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Defintely the prettiest small city of Southern Yunnan! Worth the detour from other parts of China for it is so authentic. Rather than knock down and rebuild somehow it has survived this tendency for it is a living well organised city, yet is well maintained museum, well worth a visit. Jianshui has retained, by intelligent planning, its character, its old buildings, the links to it's agricultural country side, it's history, with a warmth that is tanglible, with many coffee shops and interesting facades and architecture.

The bus ride to the Swallow's Cave was interesting and it followed the smaller roads. The Confucian Temple was beautiful. There were many Chinese tourists in the old city but we did not see any foreigners. With few foreigners, all the merchants and restaurant workers were delighted and intrigued to serve us. There were many old buildings along the main road in the old city and many temples. The headquarters for administering the National Government exam during Qing dynasty china has been turned into a very interesting and informative museum. Swallow's cave and the surrounding tropical garden, was very impressive and beautiful. We ate a stewed chicken the first night. While the chick stews with vegetables at your table, corn bread cooks on the rim of the wok. The view from the main city gate across a lake to the mountains is sweet.