Expats: Staying is the best way to love Yunnan

"Beautiful" is the word selected by worldwide visitors to describe SW China's Yunnan Province.

Many believe that the best way to express the love to somewhere is to stay there, just like the expats who formed their own lifestyles in the province.

Estelle from France: Charming landscape and nice people

Estelle lives at Tulu Lodge, a B&B inn which sits in Benzilan Town, northwest Yunnan's Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. 

She came to China on a business trip and paid almost nothing traveling in Yunnan for a month. Back to France in 2001, she sold all her real estates and made the decision to settle in Yunnan. 

Story of the lodge started as she took a fancy to an old house beside a stream in Benzilan in 2012.

Yereth from the Netherlands: Rapid development here

Yereth, 36, is the CEO of "Go Kunming", online source for English speaking tourists to know about Yunnan. 

He has stayed in Kunming, capital of the province for the past ten years, also a decade of rapid development for the city. 

He said that as he grows, Kunming maintains fast progress as well.

Jason Pym from Britain: I stay for my love and the culture

Jason traveled in Yunnan during his college days as he was attracted to the place. After graduation, he then fell in love and got married with Wan Ke, a Kunminger. 

They chose Dali City as their love nest and they have settled there for over a decade. Jason liked to observe and draw everything he saw, and he published Dali’s Sketch Book to show his love for the city.

Love (爱) is an ideographic character in the Chinese language, representing the intimate feeling from the heart. The three foreigners, just like other expats in Yunnan, choose to stay because they love the province.

By Su Churan and Li Hengqiang