https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2150410/five-things-do-chinas-volcanic-city-tengchong-hiking
Bordering Myanmar, Tengchong 腾冲· is home to 23 ethnic minorities. Since it's establishment in the Ming Dynasty 明代(1368-1644), it has been a key place along the ancient Tea Horse Road (a trade route mainly through Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet since the 6th century), as a prosperous place for trading.
Tengchong 腾冲, one of the necessary routes to Burma, India and Thailand from china by road, it is a small but beautiful border county in western Yunnan. it has wetlands, a volcano, geothermic hot springs and Heshun ancient town 和顺古镇 ( just to name a few major sites!) it's close to the border or Myanmar (Burma) near ruili 瑞丽 thus it's warm most of the year due to its tropical humid climate.
it's much easier to get there now than it was before, now (2024) you can go by car, flight or train.
We had an early morning flight to Mangshi 芒市 as it was cheaper and from there got the bus to tengchong that took less than an hour. Due to us being so close to the border and the Covid restrictions there were lots of army trucks and stops at the entrance to the town. Thy of course got very excited and flustered upon seeing us (the fear of not being able to communicate etc) but since I can speak fluent Chinese they quickly relaxed and did checks our passports, visa and entrance stamps double checking when we last entered China in fear that we would be carriers of Covid, though we still had to gt out of the bis and go to the tent stall.....unlike the Chinese......but we got back on and could go soon enough (since I helped translate for everyone, Chinese stress when they see foreigners, fearing needing to practise their rusty English skills, not soo bad in the big cities that have many foreigners like Shanghai 上海, Beijing 北京 or gaungzhou广州....far far far away from where we were!!)
when we eventually got to the bus station in the town our Air b&b host picked us up and took us to the gust house in Heshun ancient town 和顺古镇. His accent was a bit strong so It was a little difficult at times to understand what he was telling me but I did learn that Tengchong 腾冲 was one of the first places in china to be invaded by the Japanese! I was really confused - why and how was that possible when its so far from Japan and no-where near the sea. Then he explained, the infamous Thai-Burmese railway!
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Burma-Railway
back when we stayed in 2021 you could still use air bnb, unfortuantely now though you cannot. shame! we stayed in a lovely converted old chinese style house, very big and open with a courtyard and fabulous big rooms all wooden. The owner served us traditional chinese tea on a proper tea table with small cups (tea shots) it was really nice! as the holiday was over + the difficulties for travel during Covid the guest house and the town itself was quiet and empty. GREAT! and so, because of this the owner gave me an extra room free of charge so I didn't have to stay with the 2 guys. #VIP UPGRADE plus he showed us a large map of the town and highlighted some of the places to visit.
https://youtube.com/shorts/cAyTA6Xcmms?feature=share
after we registered and left off our bags in our rooms
we headed out into the town to explore....
*Heshun ancient town 和顺古镇
over 600 years old! http://en.people.cn/n3/2020/1209/c90000-9797516-3.html
- Ancient Architecture: Temples, ancestral hall, Ming and Qing-style buildings scattered around this tiny town.
- Historic Role: in the past it was the only route of the ancient “southwest silk road”.
- Attractions: include Heshun Library, Former Residence of Ai Siqi, Wenchang Palace, Museum of Yunnan-Burmese Anti-Janpanese War (滇缅抗战博物馆), Heshun Lane, Wanlouzi Museum(弯楼子博物馆), town library etc. lots of beautiful traditional chinese architectural with an authentic feel that most of the other ancient towns lack.
we explored the town briefly before getting some food in a really nice restaurant overlooking the river. There wasn't many people about so we had the restaurant to ourselves, with more VIP service, so happy to have guests and the novelty of having foreign guests we had fantastic service and they gave us all a free shot of the local spirit (not the nicest but still, its the gesture that counts)
We found electric shared scooters / E-bikes. the deposit was high but we tired it anyway. I made the mistake of getting on with inexperienced Malik who soon proceeded to crash!!! Thankfully not too bad. Still got a few scratches though! This I changed and get on with Ben. (I should have learnt my lesson in Vietnam with him!) We scooted round for 20mins before getting a local bus to the Hot Springs area. We had originally wanted to go to the Volcano area nearby but it was closed. We had planned to do the hot air balloon ride over them, but recently there had been an accident and a guy had been badly hurt / died so it was suspended for the time being (just our luck, the one guy a year who dies from a hot air balloon accident and it had to be the one were we wanted to go!) please note, Hot air balloon rides are usually very safe. (I will get to experience it, some day...)
Tengchong Volcanic Geothermal National Geological Park
Take the tourist bus in South Huancheng Road, CNY 5 takes you to the hot springs bus station, entrance 35-50, doesnt include the hot springs this is around 300 but well worth it!!!
THERMAL SEA HOT SPRINGS
Volcano and Thermal Sea, Tengchong 腾冲火山热海旅游区
COOKING EGGS IS FORBIDDEN 禁止煮鸡蛋 No egg cooking please! prepare your lunch before you come!
this one is too hot, and is just out the front for show.
Even though it says you can cook eggs you can buy some that the vendors cook in baskets on the ground. you can also get a foot bath / massage, the water is heated from the ground naturally and they add in herbs and salts
there's a small walk around the area (or you can pay for a 'bus") before the main entrance square where you can get the massages etc. the hot springs area is huge. if you haven't prepared swimming costume attire you can buy some in a few market stalls outside (though not the most stylish or cheapest)
there are many 20-30 different natural hot springs, each with unique herbs or additives to help relax or sooth the bather. but be careful!! Do NOT go near any taps or metal pipes with water. They are HOT. You can get burnt. Along with the hot springs there are also Saunas, ones where you can sit or lie down.
the place was relatively empty and wee spend hours there. food and drink is also included as there is a huge canteen area with a great selection of dishes and beverages to choose from. Unfortunately we had come in the afternoon and had spent so long in the different pools it was closing by the time we went so there was not too much choice. When we finally left its was near 9pm, it was dark outside and there was no-one around. We begged another woman who was working there/visiting to give us a lift back into the town as we couldn't get a taxi. The lovely woman not only agreed but she told us all the way to our guesthouse and wouldn't take any money. So kind!!
Back at the guesthouse we had a chill evening, our rooms had a tv and some movie sites, some of which were foreign meaning we could chill and watch "The Addams Family" The hot spring experience was great. My first time. My only regret was that we hadn't went earlier, we could have spent longer and got more food and drink! (I know for next time! One of the few places I would happily return to!)
The next day we explored more of the town, a nice sunny day we visited some of the main sites and the wetland area before getting the bus to Mangshi 芒市 to visit the town and later get our flight back to Kunming 昆明
BEIHAI wetlands area 北海湿地
local fresh market and local specialty: rose cakes
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https://youtube.com/shorts/P-Fkq5AXoFA?feature=share
bus views on the way to mangshi!
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