we went to 石林， Shilin, the Stone Forest, a good hour’s drive from Kunming. Five star UNESCO World Heritage:
The rock formations are phenomenal and photogenic:
Exhausted from the long walk, we found a small local restaurant. A bit spicy but very tasty.
    On the way back we had some communication problems with the DiDi driver (who did not understand Standard Chinese, could not even read Standard Chinese!) but was an excellent driver.
This afternoon wandered around a furniture shopping center.   The furniture here costs 1/4 of the price in Shanghai.
Prefer classic Chinese style?
Or in solid cherry or rosewood?
On Thursday we take the HST high-speed train to Vientiane in Laos
Remember, as I told you before, I came to China to enjoy the freedom here in this country. … the freedom that I miss so much in Western Europe.
Can you imagine that?