The end of the year is a special time in which editors and writers around the world recycle content from the previous twelve months and repackage it as new. We at GoKunming are not above this practice, so here's the second installment of our two-part look at the people and events that shaped 2013 in southwest China. If you haven't already read it, part one can be found here.

July

Bonds...Yunnan bonds...were not treated to martinis but instead downgraded over fears of a possibly impending credit default. Little Tyson dispatched another foe and Brendan Galipeau told us how growing grapes was changing the landscape in the province's far northwest. It was announced Kunming's defunct airport would be transformed into a huge financial complex, presumably one largely free of fog. Speaking of flying, we took to the air and snapped some photos from high above Dali. Wild elephants were once again on the rampage in Jinghong. Governor Li Jiheng (李纪恒) complained loudly about the nastiness of bathrooms and then the rains came and washed everything away.

image: Hugh Bohane

image: Hugh Bohane

While mushrooms went on a deadly rampage in Yuxi, we cooked up some delicious ghosts. Myanmar's president took a trip to London and just couldn't stop talking. Riding aimlessly around town on our bikes inadvertently led us to a tiny museum dedicated to preserving the riveting history of a Spring City educational icon. The rain got worse, much worse, and Kunming took a bath. Between shifts bailing out the water, GoKunming contributors snapped photos of a very soggy city. Damage was assessed and at least the petrochemical business went on as if nothing had ever happened. Dali hosted a huge photo exhibit and tigers, or more specifically a lack of them, had international leaders wringing their hands, and not for the last time.

August

Beijing tried to control its addiction to shopping, and we wished them the best of luck while quaffing a delicious pint of homebrew after a bike ride. China and the United States somewhat cantankerously discussed how people should be treated. In what is becoming a national obsession, milk powder again made headlines, this time for all the wrong reasons. The king of the numpties got his comeuppance — we wonder who will seize the now-vacant throne. Contributor Lieuwe Montsma looked back at a little-remembered World War II battle for a bridge. One man attempted to save the world's few remaining tigers, Kunming mulled making it easier for day trippers to visit and it came to light that a historically significant cemetery had nearly disappeared. Kunming's subway, as subways around the world tend to do, was running over budget.

Dam fever came to the Himalayas. A goon got his hands on 100,000 one jiao coins and then made strangers count them. Following all the talk of damming Yunnan's great rivers, we sat down and watched a documentary about what those rivers looked like when they were wild and untamed. China's government, for a few days at least, tried to help out those who needed it most. Monkeys were being a pain in the grass and due to a very wet rainy season, mushrooms were popping up all over the place. King coal was in way, way, way over his head. The conversation once again turned to rain which prompted us to visit an area of Guizhou with phenomenal waterfalls. China's ongoing soap opera with Myanmar, in which Yunnan plays the role of caught-in-the-middle child, got more dramatic.