Chuxiong

Chuxiong (楚雄市; Chǔxióng Shì) is a city in Central Yunnan Province and the capital of the Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture. It's a delightful town which doesn't see many western tourists.

Geography
Chuxiong is about 127 kilometers (79 mi) west of Yunnan's capital Kunming on Highway GZ65. Chuxiong City is nestled between mountain ranges on all sides in a plateau region at 5,800 feet (1,800 m). Chuxiong City has a population of 130,000 inhabitants and the entire Chuxiong Prefecture has an estimated 2,542,530 inhabitants.

Chuxiong is located between Kunming and Dali, with Dali about 140 kilometers (87 mi) west of Chuxiong and Kunming about 120 km to the east. Lijiang is about a six-hour drive from Chuxiong, and Lugu Lake is about 11 hours north, on the Sichuan border.

Administrative divisions

 * 12 towns
 * 3 townships
 * Shuju, Yunnan|Shuju (树苴乡)
 * Daguokou, Yunnan|Daguokou (大过口乡)
 * Dadiji, Yunnan|Dadiji (大地基乡)

Climate
Chuxiong experiences a mild dry-winter humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cwa), bordering on a dry-winter subtropical highland climate (Köppen climate classification: Cwb). Winters are mild, dry, and sunny, although average lows in January reach barely above freezing. Spring begins early and remains dry and sunny until late May when there is a dramatic uptick in the frequency and amount of rainfall lasting until late September. Summers are warm, rainy, and generally overcast, with June, the warmest month, averaging 21.4 °C (70.5 °F). Autumn sees an abrupt reduction in rainfall and a return to clear skies.

The annual mean temperature is 16.00 °C (60.8 °F), while precipitation averages at 890.7 mm (35.1 in) a year, more than 70% of which occurs from June to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 28% in July to 70% in February, the city receives 2,177 hours of bright sunshine annually. December and January both have an all-around average temperature of 8.7 °C (47.7 °F).

Drink
Huidong Street (汇东街) is a small street with several cafés and bars. It runs north from the little lake at Lóngquán Lù (龙泉路).



Sleep
It is easy to find any kind of accommodation. This is especially true for an area of small streets north of the river called Fēngshèng Xiǎoqū (丰盛小区). Go to the intersection of Fēngshèng Lù (丰胜路) and Lóngjiāng Lù (龙江路) to get there. You will see several expensive Hotels (Jiudians) at those big streets at first. Go into the side streets northeast of the intersection to find dozens of cheap hotels (Lüguans and Binguans) from &yen;20 there.



Go next
Some of the destinations to go to from here are:
 * Heijing - by bus
 * Lufeng - by bus or train
 * Yuanmou - by bus
 * Dali - by train
 * Lijiang - by train