Spring City Resort in Yunnan (14-18 Apr 2009)

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Last Dec our office had a short trip to Macau that included two rounds of golf in Macau. We had such an enjoyable time that we decided to take a longer, golf-focused trip this Easter. After hearing some recommendations, we selected the Spring City Golf & Lake Resort near Kunming, Yunnan.

The trip took place from the 14th to the 18th in Apr 2009. Before the trip, we booked three rounds of golf in each morning, and we hired a van to take us to touist places in the afternoon. (Hiring the van for 3 full days cost RMB2100 total. It cost the same to hire a car for one day in Beijing a few years back.)

I ended up playing 4 rounds of golf in three days, skipping one of the afternoon trips. One person in our group played 6 rounds of 108 holes in total in 3.5 days. And almost everyone, except me, took more than one massage sessions in the resort spa. My kids also went for a couple of 9-hole rounds with a golf instuctor.

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We stayed in the villas right next to the clubhouse. The villas are surrounded by some very nice landscaping and plants, including some very nice purple bamboo.

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The short walk from our villas to the clubhouse for breakfast and tee-off in the morning. Also the view of the golf course in the morning. The resort has two courses - the Mountain Course designed by Jack Nicklaus & Lake Course by Robert Trent Jones Jr.

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Some pictures taken on the golf course.

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When we arrived on the 14th and played our first round of golf in the morning of the 15th, we don't see too many people in the breakfast hall or on the course. But at the weekend approaches, we see more and more people. The place was packed on the 18th Saturday.

We were told that during peak seasons, the resort would have served almost 600 golfers each day. I wonder if the resort can have average 300 golfers per day paying average RMB1000 each to play and stay. If this assumption is correct, then the resort can only generate RMB 100 million per year. I wonder if the real estate sales is perhaps the bigger profit generator.

Many of the houses can be seen in the following pictures.

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This is one of the Par 3 holes in the Mountain Course. In my first game, I lost many balls to the water. In my next game, I had one-on and missed the birdie chance, playing par. 

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Can you see the ball?!

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A very nice day to be out there...

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Having a beer in the 19th Hole cafe after playing an afternoon round. The cafe is overlooking the 18th of the Mountain Course.

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In the afternoon of the 15th, we went to Jiu Xiang to see the giant lime stone cave.

At the entrance of the park, I saw this old woman with bind feet. Supposedly feet binding was initially only for the wealthy but later emulated by the mass. After asking and obtaining permission to take pictures of her, I started to take picture of her in different angle. And very surprisingly she started to pose with the V hand gesture, just like many teenage girls do these days.