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Yunnan
(2002 est. pop. 43.2 million). The southeastern China province of Yunnan (Yün-nan, "the cloudy south") borders in the west on Burma and Tibet, in the north on Sichuan, in the east on Guizhou and Guangxi, and in the south on Vietnam and Laos. The province covers an area of 394,000 square kilometers of mountains and plateaus. The northwestern part features the Hengduan mountain range, traversed by several big rivers and with peaks reaching over 4,000 meters. The eastern and southeastern part forms a lower plateau. The diversity of Yunnan's topography means there are three climate zones: temperate in the mountains and subtropic and tropic to the south. The rainy season between May and October accounts for about 80 percent of the annual precipitation, which averages over 1,000 millimeters. Yunnan has a population of 43.2 million, of which about a third belong to twenty-two officially recognized minority peoples, the Yi being the largest. The Han Chinese, who constitute about 70 percent of the population, are mainly concentrated on the eastern plateau, which is also where the capital, Kunming (2002 est. pop. 871,000 million), is situated.
Yunnan was loosely incorporated into the Chinese empire during the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). It was the center of the independent Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries and was reincorporated as a Chinese frontier area under the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the Chinese government encouraged Chinese immigration into Yunnan, and during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), the province was repeatedly the seat of rebellion against the Manchu government. In the nineteenth century, the British and French colonial powers in Southeast Asia extended their activities into Yunnan, and the French built a railway connecting Kunming with Vietnam. During the Japanese occupation of eastern China, the Chinese Nationalist party (Guomindang) moved the government and various industries to the western provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, and Yunnan became a stronghold against further Japanese advance.
Kunming developed into an important industrial center in the southwest, a position it still retains. Yunnan has one of the largest reserves of tin in the world, and the principal industries are tin and copper mining. Heavy industry such as iron and steel works are concentrated in the area around Kunming. The province is an important manufacturer of textiles, chemicals, processed foods, and light-industry products, and a major producer of tea, cigarettes, and sugar.
Kunming City
Kunming city is the provincial capital of Yunnan Province, which has an area of 15.6 thousand square kilometers and a population of 3.6 million.   Kunming is situated at the high plateau of the eastern part of Yunnan Province. To the south is the biggest Dian Lake of Yunnan Province. It belongs to the subtropical plateau monsoon climatic zone; the annual average temperature is 14.7 and the yearly precipitation, 1024 mm. It is rich in phosphorus, salt mine and quartz and other such mineral resources as mirabilite, iron, bauxite, copper, coal, etc; it is also rich in ground water and geothermal energy resources.
In the field of industries, priority is given to the development of machinery, metallurgy, textile and building materials, among which the industries of smelting nonferrous metals and tobacco processing form one of the main production basis of their kinds in China. The productions of machine tool, optical instruments and meters, electrical machinery, cigarette, phosphorus, phosphate fertilizer, the melting of lead, copper and zinc have captured an important share in the domestic market.
In agriculture, paddy rice, oil, flue-cured tobacco, sugar cane, fruits, sericulture and live pigs are produced in abundance. Fresh water fishery is cultivated in the Dian Lake.
Kunming City has a good transport service in traffic and has been linked with more than 30 cities, domestic and abroad, by  air.
Kunming City is China's famous historic cultural city. Because it is evergreen everywhere like spring all the year round with flowers blooming everywhere, the city is known as "City of Spring" or "City of Flowers". It is indeed a well-known site for sightseeing and a summer resort. The Dian Lake and the Stone Forest are the two State Major places of historic interest and scenic beauty. There are also such beautiful sites as "Black Dragon Pond" and "Tranquility Hot Spring". You will also have the opportunity to savour such traditional local specialities as the Yunnan Ham, Cured Chichen, Long Across the Bridge Rice Noodle, Fragrant Tea Sending Forth Delicate Fragrance far and Near, Steam Pot Chicken and the Whole Chicken Banquet, etc. |
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