The trip was remarkable at the very first moment. We were late to Kunming and even waited for 8 hours at the pier to take another trip as it took a long time at Ha Khau border gate. The team members always had great time together though they were quite tired at that time. And, we finally got on the train and arrived in Kunming.

The modernity of the traffic here surprised me first. The modern elevated railways and the underground speed train system, which I see only on TV are even available in Kunming. There is no dust on the road, no horns of the vehicles while the weather is fresh and a little dryness.

The school is really large and fresh

 I lived at Kunming Polytechnic University for the rest of the journey. There are buses in the school and the school is really large. I remembered whenever the meal time came, my whole team went to the bus stop, or walked for 15 minutes together to reach the cafeteria.

The football ground - where football matches are organized

The organizers arranged the football competition at 10 a.m, which is understandable because it is late at night here and the weather is pleasant. Although it was harsh in the morning but not as hot as Hanoi’s weather, and the sunshine in Kunming was very warm and did not made me sweat. In Kunming, day is longer than night as the fact that the sky at 8 p.m (the local time) is still bright, then it becomes darker at 8am, and completely darks at 9pm. The weather was cool so we didn’t need a fan in the dorm even when it was hot. As expected of the name Xuan Thanh, the city has four cool and pleasant seasons. People are so nice, the life is at peace and the streets have never been overwhelmed by the sound of a car horn, or the bickering ever.

We come to talk to many international friends every football match

It is worth telling the civilization of Chinese people. When walking across the road in China; cars, motorbikes and other vehicles would stop and give you way to pass the road. When having meals at the school cafeteria, students would have to bring their own food tray to the right place and especially avoid having excess food. On each dining table, there was a small sign saying that “Eat all the food or being disgraceful”, and pictures of farmers working hard in the fields, which remind us not to waste the food, and try to finish all the food we have. The people here are very hospitable and friendly. Knowing we are foreigners, they are very enthusiastic in helping such as renting a car, calling for a taxi, looking for lost furniture even though both sides do not communicate well in Chinese and English.

In Kunming, we go to supermarkets very often because Chinese goods quite have the same price with Vietnamese goods, and the supermarket sells all kinds of products from Pho Nhi tea, Rose cake, spicy chicken, vegetables, etc. We bought a lot of gifts for our relatives as well.

We went to supermarket together and bought Yunnan tea as presents for our relatives

It would be unfair not to mention the food here. All food is so oily and spicy, so we had to order them with little or even no spicy. However, there are some food having the same taste with Vietnamese food such as fried rice, fried chicken, etc, so generally we still can eat and try some other dishes. The school gave each student 400 yuan for eating and that 1.3 million Vietnamese dong was quite enough for us to explore all the dishes in the dining room. Even in the last day, the whole team could use up all the money in the card, and everyone seemed to gain weight after returning from Kunming.

We had an extremely memorable time together in Kunming. I have experienced a lot of things after the trip to China, and also learned to speak some Chinese sentences and found it really interesting, probably I will try to learn this language. Sincerely, the trip to Kunming will be one of my most meaningful experience when I was a student at the University of Economics and Business, Vietnam National University.

If any student desires to discover the dreamy Kunming, then men join the school soccer team, while girls should set up a performance group to register the following year as this activity will be annually held. Wish you all will have a meaningful trip.