Kunming was amazing in the mid-90s. The narrow alleys, lined with open-fronted shops and two-floor partly wooden buildings were frequently crowded with a real mix of ethnicities. I could spend hours there immersing myself within the ongoing scenes. However Kunming was just a starting point.

My travel onward was by road on a bus. The journey was slow and not very comfortable, particularly in the sleeper buses which were so different to the norms of coach travel I was used to. However such journeying was also rewarding, for there were many opportunities to chat with fellow passengers and to look out on often incredible scenery, both physical and human. Today's travelers flying between cities such as from Kunming to Lijiang miss out on so much. Think of what I would have lost, had I flown direct from the UK to Hong Kong in 1987 instead of going by rail? My passion for China would never have been born and I would probably still be living in my beautiful Scottish homeland. Travel leads us in many unexpected ways.