China – Transportation

Transportation in Kunming is much like any other city in the world, mostly buses or taxis. As far as I know there is no subway system here, but it may be that there is, we just aren’t using it. For the most part, my dialogue group walks everywhere. Most of the restaurants and parks we want to visit are within walking distance and thus we find it easier to walk than take the bus. However, a few students have taken the bus to the closest Walmart (well, the Chinese equivalent) and have restocked on essential items. I was not with them when they did this but supposedly the bus system made sense. I HAVE taken a taxi here and the only different part from the United States (besides the language of course) is that they often take passengers in the front seat as well as the back, so there is a plastic divider between the driver and the passenger seat in all of the taxis here. But other than that, taking a taxi (or 出租汽车) is uneventful in Kunming.

As far as getting to classes goes, we have been staying in a hotel across the street from the university so every morning we have about a two minute walk to the building and then we are there. We don’t change classrooms for the first 4 hours of class (though we do have breaks) so we don’t need to move from there. After our 2 hour lunch we have our cultural classes in the same building (and rooms) unless they are specialized in which case we are notified and meet to walk as a group to the location. For example, yesterday we went to experience Chinese Aromatherapy and we met early to walk 15 minutes into downtown Kunming to get to the workshop. Getting to and from class is very simple, and the Cafeteria (if you want to eat there rather than in a restaurant) is on the way to the classroom building too.

In general, transportation is not a problem here in Kunming. And, much like Boston, the majority of travel is done by walking so it’s very straightforward. The city itself is fairly simple to navigate too which makes the whole walking plan a lot easier to execute. All in all, I really have nothing to complain about transportation-wise or otherwise. Being here in Kunming is incredible and I’m so glad I’ve been given this opportunity. I have already learned so much and yet I know there is still so much more to learn!

Until next time, 再见！