“I’ve made up my mind to stay in Kunming.” On December 10, Chen Fei from Anhui once again arrived in Kunming and rented a place to live in Shadi Village, near Dianchi Lake.

“I went back to my hometown for a month, but I still came back to Kunming,” she explained, expressing her desire to stay if possible. “My body has already adapted to Kunming's climate; I only feel comfortable here.”

The “Yi Nian Hua Kai” Minsu (Chinese-style bed-and-breakfast establishments) in Damoyu Village, Xishan District, is a beautiful sight in the village. The owner, Mrs Xu, hails from Hunan and settled here six years ago, renting a house from local villagers for a 20-year lease. She often invites friends to stay, sharing the beauty of rural life.

As November approached, the seasonal travelers heading south to escape the cold began to set off. Data from the Qunar platform indicates that Kunming ranks among the top ten popular destinations this winter. Ma Fang, an operator of senior living in Jinning, noted, “Our guests come from all over the country, and they say, ‘Once we arrive, we don’t want to leave, and even after we leave, we want to come back.’”

A Spring-Like Climate: The Poetry and Distance We Long For

Every autumn and winter, the black-headed gulls from Siberia fly thousands of miles to Kunming for a rendezvous.

Winter is also the time when Zhou Mingtao, a photography enthusiast from Zhaotong, comes to Kunming for short stays. He bought a house in Anning Kungang New Village specifically to escape the cold and pursue bird photography. “The winter in Zhaotong is too cold. I’m getting older and prefer a warmer climate.”

He Yinghua, a traveler from Mianyang, Sichuan, has visited Kunming three times this year. “I came once in March, again in June, and now this is my third visit. I find Jinning quite nice; it’s warm in winter and cool in summer, making it very comfortable.”

Eighty-year-old Meng Xianmei from Zhengzhou, Henan, has been living in the Xinglin Grand View Garden in Shilin County for two consecutive years. She said, “Xinglin Grand View Garden is a health and wellness town focusing on traditional Chinese medicine culture. Ever since I came here, I feel at ease, and my leg pain has improved. I spend my days writing, painting, and walking. My life is very comfortable, and I’ve decided to retire here.” In fact, she has already introduced over ten friends and relatives to come to Kunming.

“With society aging, the development of the health and wellness tourism industry holds great promise,” stated a NPC deputy from Kunming City. Kunming is actively leveraging its advantages to build a public service system encompassing food, accommodation, and entertainment, while also establishing a health care service system and creating a cultural community for health tourism, providing unique cultural activities to promote the integrated development of “cultural tourism + health and wellness + residential tourism.”

Embraced by a Breath of Spring Breeze: Once You Come to Kunming, You Don’t Want to Leave

In recent years, Kunming has been vigorously developing itself as a health tourism destination. For instance, Songming County has proposed to become the “first stop for residential tourism in Yunnan,” continuously enhancing infrastructure and improving the quality of tourism services, while creating more residential tourism projects to attract numerous visitors from both within and outside the province.

At the same time, Kunming is accelerating the development of high-quality hotels and tourism Minsu (Chinese-style bed-and-breakfast establishments), focusing on scenic spots like lakes, forests, mountains, water bodies, and flowers. It is introducing a number of international hotel brands to attract tourists for leisure vacations, sightseeing, health and wellness, and residential living. The city actively encourages hotels and Minsu (Chinese-style bed-and-breakfast establishments) to explore more possibilities beyond accommodation, dining, and conference services, providing guests with in-depth experiences of local culture, outdoor activities, traditional Chinese medicine, and unique cuisine, thus upgrading hotels and Minsu from mere “places to stay” to “micro tourism destinations.”

What draws visitors to Kunming, allowing them to experience and fall in love with the city, includes not only excellent tourism facilities and images but also the local customs, diverse culinary offerings and profound history of Kunming.

“The sunrises and sunsets by Dianchi Lake, the rolling clouds, the chirping of insects and birds in the Metasequoia forest of the South Dianchi National Wetland Park, and the picturesque colors are all very appealing to visitors,” said Meng Chuirui, deputy director of the Jinning District Cultural and Tourism Bureau. With an average annual temperature of 23 degrees Celsius, Jinning is also known as a “natural oxygen bar” in China, which alone can attract many residential tourists. The region's long history, rich culinary offerings, and reasonable prices are also key factors in retaining these visitors. Yi Pingyuan, a traveler from Yongzhou, Hunan, has a particular fondness for Jinning's wild mushroom hotpot: “It’s fresh, sweet, and has a lingering taste that makes me feel particularly happy.”

From the areas around Dianchi Lake to the Shilin Scenic Area, from modern hotels to traditional villages, from senior citizens to trendy youth, and from a fleeting “travel” experience to a leisurely “residential” experience, Kunming is no longer just a stop for passing tourists; it is transforming into a place that fosters a sense of belonging, encourages long-term residence, and invites visitors to savor its offerings as a “home.”

Click here to view the Chinese report

(Editors: Jennifer, Rachel)