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.

Understand

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

Lucheng, Yunnan|Lucheng (鹿城镇) Donggua, Yunnan|Donggua(东瓜镇) Luhe, Yunnan|Luhe (吕合镇) Zixi, Yunnan|Zixi (紫溪镇) Donghua, Yunnan|Donghua (东华镇) Ziwu, Yunnan|Ziwu(子午镇)

Cangling, Yunnan|Cangling(苍岭镇) Sanjie, Yunnan|Sanjie (三街镇) Bajiao, Yunnan|Bajiao (八角镇) Zhongshan, Yunnan|Zhongshan (中山镇) Xincun, Yunnan|Xincun(新村镇) Xishelu, Yunnan|Xishelu (西舍路镇)

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).

Chuxiong
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D       13     17 2       13     19 4       15     22 7       18     25 11       69     26 15       139     26 18       191     26 18       168     26 17       126     24 16       68     22 13       36     19 7       8.2     16 3 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation+Snow totals in mm Source: Wikipedia
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D       0.5     62 35       0.5     66 38       0.6     72 45       0.7     77 52       2.7     80 59       5.5     79 64       7.5     78 64       6.6     78 63       5     75 60       2.7     72 55       1.4     66 45       0.3     62 37 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation+Snow totals in inches

Get in

By train

• 1 Chuxiong Railway Station (楚雄站, Chuxiong Station), North Side, National Highway 320 (320国道北侧) (Bus routes 9, 10, K1, K2, K3). This high-speed railway station, which opened in 2018, is now the only railway station in the city serving passenger trains. The old south and west stations (which still appear on maps) are no longer in use. Cities linked to Chuxiong by rail include Kunming (1 hour), Nanning (5 to 6 hours), Guilin (8.5 to 9 hours), Dali (1 hour), and Lijiang (2.5 hours). (updated Aug 2019)

By bus

• 2 Chuxiong Bus Station (楚雄客运站), 197 Lucheng Road West (鹿城西路197号) (The nearest public bus stop is the Prefecture Water Resources Bureau (州水利局) bus stop, which is served by bus routes 2, 11 and 17), ☏ +86 878 3139888. The city's main bus station. It is also known as the West Bus Station (西站). Buses arrive here from all over Yunnan Province. (updated Aug 2019)

Get around

• 3 Chuxiong Boarding Point for Special Public Bus Services (楚雄公交专线乘车点), Xiyuan Road (西园路), ☏ +86 878 3385266. Buses to Zixi Mountain Forest Park depart from here. (updated Aug 2019)

See

• 1 Longjiang Park (龙江公园), Lùchéng Běilù (鹿城北路) (Bus routes 1 and 6), ☏ +86 878 3130238. It's a park close to the river and the downtowny area. Free. 
• 2 Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture Museum (楚雄彝族自治州博物馆), 471 Lucheng Nan Lu (鹿城南路471号) (Bus routes 1, 8, 13, 15, 16), ☏ +86 878 3127463. 09:00-17:00. Free. (updated Jan 2018)
• 3 Yiren Ancient Town (彝人古镇, Ancient Town of the Yi Nationality), Yong'an Road (永安路) (Bus routes 2, 5, 9, 12, 17), ☏ +86 878 3150557, +86 878 3388955, +86 878 3159066. Open all day. Not an actual ancient town, but an artificial one that was built in the early 21st century. Designed to showcase the culture of the Yi people (and of course make money from tourists). Cultural performances are held here every night, including a welcoming ceremony at 18:50 and dancing shows from 19:30 to 20:20. Free. (updated Aug 2019)
• 4 Chuxiong Confucius Temple (楚雄文庙), Lucheng Primary School, 180 Zhongda Street (中大街180号鹿城小学) (Bus routes 6, 8, 10, 15, 17. You will need to enter the school grounds in order to get to the temple). Accessible during school hours. Originally built in 1504, the temple was rebuilt in the 1680s after being damaged in an earthquake. Today, it is one of the very few historical sites in Chuxiong City to be included on China's national heritage list. Unfortunately, visitors may only view the temple from the outside. Free. (updated Aug 2019)
• 5 Zixi Mountain Forest Park (紫溪山森林公园) (About 20km from Chuxiong's urban area. A special bus service operates between the city and the park - see Getting Around section for info on where to catch the bus), ☏ +86 878 3121779. 07:30-18:00. Said to be the largest nature park in Yunnan Province. Covers an area of 16000 hectares and contains a wide variety of plant and animal species. Historically, the area was very important to Chinese Buddhists and at one time there were claimed to be 88 temples and 77 nunneries here. While the vast majority of Buddhist sites have been lost to history, a few have survived, most notably the Ziding Temple (紫顶寺), a large temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Maitreya. ¥30. (updated Aug 2019)

Do

Cinemas

• 1 Hengdian Movie City - Zhaoshun No. 1 City Branch (横店电影城兆顺第一城店), 4th floor, Zhaoshun No. 1 City, Intersection of Lucheng Road South and Huancheng Road West (鹿城南路与环城西路交叉口兆顺第一城四楼) (Across the road from the south side of the Chuxiong People's Hospital. Bus routes 3, 4, 7, 10), ☏ +86 878 3123999. (updated Aug 2019)
• 2 Pacific Cinemas - Chuxiong Branch (太平洋电影城(云南楚雄店)), 4th floor, Building C, Tianhe Plaza, 80 Tuanjie Road North (团结北路80号天河广场C座4楼) (The nearest bus stop is the Tianhe Farmers Market (天河农贸市场) bus stop, which ihs served by bus routes 6 and 14), ☏ +86 878 3360777. (updated Aug 2019)

Buy

• 1 New Roking Plaza (新龙江广场), 2 Lùchéng Nánlù (鹿城南路2号) (At the intersection of Lùchéng Nánlù and Lùchéng Xīlù (鹿城西路)), ☏ +86 878 3137888. 09:30-22:00. This is a shopping center in the center of town. There is nothing special about it though. 

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).

• 1 Tropical Bush (热带丛林), Huidong Street (汇东街17-23号), ☏ +86 878 3134019. 11:30-14:00, 17:30-23:30. Tropical Bush seems to be a chain of cafés in Chuxiong. At least the one on Huidong Street is a café/bar with a jungle theme. All the walls are covered in dark photo wallpaper with bad lighting and the guests sit on swings at their tables. The "cappuccino" here is hilarious and highly recommended, even though it is not drinkable. 

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 ¥20 there.

• 1 JP Hyllis Hotel (滇菌王·JP希丽酒店), West Gate, Yiren Ancient Town (彝人古镇西门) (Bus routes 3, 10, 12, 14), ☏ +86 878 3877111. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. Five-star hotel From ¥452. (updated Aug 2019)
• 2 Kaili Bouqtique Inn (楚雄彝州凯俪精品客栈, 楚雄凯俪彝人古镇精品客栈), Building D6, Yiren Ancient Town (彝人古镇D6幢) (At the intersection of Deyun Road East (德运东路) and Deyun Street South (德运南街)), ☏ +86 878 3364488. Check-in: 10:00, check-out: 14:00. From ¥170. (updated Aug 2019)
• 3 Xiongbao Hotel (雄宝酒店), 193 Lucheng Road East (鹿城东路193号) (At the intersection of Xiongbao Road and Lucheng Road East. A short distance from the East Bus Station. Bus nos. 2, 4 and 5 stop near the hotel), ☏ +86 878 6161777. Check-in: 10:00, check-out: 14:00. From ¥158. (updated Aug 2019)
• 4 Yongxing Hotel (永兴大酒店), 131 Lucheng Road North (鹿城北路131号) (Across the road from the west side of the North Bus Station. Public bus nos. 1, 6, 13 and 16 stop outside the hotel), ☏ +86 878 3391999. Check-in: 09:30, check-out: 13:00. From ¥136 (including breakfast). (updated Aug 2019)

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