Yunnan Travelling Tips

Altitude Sickness
Kunming sits at an altitude of 1,896 meters above sea level. It is a mountainous region and visitors are bound to go on hikes up any one of their hills or mountains. However travellers especially first-time visitors are likely to experience altitude sickness as they are unaccustomed to the high altitudes. The usual symptoms include headaches, feeling nauseous, vomiting, a tightening sensation in the chest, and even numbness. It usually takes three days for the body to fully acclimatise itself to the altitude but one should come prepared and take the necessary precautions. Wear warm clothing and begin consuming carbohydrates and certain high-calorie foods. Consume foods such as dried meat, eggs, chocolates, cereals and nuts such as walnuts and peanuts. Continue with such food until the body acclimatises to the altitude. Dried meat, walnuts and peanuts are helpful if you experience dizziness, feel nauseous or respiratory alkaosis.

Remember the best advice is to aviod drinking alcohol (as it depletes oxygen levels) and get plenty of rest. However if symptoms persist or become serious, seek medical attention immediately.
Headaches can be eased with pain killers, a head massage (or for those well versed in acupuncture) by needling the acupoints of connected valleys ( LI 4 ), the temple acupoint, the Shangxing ( GV23 ) acupoint or the baihui acupoints.

Remember To Pack:
I. Suitable Clothing

If you are visiting Yunnan in the summer, bring along long sleeved shirts and pants to prevent sunburn and ``mozzie'' bites. A thin woolen sweater, is also a good idea as for the temperatures in the early morning and late evening can be comparatively lower than at midday.

Yunnan's winter is not extreme and can be quite pleasant if one is suitably dressed. However, winter is winter and one should bring the usual woolen and other warm clothing, including a good windbreaker or thick jacket. What you wear underneath all that, is your choice of course, but may we recommend dependable cotton `undies' or even better, warm `long johns'.

As spring and autumn offer lovely climes, thin sweaters and light jackets or windbreakers will suffice. Long cotton pants are also a good bet.

II. Shoes

Boots, sneakers, loafers and other similarly comfortable shoes are the way to go in Yunnan as travelling here involves a lot of walking and at varying heights. High heeled shoes and other ``impractical'' shoes should be avoided.

III. Socks

Although socks are a given in walking shoes, it is worthy to note cotton socks are the better choice in both summer and winter.

IV. Sunglasses

Apart from ``looking cool'', a good pair of UV-protected sunnies will help keep out the glare of the sun and prevent your eyes from the dust and sand, whipped up by strong winds here.

V. Gauze mask

It is very windy and dry in winter and spring in Yunnan. A gauze mask can come in handy, especially for children.