One of our spotters who lives in China, has recently been adding quite a few spots from the city of Kunming. This city is developing rapidly and has brought us a diverse amount of appealing spots. After some e-mails we decided to write an article about Kunming as "Spotcity". After a diverse amount of spotcities from Europe, and recently one about Singapore, this is the second city on the other side of the globe. This article has been written by spotter Tjan.
Kunming is the capital and biggest city of the southwest Chinese province, Yunnan. Kunming has a population of 5.8 million residents. Due to the high elevation and the lovely climate, Kunming is known as one of the few big Chinese cities where the smog is minimal during the summer. Kunming has an elevation of 1.900 meters above sea level! To fight the increasing smog problem, the city has banned all private vehicles on the first saturday of the month. In the future these kinds of measures will be enforced more frequently. Because of Kunming's mild climate, the city is also referred to as the city of eternal spring. In the winter you will have days that the temperature in the morning can be close to freezing point, but in the afternoon is nice enough for you to enjoy a cup of coffee outside in the sun. The city lies on the north side of Lake-Dian
The amount of cars has changed rapidly in the past years. It took Kunming 43 years to register the 100,000th license plate in 1992. The next 100,000 plates where registered between 1992 and 1996. On the 17th of January, 2008, the 900,000th license plate was bolted onto a car. The Kunming road network has not been designed for the amount of traffic that roams the streets, which often results in traffic jams. Sometimes you'll be sitting at a green light not being able to drive because there are cars all the way till the next light. Because of the busy traffic, people are often irritated easily, resulting in a socially deteriorated driving style. Almost everyday you will see a traffic accident, mostly not more then a few dents.
During the Second World War, Kunming was the base of the Flying Tigers, a group of American fighter pilot volunteers who helped defend China from Japan in 1941 and 1942. The only restaurant run by a Dutch person resides in the same building as where the Flying Tigers used to stay. Kunming has an outstanding ethnic diversity. Yunnan is home to 25 of the 55 ethnic minorities that are known to live in China. Tibetans, Hui, Bai, Dai, Yi, Naxi, and other minority groups add to the cultural mix. Each of these minority groups has their own unique way of life including food, clothing, art, music and mythology.
Greenlake Hotel
The best locations in Kunming to spot exotic cars are the 4-5 star hotels. In the center of the city there's a small lake by the name of Greenlake.
Greenlake Hotel is a five star hotel situated along the side of Greenlake. When we used to go there in the past we would be sent away by security. Nonetheless we kept coming back. One day when we came by Greenlake Hotel there was a lamborghini LP640 parked in front of the lobby, and for some reason they didn't mind us taking pictures of it. Since then we frequently visit the hotel to see if there are more "spotworthy" cars. In front of the hotel there is also an entrance to an underground parking garage. You will most likely find a Maserati GranTurismo, a Porsche, and other exotic vehicles.
Some spots taken at the Greenlake Hotel:
New Era Hotel
There is another hotel, about five minutes distance from Greenlake Hotel. New Era Hotel is a four star hotel with a regular chance of seeing exotic cars. In front of the hotel there is limited parking space so if you look around the hotel in underground and above ground parking garages, you'll have more of a chance to see exotic cars. The building itself consists of 32 floors, off of which you can make beautiful pictures of Kunming's skyline.
Empark Grand Hotel
Behind the airport, a bit of a distance from Kunming, on the side of Kunming where they are developing a whole new addition to this immense city, is a brand new hotel. Empark Grand Hotel is a five star hotel. Next to this hotel you will almost always find a Ferrari 360 Modena, Mercedes-Benze SLR McLaren, and a Bentley Continental Flying Spur. The owner of these amazing rides lives in Empark Grand Hotel. At this hotel there seem to be more and more exotic cars.
There are a lot of restaurants and bars around Greenlake. When you take a drive around Greenlake, you will find some exotic cars parked along the side of these buildings.
There is a big shopping area right next to New Era Hotel. It's always good to check the underground parking garages close to, and underneath the shopping centers. The shopping center is only accessible for pedestrians so everyone parks their car in the underground garage. Because of this, you'll have a good chance of spotting exotics there.
Close to where we live there's a well known street. It's well known because it is lined with Chinese Mushroom Hotpot restaurants. The richest people of the city will come here on a regular basis to eat the famous hotpot. In this street we have taken our first exotic car pictures!
The best places to spot exotic cars in Kunming:
Kunming has two of the best golf courses in all of China. Spring City Resort is famous because of their Mountain Course and Lake Course. These two courses have been designed by Jack Nicklaus en Robert Trent Jones Junior. Two well known names in the world of design. I have never been to these golf courses before but I am sure that there are exotic cars to be seen there.
There has been a lot of speculation about the license plates here in China. When you buy a car here, you will first receive a temporary license plate so that you can register your car later. For instance, if you buy the car in November or December, you can register it in the new year. A lot of people that buy really expensive cars use their temporary license for a longer period of time, since in that time they don't have to pay the registration cost. The registration cost differs by City. In Kunming it's 15 percent of the purchasing cost. A lot of people think that cars without license plates are government vehicles. This is not the case. A car with a temporary plate or no plate at all, can be owned by anyone, not just the government. If a random person buys a car, they receive blue license plates. The government always has white plates. A few years ago, foreigners and foreign companies received black license plates. These have been changed to blue so that you no longer see the difference between the two.
In the last year, Kunming has acquired a few exotic car dealerships. Some of these have only a specific brand, others have more then one brand of exotic cars. The Kunming Porsche Centre has been opened in the second half of 2008. The amount of exotics on the road is increasing rapidly. The difference between now and two years ago is enormous.
Kunming doesn't only have nice sunny weather. We have a tropical rain season. From the end of August till the end of October it can rain for weeks. This is not the kind of rain that we are used to in Holland. The rain here is more like a monsoon. In the last year there was more rain then in any of the last 10 years. Even the airport had flooded. Airplanes could not land and had to turn around so they could land in another city. My brother was on a flight back to Kunming. It took him ten extra hours to get back home. The streets of the development where we live had partially flooded. Some people had moved their cars to higher ground in the middle of the night, but there were also a few that didn't think of it. Early morning, everyone had to grab their boots to get to their cars. More then one resident could scoop the water out of their car.
We hope to add a lot more pictures of this interesting, blossoming city in the future!
