The heart of Kunming · lake, temple and noodles
A lake in the city centre with thousands of gulls · the busiest old temple in town · the original crossing-the-bridge noodles, then a street-food night — the day that shows you how Kunming really lives.
Start your first day gently at Green Lake (Cuihu Park), the city-centre park where Kunming locals come to stroll every morning, free to enter. If you visit between November and March, you'll see the image that has become the symbol of Kunming: thousands of red-billed gulls (红嘴鸥) that migrate down from Siberia to escape the cold and settle across the lake. People stand on the banks feeding them as the birds wheel around overhead — a sight worth seeing at least once. Walk the loop around the lake, cross the bridges, sip tea by the water — about 1.5 hours.
A short walk away is Yuantong Temple (圆通寺), the oldest and largest Buddhist temple in central Kunming, over 1,200 years old. What makes it unusual is that it's built downward into a hollow — instead of climbing up, you descend to it — with a pavilion over a pond, bridges across the water, and a Theravada Buddhist hall in the Thai-Burmese style that reflects Yunnan's border character. Read more in our guide to Kunming's temples.
Lunch has to be the dish Kunming is proudest of — crossing-the-bridge rice noodles (过桥米线), a Yunnan rice-noodle bowl served in a special way. A piping-hot bowl of broth, sealed under a layer of oil, comes separately, and you add the meat, egg, vegetables and noodles yourself so they cook in the bowl. Legend says a scholar's wife invented the method to carry the soup across a bridge to her husband and keep it hot — read the full story in our crossing-the-bridge noodles guide, and see the other Yunnan rice noodles in our Yunnan rice noodles guide.
In the afternoon, take a DiDi to the Golden Temple (Jindian 金殿) in the city's north-east — the largest bronze hall in China, built in the Ming–Qing era, set on a hill among pine woods and camellia gardens. A gentle climb up through a heavenly gate gets you there; it's shaded and quiet, a good break from the bustle of the centre.
End the first day at Nanping pedestrian street (Nanping Jie), the liveliest part of the centre after dark — and the lanes around it, like Nanqiang Street (南强街巷), packed with Yunnan snacks: grilled meat skewers, charcoal-grilled wild mushrooms, Shiping grilled tofu, Yunnan-style fried potatoes, flower cakes and seasonal fruit. Graze your way along for an easy, low-cost dinner, surrounded by locals out for the evening — see the best stalls in our Kunming street-food guide.
