Kunming
Encyclopedia
is the capital and largest city of Yunnan
(云南) Province in Southwest China
. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city
, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government. It is also home to several universities, museums, galleries and other important economic, cultural, and educational institutions. The headquarters of many of Yunnan's large businesses are in Kunming as well. It was important during World War II
as a Chinese military center, American
air base, and transport terminus for the Burma Road
. Located in the middle of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Kunming is located at an altitude of 1,900 m above sea level and at a latitude
just north of the Tropic of Cancer
. It covers an area of 21473 square kilometre and its urban area covers 2,081 km². Kunming has population of 6,432,212 including 3,055,000 in the urban area and is located at the northern edge of the large Lake Dian
, surrounded by temples and lake-and-limestone
hill landscapes.
Kunming consists of an old, previously walled city, a modern commercial district, residential and university areas. The city has an astronomical observatory
, and its institutions of higher learning include Yunnan University
, Yunnan Normal University
and a medical college
. On the outskirts is a famed bronze temple, dating from the Ming dynasty.
Its economic importance derives from its geographical position. Positioned near the border with Southeastern Asian
countries, serving as a transportation hub
in Southwest China, linking by rail to Vietnam
and by road to Burma and Laos
. This positioning also makes it an important trade center in this region of the nation. It also houses some manufacturing, chiefly copper, though some other chemicals, machinery, textiles, paper and cement take key. Though having a nearly 2,400 year history, its modern prosperity dates only from 1910, when the railroad from Hanoi
was built. The city has continued to develop rapidly under China's modernization efforts. Kunming's streets have widened while office buildings and housing projects develop at a fast pace. Kunming has been designated a special tourism center and as such sports a proliferation of high-rises and luxury hotels.
and Tibet
. Early townships in the southern edge of Lake Dianchi (outside the contemporary city perimeter) can be dated back to 279 BC, although they have been long lost to history. Early settlements in the area around Lake Dian
date back to Neolithic
times. The Dian Kingdom
, whose original language was likely related to Tibeto-Burman languages was also established near the area.
Dian was subjugated by the Chinese Han Dynasty
under the reign of Emperor Wu of Han
in 109 BC
. The Han Dynasty incorporated the territory of the Dian Kingdom into their Yizhou Commandery, but left the King of Dian as the local ruler.
The Han Dynasty
(205 BC-AD 220), seeking control over the Southern Silk Road running to Burma and India, brought small parts of Yunnan into China's orbit, though subsequent dynasties could do little to tame what was then a remote and wild border
land. During the Sui dynasty
(581–618), two military expeditions were launched against the area, and it was renamed Kunzhou in Chinese sources.
(937-1253). Eventually this changed when Tuodong came under the control of the Yuan Dynasty
invasion of the southwest in 1252-1253. In 1276 it was founded by the Mongol rulers as Kunming County and became the provincial capital of Yunnan. The city grew as a trading center between the southwest and the rest of China. It is considered by scholars to have been the city of Yachi Fu (Duck Pond Town) where people had used cowries
as cash and ate their meat raw, as described by the 13th-century Venetian traveler Marco Polo
who traveled to the area and wrote about his fascination of the place.
defeated the Mongols, which built a wall
surrounding present-day Kunming. Ming General Wu Sangui
defected to Manchu invaders 300 years later and held the city until his death in 1678, long after the rest of China had fallen under Manchu
rule. During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing
(1644–1911) dynasties, it was the seat of the superior prefecture of Yunnan
.
The area was first dubbed Kunming in the period towards the decline of the Yuan Dynasty and later still in 1832, the beginnings of a real city were acknowledged within the city walls and significant structures within their confines. Founding of the city can, therefore be said to have been a predominantly 19th century affair. It was also in this century that the city grew to become the major market and transport centre for the region.
Kunming suffered at the hands of rebel leader Du Wenxiu, the Sultan of Dali
, who attacked and besieged the city several times between 1858 and 1868. Little of the city's wealth survived the 1856 Panthay Rebellion, when most of the Buddhist sites in the capital were razed. Decades later Kunming began to be influenced by the West, especially from the French Empire
. In the 1890s, an uprising against working conditions on the Kunming-Haiphong rail line saw many laborers executed after France shipped in weapons to suppress the revolt. The meter-gauge rail line, only completed by around 1911, was designed by the French so that they could tap Yunnan's mineral resources for their colonies in Indochina.
Kunming was a communications center in early times and a junction of two major trading routes, one westward via Dali
and Tengchong County
into Myanmar
, the other southward through Mengzi County to the Red River in Indochina
. Eastward, a difficult mountain route led to Guiyang
in Guizhou province and thence to Hunan
province. To the northeast was a well-established trade trail to Yibin
in Sichuan province on the Yangtze River
. But these trails were all extremely difficult, passable only by mule trains or pack-carrying porters.
Kunming reverted to county status in 1912, under the name Kunming, and became a municipality in 1935. The opening of the Kunming area began in earnest with the completion in 1906-1910 of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway
to Haiphong
in north Vietnam
(part of French
Indochina
). Kunming became a treaty port opening to foreign trade in 1908 and soon became a commercial center. In the 1930s its importance grew still further when the first highways were built, linking Kunming with Chongqing
in Sichuan and Guiyang
in Guizhou to the east. Kunming's rail link to Hanoi was cut during World War II, restored in 1957, cut again in 1979, and reopened in 1996.
Kunming was transformed into a modern city as a result of the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War
in 1937 when the invading Japanese forces
caused a great number of east-coast Chinese refugees, some of whom were wealthy, to flood into the southwest of China. They brought with them dismantled industrial plants, which were then re-erected beyond the range of Japanese bombers. In addition, a number of universities
and institutes of higher education were evacuated there. The increased money and expertise quickly established Kunming as an industrial and manufacturing base for the wartime government in Chongqing
.
During the Second World War, the city of Kunming was prepared as a National Redoubt
in case the temporary capital in Chongqing
fell, an elaborate system of underground caves to serve as offices, barracks and factories was prepared but never utilised. Kunming was to have served again in this role during the ensuing Chinese Civil War
, but the Nationalist
garrison turned coat and joined the Communists. Instead Taiwan
would become the last redoubt and home of the Chinese Nationalist government, a role it fulfills to this day.
When the Japanese occupied French Indochina
in 1940, the links of Kunming with the west, both via the newly constructed Burma Road
and by air, grew increasingly vital as Allied forces provided essential support by importing materials from the British-colony Burma. By this time, Kunming acted as an Allied military command center, which grouped the Chinese, American, British and French forces together for operations in Southeast Asia, including China, India and Burma. The Office of Strategic Services
' Service Unit Detachment 101 (predecessor to the 1st Special Forces Group) was also headquartered in Kunming and whose mission was to divert and disrupt Japanese combat operations in Burma.
Later on in the war, Kunming was targeted by the Imperial Japanese Air Force during their bombing campaigns
, and when the Burma Road was lost to the Japanese, the American Volunteer Group, known as the "Flying Tigers
", used Kunming as a base in 1941 and 1942 to fly in supplies over the Himalayas from British bases in India in defiance of Japanese assaults. They also were tasked with defending China's lifeline to the outside world, the Burma Road
and the Ledo Road
, which had Kunming as a northern terminus. See Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road
.
Industry became important in Kunming during World War II
. The large state-owned Central Machine Works was transferred there from Hunan
, while the manufacture of electrical products, copper, cement, steel, paper, and textiles expanded. A university
was set up in 1922. Until 1952, Kunming was a walled city. The city government in 1952 ordered hundreds of young people to tear down the wall and use its bricks to make a new road running north-south. To show its appreciation for the young people that demolished the east wall, the city government named the new street after them. Their existence still echoes today in place names like Xiao Ximen (小西门, 'Lesser west gate') and Beimen Jie (北门街, 'North gate Street'). There are also less obvious connections to the wall, such as Qingnian Lu (青年路, 'Youth Road'), which was once Kunming's east wall.
After 1949 Kunming developed rapidly into an industrial metropolis
with the construction of large iron and steel and chemical complexes, along with Chongqing
, Chengdu
and Guiyang
in the southwest
. A Minorities' Institute was set up in the 1950s to promote mutual understanding and access to university education among Yunnan's multiethnic population. The city consolidated its position as a supply depot during the Vietnam War
and subsequent border clashes
. Until Mao Zedong's death, Kunming was still generally thought in much of the rest of the country as a remote frontier settlement and so it acted as a place up to then for the government to exile people who had fallen politically out of favor, especially during the Cultural Revolution
.
Since the economic reforms of mid-1980s, Kunming has also enjoyed increased tourism
and foreign investment
, for instance investors from Thailand
trace their ancestries back to Yunnan. Several Thai Chinese
banks have offices in Kunming, for example, Kasikorn Bank
and Krung Thai Bank
. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand has visited Kunming many times to study Chinese culture and promote friendly relations.
On July 2005, the second Greater Mekong Subregion
(GMS) Summit was held in Kunming, with government leaders from China, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam participating. There, China agreed to lend its neighbors more than $1 billion for a series of projects. China was then promoting GMS cooperation as a first step toward building an eventual China-ASEAN Free Trade Area
.
Infrastructure improvements have been underway to improve links between Kunming and Southeast Asia in time for the 2010 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, which would have a population of approximately 1.8 billion. The FTA is expected to make Kunming a trade and financial center for Southeast Asia. In addition to physical improvements to enhance Kunming's trade with Southeast Asia, the central and provincial governments have made financial preparations to assist the city's emergence. At the end of 2004, the central government approved Kunming to be one of the 18 mainland cities in which foreign banks could conduct business in renminbi
.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the city center was rebuilt, with Swiss help, in its current 'modern' style to impress visitors attending the 1999 World Horticultural Exposition
.. It was primarily during 1997 and 1998 that much of the city's roads, bridges and high rises were built.
The World Horticultural Expo was widely regarded as a public relations
success for Kunming, which seemed to exceed almost all expectations. Today the aftereffects of the Expo are apparent in more than just the physical improvements to the city-it was the Expo that made the outside world take notice of Kunming, which was relatively unknown at the time.
In July 2006 talks at the ASEAN Regional Forum, China, Bangladesh
and Myanmar (Burma) agreed to construct a highway from Kunming to Chittagong
through Mandalay
for trade and development.
Key development issues for Kunming include a local educated and talent pool that is less sophisticated than larger Chinese cities and the need for increased transport links.
Kunming is located in east-central Yunnan
province. It is located between north latitude 24°23´ and 26°22´N, and east longitude 102°10´and 103°40´E, with a total area of 21600 square kilometre. Its widest stretch from the east to the west amounts to 140 km (87 mi) and its largest expansion from the north to the south amounts to 220 km (137 mi).
Situated in a fertile lake basin on the northern shore of the Lake Dian
and surrounded by mountains to the north, west, and east, Kunming has always played a pivotal role in the communications
of southwestern China. Lake Dian, titled as "the Pearl of the Plateau", is the sixth largest fresh water lake in China, is the largest lake in Yunnan and has an area of approximately 340 square kilometre. Kunming's highest point is Mazong Ridge of the Jiaozi Mountain in Luquan with an elevation of 4247 m (13,934 ft), and its lowest point is the joint of the Xiaojiang River and the Jinsha River
in Dongchuan District
, with an elevation of 695 m (2,280 ft). Its downtown area is 1891 m (6,204 ft) above sea level.
About 96 km (60 mi) southeast of the city is the Stone Forest, a karst formation developed as a tourist attraction consisting of rock caves, arches, and pavilions. It is part of the larger karst-based landscape of the area.
Cwb), average highs are around 15 °C (59 °F) in winter and 24 °C (75 °F) in summer. With its perpetual spring-like weather which provides the ideal climate for plants and flowers, Kunming is known as the "City of Eternal Spring". The city is covered with blossoms and lush vegetation all-year round. The period from May to October is the rainy season and the rest of the year is dry. The city has a mean annual rainfall of 1010 millimetres (40 in), with an annual sunshine period of 2,250 hours and an annual frost-free period of 230 days. Extreme temperatures in the city have ranged from −7.8 °C to 32.2 °C (90 °F).
mines in the country. Rock salt reserves are 1,222 million tons and mirabilite
reserves are 1,908 million tons. Dongchuan is a major copper production base.
Proven reserves of Coal bed gas is about 500 billion cubic meters, equal to 720 million tons of standard coal. http://en.km.gov.cn/showArticle.aspx?cid=57&aid=230 Geothermal
resources are widely distributed.
Kunming is a significant horticultural center in China, providing products such as grain, wheat, horsebeans, corn, potato and fruit such as peaches, apples, oranges, grapes and chestnuts. Kunming is world-famous for its flowers and flower-growing exports. More than 400 types of flowers are commonly grown in Kunming. The camellia
, yulan magnolica, azalea
, fairy primrose, lily and orchid are known as the six famous flowers of the city.
The camellia was confirmed by the Municipality of Kunming as its city flower in 1983.
The Kunming city government plans to create an environmental trial court
to deal with environment-related lawsuit
s. It is to be part of the city's intermediate people's court and will have jurisdiction
over appeal
s by companies that have been found guilty of violating environmental law
s in cities throughout Yunnan province.
s that were discovered in 2002 was an important new invertebrate
animal species from Early Cambrian deposits at Chengjiang near Kunming. Didazoon haoae represented an entirely new phylum
of metazoans (multicellular animals), the phylum Vetulicolia
. The specimen had a series of gill slits, which suggested that this new group illustrates an early stage in the diversification of the deuterostome
s, one of the major animal divisions. Other deuterostome groups are the chordate
s (which includes the vertebrate
s), hemichordates, and echinoderm
s. Also reported was a Devonian Chinese fossil fish, Styloichthys changae, that has features linking the lungfish
to tetrapod
s (four-legged vertebrates).
In 2004, newly discovered well-preserved soft-bodied fossils of deuterostomes from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang deposits near Kunming represented a new group of echinoderms (a group of marine animals). Named vetulocystids, these deuterostomes were a diverse superphylum that included the chordates, hemichordates, and echinoderms. The find shed some light on the origin of the echinoderms. See also Myllokunmingia
.
minority culture. Twenty five ethnic minorities live in Yunnan. This is nearly half of the total number of ethnic minorities in China, and ethnic minorities make up about a third of the total provincial population. There is a strong migration
from the countryside.
Of the more than five million people registered as residents in Kunming last year, more than four million were Han
. The Yi people
were the most prominent minority in the city, with more than 400,000 residents. The least-represented ethnic minority in Kunming were the 75 Dulong people living in the city.
Ethnic populations (as of 2006):
The city center has three major squares and five major streets: Jinma Biji Square, Nanping Square and Dongfeng Square along with Nanping Jie, Jinbi Lu, Renmin Lu, Zhengyi Lu and Jingxin Jie. Qingnian Lu, Zhengyi Lu, and Renmin Lu are the main commercial areas in Kunming; the most popular pedestrian streets are Nanping Jie, Jingxing Birds-Flowers' Market, and Jinma Biji Fang.
Kunming's public focus is the huge square outside the Workers' Cultural Hall at the Beijing Lu-Dongfeng Lu intersection, where in the mornings there are crowds doing taijiquan and playing badminton
. Weekend amateur theatre are also performed in the square. Rapidly being modernized, the city's true center is west of the square across the adjacent Panlong River
(now more of a canal), outside the Kunming Department Store at the Nanping Lu/Zhengyi Lu crossroads, a densely crowded shopping precinct packed with clothing and electronics stores. The river is polluted, black and oily. Surrounding the area are plenty of new high-rises.
The center is an area of importance to Kunming's Hui
population, with Shuncheng Jie, one of the last old streets in the center of the city, previously forming a Muslim quarter. Until shortly before 2005, this street was full of wind-dried beef and mutton carcasses, pitta bread and raisin sellers, and huge woks of roasting coffee beans being earnestly stirred with shovels. Under Kunming's rapid modernisation, however, the street has been demolished to make way for apartments and shopping centers. Rising behind a supermarket one block north off Zhengyi Lu, Nancheng Qingzhen Si is the city's new mosque, its green dome and chevron-patterned minaret visible from afar and built on the site of an earlier Qing
edifice.
Running west off Zhengyi Jie just past the mosque, Jingxing Jie leads into one of the more bizarre corners of the city, with Kunming's huge Bird and Flower Market convening daily in the streets connecting it with the northerly, parallel Guanghua Jie. The market offers many plants such as orchids that have been collected and farmed across the province. In the small grounds of Wen Miao, a now vanished Confucian temple off the western end of Changchun Lu, there is an avenue of pines, an ancient pond and pavilion, and beds of bamboo, azaleas and potted palms-a quiet place where old men play chess and drink tea.
Jinbi Lu runs roughly parallel to and south of Dongfeng Lu, reached from Beijing Lu. Two large Chinese pagoda
s rise in the vicinity, each a solid thirteen storeys of whitewashed brick crowned with four iron cockerels. The West Pagoda was built between 824 and 859, during the Tang Dynasty
; its original counterpart, the East Pagoda, was built at the same time, but was destroyed by an earthquake in 1833 and rebuilt in the same Tang style in 1882. South down Dongsi Jie, past another mosque
, the entrance to the West Pagoda
is along a narrow lane on the right. In the tiny surrounding courtyard, sociable idlers while away sunny afternoons playing cards and sipping tea in the peaceful, ramshackle surroundings. The East Pagoda
is a more cosmetic, slightly tilted duplicate standing in an ornamental garden a few minutes' walk east on Shulin Jie. The temples associated with both pagodas are closed to the public.
, the composer of China's national anthem
.
Daguan Park
lies on Dian Chi in Kunming's southwestern limits. Originally laid out by the energetic seventeenth-century Qing emperor Kangxi, it has been modified over the years to include a noisy funfair, food stalls and emporiums, and is a favourite haunt of Kunming's youth.
Kunming's zoo, founded in 1950, is adjoined to Yuantong Park. The zoo houses 5,000 animals from 140 species and receives 3 million visitors a year.
Other parks in Kunming include Black Dragon Pool, and the Kunming Botanical Gardens in the north, and Wenmiao Tea Garden in Wuhua District
.
", located in the northern suburbs of Kunming, is six kilometers from central Kunming. From May 1 to October 31, 1999, Kunming held the 1999 World Horticulture Exposition, with the theme of "Man and Nature-Marching Toward the 21st Century". In the garden, visitors can see gardening and horticultural works from all over China and East Asia. All the horticultural works in the garden concentrate on the theme of "Man and Nature", with pavilions, towers, terraces, banks, islets and bridges.
The "Golden Hall Scenic Zone", located on the Mingfeng Hill in the northern suburbs of Kunming, is eight kilometers from central Kunming. Constructed in 1602 (the 30th year of the Wanli
reign period of the Ming Dynasty), all of its beans, pillars, arches, doors, windows, tiles, Buddhist statues, and horizontal inscribed boards are made of copper, weighing more than 200 tons. It is the largest copper building in China.
There are two major museums in Kunming, Yunnan Provincial Museum
and Kunming City Museum
. A third which opened in November 2006, is the Kunming Natural History Museum of Zoology
. Completed in 1995 is the Yunnan Ethnology Museum
.
Yuantong Si is northern Yunnan's major Buddhist temple and an active place of pilgrimage. It is Kunming's largest and most famous temple with the original structure being first constructed more than 1,200 years ago during the Tang Dynasty
. The temple sits on the southern slopes of Yuantong Park. Northwest about 12 km from the city center is the Qiongzhu Si (Bamboo Temple) built in 639 and rebuilt in 1422 to 1428.
South Asian Gate
will be Kunming's first supertall skyscaper.
Kunming is bounded by Qujing
City to the east, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture
to the southeast and Yuxi
City to the southwest, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture
to the west and Zhaotong
City to the northeast. Kunming also borders with Panzhihua
prefecture level city and Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture
of Sichuan province.
Kunming plans to add two new districts to its existing four urban districts (Panlong, Wuhua, Guandu, Xishan) over the next few years.
and crafts found throughout the province. The first IFACU general assembly is scheduled to take place in Kunming sometime in 2008.
Kunming's cuisine is distinctly Yunnanese
and combines fresh ingredients afforded by the moderate climate with mild herbs and spices giving its cooked dishes sufficient flavour but lacking the pungency associated with food from other regions of the country. The city's climate fosters the growth of literally hundreds of species of mushroom
which are consequently a predominant feature of many dishes. There are other regional Chinese cuisine
s, with a few upmarket restaurants serving international dishes. Back lanes running north off Dongfeng Xi Lu or Jinbi Lu have the famous stalls and restaurants where the locals offer specialties such as grilled cheese, hotpots, fried snacks rolled in chilli powder, loaves of meat-stuffed soda bread, and rich duck and chicken casseroles. The special dish of Kunming is guò qiáo mĭxiàn, a boiling, chicken soup with rice noodles under a very thin layer of oil. Raw meat and vegetables are added by the consumer to ensure the ingredients are fresh and the ingredients will be cooked in the hot soup since the cut of the raw meat and vegetables are extremely thin. The legend behind "crossing bridge noodles" involves a student studying for the imperial exam (which was given once per year). He went to study on an island a short way from his wife and village. Every day his wife would bring him food, but because of the distance (she had to cross a bridge) the food would get cold. The student's wife figured out that by layering the broth with oil, she could keep the food hot.
Some of the most famous Kunming food is as follows:
Haigeng National Training Center is located on Lake Dianchi near Kunming's award-winning Lakeview Golf Club and new condominium developments, and is relatively isolated. It contains eight basketball courts, weight rooms, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, a dozen football pitches, two running tracks, a pool for swimming and one for diving. It also has a large snooker hall, a room for table tennis and a volleyball gym. Athletes, coaches and team managers stay onsite in the complex's many dormitories and hotel rooms.
Hongta Sports Center was built in 2000 by one of Yunnan's largest corporations Hongta cigarette company with a cost of US$58 million. Near Haigeng Park, the complex is mostly used by professional athletes but also acts as a sports club for the general public. The general public can use all of its extensive facilities and every weekend, it hosts amateur football matches. Aside from about 10 football pitches, including one surrounded by a running track, Hongta also has a 50 m swimming pool, a badminton gymnasium, tennis courts and a basketball court. It also has one of China's few ice hockey rinks, and a workout room with treadmills and weightlifting machines. There are also game rooms for air hockey and pool tables, and a basement bowling alley. Hongta also has a 101-room hotel and restaurant.
is a major attraction in Kunming. There are four golf course
s within an hour's drive of downtown. For the last six years, Spring City Golf and Lake Resort in nearby Yiliang County has reigned as the best golf course in China and Hong Kong according to US Golf Digest. In 2004, it was named Asia's best golf resort by Asian Golf Monthly. It hosts the Kunming Leg of the Omega China Tour.
Kunming has attracted foreign investment in golf course development. "Spring City" Golf Resort is a US$600 million project that began as an investment led by Singapore's Keppel Land Group in 1992. Today it is not only ranked by some as China's top golf course, but also one of the top golf destinations in all of Asia. Much of this is attributable to Keppel's financial backing in addition to having golf legend Jack Nicklaus
and eminent golf course designer Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
design the two courses.
and Beijing Film Academy
.The whole project is expected to be completed by 2013 with a total investment of 17 billion yuan ($2.3 billion).
Kunming is among the most famous historical and cultural cities and one of the top tourist cities in China. Due to its pleasant climate, plateau scenery, age-old history, diverse ethnic customs, and unique plants and animals, Kunming attracts domestic and foreign tourists all year round. As the tourism center of Yunnan province, Kunming has also been a transport hub, from where tourists can go easily to places such as Dali
, Lijiang and Shangrila
. Kunming is located in an earthquake zone and the last earthquake happened in 2009.
Over 24 million domestic tourists visited Kunming in 2007, with 800,000 foreign tourists visiting annually. Kunming's total revenue from tourism in 2007 was 16.8 billion yuan, an increase of 8.0% over 2006.
Kunming hosts the China International Travel Mart every two years. This tourism and regions were present during the 2005 edition.
Conferencing and exhibition venues in Kunming include the Kunming International Convention and Exhibition Center and the Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Hall.
The Kingdom of the Little People
, a theme park featuring performers with dwarfism
, is also located near Kunming.
Kunming has three distinct economic advantages over other cities in southwest China: abundant natural resources, a booming local consumer market and the mildest climate in the region. Kunming's economy was ranked 12th of all Chinese cities in 1992.
Due to its position at the geographical center of Yunnan, one of China's largest producers of agricultural products, minerals and hydroelectric power, Kunming is the main commercial hub for most of the province's vast resources.
Kunming's chief industries are copper
, lead
and zinc
production. Its iron
and steel
industry has been greatly expanded. Salt
and phosphate
mines around Kunming are some of the largest in China. Yunnan Copper Company Limited, based in Kunming, is one of Yunnan's largest mining corporations. From the late 1970s, Kunming's main industries also came to include food and tobacco processing and the manufacture of construction equipment
and machines.
In May 1995, the State Council
approved Kunming as an Open City. By the end of that year, the city had approved 929 overseas-funded enterprises with a total investment of 2.286 billion US dollars including 1.073 billion U.S. dollars of foreign capital. More than 40 projects each had an investment of more than nine million U.S. dollars.
Kunming is also a center of engineering
and the manufacture of machine tool
s, electrical machine
ry, equipment
and automobile
s (including heavy goods vehicles). It has a major chemical industry
, as well as plastics, cement
works and textile
factories. Its many processing plant
s, which include tanneries, woodworking
and papermaking
factories, use local agricultural product
s. In 1997, Yunnan Tire Co. opened a tire plant in Kunming, with a capacity to produce two million tires per year.
Because of its location in the southwest of China, Kunming missed out on China's rapid economic growth in the 1990s. However, the city has recently received renewed attention, becoming an international commercial hub for South and Southeast Asia. The Kunming economic authorities are active participants in the Greater Mekong Subregion
(GMS), promoting trade throughout China
, Cambodia
, Laos
, Myanmar
, Thailand
, Singapore
and Vietnam
.
Several railroads and highways have been planned to connect Kunming to areas of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, providing access to seaports.
In 2006, the Chinese government approved a 2912 km oil pipeline to be built from the Indian Ocean coastal town of Sittwe
, Myanmar to Kunming. This pipeline will carry African and Middle Eastern petroleum to China, bypassing some oil shipments through the Strait of Malacca
and the South China Sea
. The pipeline will cut oil transport time by two weeks. In addition, Kunming is also said to be the site for an oil refinery
for the incoming oil.
(biological medicine, new materials, electronic information, photoelectron, agriculture) and Kunming Economic and Technology Development Zone
(mechanical equipment production, biological science and food industry, information industry, software).
First established in 1992, Kunming Economic & Technology Development Zone is a national-level zone approved by State Council. Kunming is located in east-central Yunnan province with preferential location. After several years' development, the zone has formed its pillar industries, which include tobacco processing, machinery manufacturing, electronic information, and biotechnology.
The Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone (KMHNZ), is a state-level high-tech industrial zone established in 1992 to the northwest of downtown Kunming. It is administratively part of Kunming City. It has covers an area of 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi). KMHNZ is located in the northwest part of Kunming city, with 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Kunming Railway Station, and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Kunming Wujiaba International Airport.
in Yunnan Province. http://en.km.gov.cn/ColumnInfo.aspx?cid=23&page=2
The largest include:
39.88 billion for 2007 topped the list, while Hongyun Group took the third place with revenues of RMB39.23 billion. The tobacco
sector remains the largest sector in the province.
Top 10
Top 10 Kunming-based companies, according to Yunnan Provincial Enterprise Association http://www.clzg.cn/xinwen/2007-11/10/content_1023835.htm:
(company; annual operating revenue; primary business)
Financial services
Pharmaceuticals
Kunming is the only major city in Yunnan province, with a population of 4.8 million people. Real wealth has been generated in the last decade through pillar industries such as hydro-electric power, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, tourism and the local property market. Once an economic backwater, the city of Kunming has emerged as a potential market for imported goods and services from around the world as well as goods produced by foreign invested enterprises. Kunming is quickly becoming one of China's most promising second-tier retail markets.
Modern retail stores have sprung up over the past four years. Several hypermarkets and supermarket chains have taken root while convenience stores are proliferating.
In 2008 Kunming municipality's per capita disposable income reached 14,482 yuan. Given the relatively low cost of living in Kunming, city residents are increasingly spending on retail goods and services. Kunming's government has begun to acknowledge the growing influence of consumer spending
on local economic growth. Retail spending in 2006 totaled 70.074 billion yuan, a 23.1 percent increase over 2007.
One unique aspect of the retail scene in Kunming is that there are very few centralized shopping areas offering a wide variety of goods. This is primarily due to the city's loose zoning
and the lack of an integrated development plan. While lagging behind larger cities in categories such as concentration of high-technology, Kunming has a high concentration of foreign retailers and is already home to four Carrefours, one B&Q, one Metro and three Wal-Marts. Kunming also has three Watson's outlets and a growing number of international fast food outlets such as McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut. Louis Vuitton recently opened an outlet in Kunming, one of 16 nationwide, in the luxury-focused Gingko Shopping Center in the city's center. Gingko also contains outlets for high-end goods by Salvatore Ferragamo, Chanel, Versace, Mont Blanc and Burberry. The French luxury brand Hermes chose Gingko in Kunming as the location for its first mainland retail outlet two years ago. Luxury car companies are also making their presence felt in Kunming. Big names including Mercedes-Benz, Maserati, Lexus and Porsche have dealerships in the city.
In July 2006, Hong Kong-based property developer Shui On Land signed an agreement with the Kunming government in relation to a residential, business and cultural development covering 2.5 million square meters.
The area around Lake Dianchi, just southwest of the city center, is currently seeing a boom in high-end residential projects.
n governments including Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Tibet, Chongqing
and Chengdu
. Kunming Fair has been successfully held annually for fourteen consecutive years. In addition to a mass of domestic buyers and over 1,000 Chinese exhibitors, each fair has attracted about 4,000 to 6,000 overseas guests from around fifty countries. The accumulated trade and investment contracts signed during the fairs are estimated to be worth about 25 billion US dollars. See also, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade
(CCPIT), the main organizing body.
From 2008, China's Ministry of Commerce
has participated in hosting the fair with the stated goal of increasing its scale and quality.
Chenggong
, 20 minutes drive from central Kunming and already a major source of fresh flowers, has plans to emerge as the "Flower Hub of Asia". According to the Kunming Administration Public Information Service Web, Chenggong exported 812 tons of flowers to Singapore
in 2007, with trade volume of US$1,300,000.
The authorities in Kunming have formulated plans for the development of each district in Chenggong. While Kunming's administrative authorities have already moved to Chenggong, a number of key universities in Yunnan, like Yunnan University
and Yunnan Normal University
are also relocating to the area. With Chenggong already home to Kunming International Airport and the Kunming International Flora Auction Trading Center Co., Ltd. the county has positioned itself as one of China's main flower producers.
The "Kunming International Flower Exhibition" is now held every year. http://www.ynflora.cn/ It is organized by the Government of Yunnan province and sponsored by Yunnan Flower Industry Office, CCPIT Yunnan branch and Yunnan EXPO Group.
The Yunnan Telecom Corporation Kunming Branch is a multiple high tech enterprise that is the main driver of telecommunications in Kunming. Kunming Branch currently operates a modern fixed telephone network and with more than 1,000,000 subscribers and has 2,000,000 internet users. The data network has 5,000 of Netphone dial ports and the outbound bandwidth of the Chinanet has reached 1.2G within this year. It operates the CHINAPAC, DDN, ATM/CHINA FR and the computer internet, Multimedia Communication Network, IP broad band MAN based on the ATM broadband Technology that have covered the whole city, which can provide various services such as ISDN and ADSL. All of which give a strong support to the three online roll-out projects. The Kunming Branch has built up the IP broadband communication network based on IP over DWDM mode.
connectivity by the end of 2009 with the "Kunming Wi-Fi Metropolitan Area Network project". It would deploy more than 3 thousand access points in Kunming to provide the convenience and reliability of NonStop Wireless networking.
The first phase will enable Wi-Fi access along Kunming's main ring roads, important scenic spots, the central business district and some residential areas. Phases two and three will extend coverage to the entire Kunming prefecture area.
mobile phone
license
s in June 2009 with 28 other second- and third-tier Chinese mainland cities. First-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou were issued 3G licenses in early January 2009.
will soon be completed, forming part of a transnational highway that will eventually link Yunnan with Thailand
. Projects such as these and the Pan-Asian Railway-a bold project linking Kunming to Singapore
via Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia
and Vietnam
, with a total length of 5,600 km of rail line, due for completion in the next few years-are likely to turn Kunming into a major logistics hub.
Kunming East Station is at present Yunnan province's only container handling depot, with direct links to only three provinces; Guangdong
, Guizhou
and Sichuan
. It also has direct access to the metropolitan district of Chongqing
. These lines are currently being upgraded to carry double-stacked container wagons. In addition, there is a large shortage of rail cars suited for containers and large volumes better suited to be transported in containers are still carried on flat-beds or general open wagon cars better suited to carrying bulk commodities.
In July 2006, as part of the Kunming Development Plan, construction of a comprehensive intermodal container depot located in Jiaying, Chenggong County
, about 20 km from Kunming City, one of 18 new rail container depots planned by the Railway Ministry across the country. The engineering construction program occupies an area of 16,000 ha
, with a fixed investment roughly equal to RMB449.5 million (US$55.6 million). The new depot handles 63 million tons annually.
The Jiaying Depot is connected with the new system of highways built linking Yunnan to the increasingly important markets of Southeast Asia
, facilitating cheap Chinese exports to the region and granting resource-poor China greater access to the region's massive raw material resources. Yunnan has thereby become a progressively important area in the Southwest's rail logistics both in terms of national and international logistics.
and China's domestic tourism industry
in addition to Beijing's 'Go West
' initiative aimed at increasing domestic and foreign investment in western China
.
The strategies for economic development in Yunnan, as designed by the provincial government, can be described in short as the realization of 3 targets and the construction of 5 pillar industries. Yunnan often proudly presents itself as a "green" province with an equally "green" economy. This means importance is attached to the sustainable development of the region's bio-resources as well as the protection of its natural environment. The agricultural sector therefore gets a lot of support in the development of e.g. green or organic food
, but also the production of traditional Chinese medicine
, cut flowers and bio-chemicals is being encouraged.
The focus of the five pillar industries are the development of the tourism, tobacco, mineral and (hydro)power industries. Furthermore, as already mentioned, there's support for the development and improvement of green food, the horticultural sector and the biochemical industry.
20 years ago Kunming started a strong partnership with its sister city Zürich
, Switzerland
to share experiences on sustainable urban development
. Today, many sectors are concerned by this cooperation. The so-called "Chinagarten" (Chinese garden) is a remiscence for Zürich's technical and scientific assistance in the development of the Kunming city drinking water supply and drainage. See also: Water supply and sanitation in the People's Republic of China
.
The technical cooperation between Kunming and Zürich started with a cooperation project in the field of drinking water
supply. Later other sectors such as "old town protection", "sewage and waste water treatment", "city planning", "urban and regional transport planning" were added in the co-operation list.
Based on their experience, specialists from Zürich supported Kunming in the process of urban planning and development
. Many Chinese specialists went to Zürich for technical visits or trainings, getting an insight into the management of an advanced modern European city. The dialogue between specialists has been an important experience for both partners, establishing a relationship of mutual trust over the years.
The cooperation has improved the water supply
with the planning of modern drinking water treatment plants. It also led to a plan of protecting old buildings in the city. The solutions used in Kunming have, in the meantime, become a model in the People's Republic of China and are receiving attention beyond the provincial borders.
houses and a 2,000 m² Visitor Centre on a five hectare site. In 2006 the project was completed and is the first "intelligent & green" project in mainland China. Expo INTEGER Kunming is the first eco-town
in southern China, with an emphasis on sustainable lifestyle, environmental protection and intelligent technology. The project aims to provide a focal point for the improvement of housing standards and building technology in the context of China. It will develop a sustainable housing and lifestyle model appropriate for the urbanization of the western region in China.
Traffic congestion
has been a problem for residents in recent years in Kunming. Fifty years ago, the small city only had several hundred motor vehicles. The figure increased to almost 100,000 in the mid 1970s. Since the 1980s, the city has embarked on a fast development. Road construction has not kept up to pace with the increasing amount of traffic, though several projects at expanding and connecting roads are being implemented. Currently, the city has over 1.2 million cars.
Kunming's then Vice-Mayor Li Jiang said the serious imbalance between the enormous amount of traffic and limited roads affected not only the city's economic and social development but also the residents' daily lives.
Several regulations being implemented are: 1. Rigorous driver training including retraining the driving teachers 2. Training the police to enforce new and existing driving and parking regulations 3. Train the police to drive in a completely law abiding manner. 4. Enforce traffic regulations on all vehicles, especially those with white license plates who routinely break laws. 5. Develop and enforce zoning laws that force property owners to provide adequate parking for cars, scooters, bicycles and delivery vehicles. 6. By implementing no. 5, eliminate the parking of bicycles and scooters on pedestrian sidewalks.
One major co-operation results in transportation sector was the Kunming Urban Public Transportation Master Plan. Several modern bus lanes were planned according to this plan, and the Bus Rapid Transit
(BRT) priority policy was put forward by Kunming Administration. The modern BRT can reach the carrying capacity and service level of rail traffic, but its construction and operation costs are much lower than those of rail traffic, which makes it suitable for Kunming as a medium-sized city in China.
After establishing the BRT priority policy, Kunming built its first modern bus lane in April 1999, which marked the earliest practice of BRT in China. Today, four special bus lanes have been constructed and the basic layout of a cross-grid bus lane network is already in the place.
However, starting to promote BRT can't solve all transportation problems. Compared with world-class BRT systems, Kunming's BRT system still has a long way to go in improving carrying capacity and service level, to let the public see the expected effects of public traffic priority.
Meanwhile, the bus lane network is to be further expanded, to make the bus lanes reach the planned length of 63 km. To achieve this target, more high-standard bus lanes are to be built, and to improve the city's existing bus lanes' operation and management levels as well. It has been suggested that the priorities in promoting BRT should be put into practice the new free-transfer ticket systems and optimize the bus route network.
Kunming recently has adopted prohibiting automobiles turning left policy. However, the responses to this measure are mixed. Wang Haihui, who is from the city's transportation department, said this measure alleviated road congestion situation and reduced passengers' time spent on the buses. But Yang Qing, Professor of Urban Planning at Kunming Ligong University, who drives a car every day, complained the measure didn't have very obvious positive impact on his daily transit.
How to solve the traffic jams has aroused public concerns. According to a random survey by the local television station, nearly 60 per cent of Kunmingers attribute the traffic jams to a large increase in motor vehicles. He Dongquan, Director of Transportation Program of Energy Foundation, suggests that more people should take buses instead of driving cars in order to save road space.
According to Xinhua News Agency's report, a blueprint entitled Modern New Kunming is in the making. According to this plan, Kunming will be built into a city formed by four ecological areas with specific functions, favorable living environment, and convenient transportation.
The government plans to put in place policies (low-interest loans, tax exemption and other concessions or subsidies) and a fund to encourage private sector
participation in the city's solar energy-based infrastructure development. The fund, which will be included in the municipal government's annual budget, will particularly finance LED
for public lighting, solar photovoltaic projects, and the propagation of energy saving projects.
As of 2007, the Kunming Economic Committee listed about 130 solar energy enterprises in the city. Of these, 118 enterprises produce solar lamps and solar water heaters, with a combined total production value of about US$ 43.8 million, and 10 enterprises are engaged in solar photovoltaic cells manufacturing, with a total production value of about US$51.2 million.
Suntech Power
announced in December 2008 that it is jointly constructing a solar energy project with Yunnan Provincial Power Investment and other investors. The 1MW first-phase of the Shilin
66MW on-grid solar power station in Kunming began generating power on December 28, 2009. The initial phase of the 66MW project was originally scheduled to start production in first half of 2010 while the 20MW second phase and 36 MW third phase are under construction.
Kunming is situated on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Rail and air are the main two methods to travel to or from Kunming from outside Yunnan.
, located 4–5 km southeast of central Kunming that have new international and domestic terminal buildings next to each other. Kunming has air connections with several Chinese and Southeast Asian cities. CAAC
shuttle buses (¥5) serve passengers between the airport (Tuodong Lu) and the city center. Transport by taxi cost around 15 yuan and it takes about 20 minutes. Three public buses run on the route including No. 52, 67 and 78.
Kunming Changshui International Airport
,a new international airport in Kunming slated for completion by 2011. It is projected to be China's fourth largest airport and one of the world's top 80 airports. The new airport is expected to greatly increase the city's access to countries in SE Asia and S Asia. The airport is being constructed by Yunnan Airport Group. It will be able to handle 25 million passengers yearly, compared to the current capacity of 20 million at Kunming Wujiaba International Airport
, which will remain operational until the switchover in 2011. The new airport is expected to handle 38 million every year by 2020 and 65 million passengers per year in 2035.
The new airport will have a 4,000 m long and 60 m wide runway, a 4,000 m long and 45 m wide runway; a 550,000 square meter terminal building; a 2,800 square-meter tower; and other supporting facilities including air traffic management and a fuel supply system. The terminal is the largest free-standing structure in the world. It looks like a bird, 1150 meters wide, 850 meters long. The columns that support the terminal will not be regular vertical columns; they will look like waving ribbons that extend throughout the terminal.
The airport is projected to cost US$3 billion and it will be partially solar power
ed. It was designed by the UK-based design engineering consultancy Arup
.
The airport construction is part of the larger Kunming Air Hub City. The Air Hub City is planned to have about 200,000 residents. Most of its industries will be related to transport: logistics, aircraft maintenance, aviation education and technology, travel-related services, hospitality, and tourism.
. China Southwest Airlines used to operate routes to and from Kunming, until it was merged with Air China
.
Other than China Eastern and Air China, Kunming Airlines
, Shanghai Airlines
, Dragonair
, JAL
, Malaysia Airlines (MAS), Korean Air
, Vietnam Airlines
and Thai Airways International
are the other main airlines that operate out of Kunming (see also Kunming Wujiaba International Airport
).
Lucky Air
is a budget airline based in Kunming and operates scheduled services from Dali to Kunming and Xishuangbanna, and plans to expand to other areas of China.
China National Highways 108
, 213
and 320
intersect in Kunming. Highways link Kunming to Thailand
, Vietnam
and Laos
, and provide Yunnan province access to seaports of Southeast Asia
.
, Shanghai-Kunming Railway
from Guizhou
, and Nanning-Kunming Railway from Guangxi
converge in Kunming from the north, northeast and east. The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway
runs from Kunming southeast to Hekou
and Lao Cai
on the Sino-Vietnamese border and then on to Hanoi
. The Kunming-Yuxi Railway runs south to Yuxi
, where a second rail line to Vietnam is being planned and built. To the west of Kunming, the Guangtong-Dali Railway extends off the Chengdu-Kunming Line to Dali
(Xiaguan Town
).
Kunming has two railway stations:
Trains from Kunming to: Beijing
(daily; 48 hr); Chengdu
(3 daily; 18-21 hr); Chongqing
(2 daily; 23 hr); Guangzhou
(2 daily; 45 hr); Guilin
(2 daily; 30 hr); Guiyang
(5 daily; 12 hr); Hanoi
(daily; 28 hr); Hekou
(1 daily; 16 hr); Kaiyuan (2 daily; 8 hr); Nanning
(daily; 20 hr); Panzhihua
(3 daily; 6 hr); Shanghai
(2 daily; 60 hr); Xiaguan
(daily; 8 hr); Xichang
(3 daily; 12 hr).
. An elevated test section had been under construction since 2009. Lines 1 and 2 were scheduled to open in 2012, but with delays, it is estimated they won't open until early 2013. Construction on line 3 began in August 2010 and is expected to be completed in 2016. The entire system consisting of 6 lines and covering a total of 162 kilometers is estimated to be complete by 2018.
1. Kunming-Guiyang-Changsha-Hangzhou Shanghai. The speed will be 350 km/h or 219 miles/h.
2. Kunming-Nanning. The speed will be 200 km/h or 125 miles/h. Later the speed may be improved to 250 km/h or 156 miles/h.
3. Kunming-Vietnam via Honghe Prefecture.
4. Kunming-Singapore via Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Study or planning is being done for the following railways.
1. Kunming-Chengdu. The speed will be 250 km/h or 156 miles/h.
2. Kunming-Chongqing. The speed will be 350 km/h or 219 miles/h.
3. Intercity rail will connect three neighboring cities: Qujing, Chuxiong, and Yuxi. The line to Chuxiong will then be extended to Dali. The speed will be 250 km/h or 156 miles/h.
4. Kunming to Delhi
, India
via Myanmar
Yunnan has built a comprehensive highway system with roads reaching almost all the major cities or towns in the region. Bus travel across the region is extensive. Buses head from Kunming to destinations such as Dali
and Lijiang several times a day.
There are four major long-distance bus stations in Kunming with the South Bus Station and Railway Square Bus Station being the most primary.
Buses from Kunming to: Anshun
(24 hr); Baoshan (18 hr); Chengdu
(36 hr); Chuxiong (6 hr); Dali
(12 hr); Gejiu (5 hr); Guiyang
(72 hr); Hekou
(16 hr); Jianshui
(5 hr); Jinghong
(11 hr); Kaiyuan (5 hr); Lijiang (11 hr); Mangshi (22 hr); Nanning
(72 hr); Panxian (12 hr); Ruili
(24 hr); Shilin
(3 hr); Tonghai (2 hr); Wanding (25 hr); Xiaguan
(10 hr); Xichang
(24 hr); Xingyi
(13 hr).
Leaving China by road into Vietnam
and Laos
is also possible through the respective crossings at Hekou in southeastern Yunnan or Bian Mao Zhan in Xishuangbanna.
The Kunming-Bangkok Expressway
is the first expressway from China
to Bangkok via Laos. The 1,800 km long Kunming-Bangkok Expressway begins at Kunming going down to Ban Houayxay
in Laos; it then crosses the Mekong River to Chiangkhong in Thailand
and eventually reaches Bangkok
.
At the 14th Greater Mekong Subregion
Ministerial Conference in July 2007, China, Laos and Thailand signed an agreement on the construction of a new bridge over the Mekong River to connect Chiangkhong in Thailand and Ban Houayxay in Laos, to the Kunming-Bangkok Highway. The completion of the new bridge over the Mekong River will help connect China's southeast provinces with Bangkok. With capital investments from both China and Thailand, the bridge is expected to be completed in 2011 and will be the last link in the highway system that winds through the Mekong River region.
Nearly two hundred public bus lines crisscross the city center, covering the whole prefecture. Prices are usually 1 yuan for a no air-conditioned and 2 yuan for air-conditioned.
Taxis are plenty with the starting price at ¥8 for the first three kilometer and ¥1.6 added for per extra km. After 10pm price rises to ¥9.6 for the first 3 km and ¥2.7 added to per extra km.
Cycling is common, and many hotels around the Kunming Railway Station provide bicycle rental services usually priced 2 yuan/hour and 10 yuan/day.
Conscious of its growing traffic issues, the city is currently renovating a pedestrian
-friendly city centre.
s: Beijing Lu forms the north-south axis, passing just east of the center as it runs for 5 km between the city's two trains stations; while Dongfeng Lu crosses it halfway along, divided into east (Dongfeng Dong Lu), middle (Dongfeng Zhong Lu) and west (Dongfeng Xi Lu) sections as it cuts right through the business center. The far end runs out of the city as Renmin Xi Lu, the first leg of the Burma Road
. Most of the city's famous hotels and foreign consulates lies along Dongfeng Dong Lu and the southern half of Beijing Lu, while the majority of specific landmarks and shopping district are north and west of the center around Dongfeng Xi Lu and Cuihu Park (Green Lake Park)
. Circling most of this is the city's first highway
ring road
, Huancheng Lu, though others are planned.
, one of the two group armies that comprise the Chengdu Military Region responsible for the defense of China's southwestern borders with India
and Myanmar
, as well as security in Tibet
.
, with universities, medical and teacher-training colleges, technical schools, and scientific research institutes.
The city has more than 300 scientific research institutions employing 450,000 scientists and technicians. Included were 68,500 people with middle-level and senior professional titles.
In 1995, the city achieved 60 research findings, of which one reached the "advanced international standard", 17 "advanced domestic standard" and 21 "advanced provincial standard".
, aka CEIBS, will launch in 2009 its Business Development Certificate Programme in Kunming. With the Business Development Certificate Programme, CEIBS and program partner Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
aim to train approximately 500 Chinese managers in the coming four years, with the first phase of the program beginning in 2008 in Hefei
, the capital of Anhui province. Kunming and Harbin
will be the focus of the program's expansion in 2009. The program is part of a two million Euro umbrella project funded by the EU, which also includes another program that provides scholarships for MBA students from China's less-developed regions.
(CAS) was established in 1957. It was formerly known as Kunming Office of CAS and was extended into a branch in 1958 and renamed as Yunnan Branch of CAS. In 1962, Yunnan Branch combined with Sichuan Branch and Guizhou Branch to establish Southwest China Branch of CAS in Chengdu. In October 1978, Kunming Branch was reestablished at the approval of the State Council.
As a working department of CAS, Kunming Branch now administrates five research institutes: Kunming Institute of Botany
, Kunming Institute of Zoology
, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden, Yunnan Observatory and Institute of Geochemistry in Guiyang. At present, it has a total staff of 1,160, of which 808 are professional researchers, 7 academicians, 343 senior researchers. There are also 447 Ph.D. degree students and 530 master degree students. The retired staff is 1,090. The Branch has set up 3 national key open labs, 2 CAS key open labs, 5 key labs set up by CAS and local province, 3 engineering centers, 5 doctoral sites, 5 post doctoral stations and national famous plant herbariums and halls of wildlife specimen and had a series of updated research instruments and apparatus, computer networks and biodiversity information systems. The Branch has become an advanced comprehensive science research base in astronomy, geology and biology.
The administrative organ of Kunming Branch is organized by three functional departments (General Office, Office of Personnel and Office of Sci-tech Cooperation) and a supporting department (Network Center). The major tasks are: to construct the leadership of the five institutes and cadres reserve; to organize and facilitate the cooperation between CAS and Yunnan Province and Guizhou Province; to coordinate projects and poverty alleviation; to undertake the coordination and administration of the knowledge creation base of "Conservation and Research Development of Southwest China Biological Resources and Biodiversity". Kunming Branch has established international exchange platforms with southeast Asian countries. In 2005, a delegation from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
was invited to visit Kunming Branch and reached a cooperation intention with Kunming Branch in staff exchange, coed graduate students, research program cooperation, scientific data exchange and set up labs jointly. Kunming Branch has organized the affiliated institutes to apply for the foreign aid training program from the state.
At present, Kunming Branch is preparing the establishment of the "Biodiversity National Lab" with Yunnan Province.
provider in the city. It has been predicted that private hospitals will provide 70% of total medical health care services by 2012 within Kunming City.
/AIDS
treatment center was built. The US$17.5 million center is located 28 km from downtown Kunming. The center has six main departments: clinical treatment, technical consulting, research and development, international exchange and cooperation, clinical treatment training and psychological therapy.The center cooperates with many of the NGOs in Kunming that are focused on HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. These organizations are working with provincial and local officials to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS among high-risk groups and prevent crossover into lower-risk groups.
Yunnan, with a population of more than 45 million, leads China in HIV/AIDS infections - primarily spread through intravenous drug use and unsafe sex, often involving the sex industry. According to official statistics, by the end of last year Yunnan was home to more than 48,000 HIV-infected patients, 3,900 patients with AIDS and a death toll of 1,768.
See also: HIV/AIDS in Yunnan
, HIV/AIDS in the People's Republic of China
Further reading: "Modeling the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Among Injecting Drug Users and Sex Workers in Kunming, China", Bulletin of Mathematical Biology Volume 68, Number 3 / April, 2006; Nicolas Bacaër, Xamxinur Abdurahman and Jianli Ye http://www.springerlink.com/content/5pk8224322r208x2/
is on Beijing Lu. Its foreign affairs department, located on Jinxing Huayuan, Jinxing Xiao Lu in the northeast of the city, handles immigration and travel visas.
in Southeast Asia. The Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau Narcotics Squad is the specialist counter-narcotics police service.
Police confiscated at least three tons of drugs in Yunnan in 2005. Yunnan province seized 10 tons of illegal drugs in 2006, accounting for 80 percent of the total drugs confiscated nationwide during the period, according to Sun Dahong, then deputy director of Yunnan's provincial Public Security Bureau
. The total is more than double the amount seized in the province in 2005.
Heroin and methamphetamine seem to be the main targets of the 30,000+ strong anti-drug police in Yunnan. The majority of heroin coming into China from the Golden Triangle passes through Dali, where it is then distributed to the rest of China and internationally via China's coastal cities.
Kunming Municipal Compulsory Rehabilitation Center in Kunming is the main rehabilitation center for drug addicts, mostly recovering from heroin addiction. International drug rings have used Yunnan and Kunming to channel new synthetic drugs (like methamphetamine
) as well as traditional drugs like heroin.
Opium was until recently in widespread medicinal use by many of the minority peoples of the province, however after the Opium War the Chinese government has made growing the poppy illegal, and all but stamped out its production within the borders of Yunnan.
Trade offices:
with:
Diplomats:
National Southwestern Associated University:
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
(云南) Province in Southwest China
Southwest China
Southwest China is a region of the People's Republic of China defined by governmental bureaus that includes the municipality of Chongqing, the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, and the Tibet Autonomous Region.-Provinces:-Municipalities:...
. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city
Prefecture-level city
A prefectural level city , prefectural city or prefectural level municipality is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China, ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. Prefectural level cities form the second level of the administrative...
, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government. It is also home to several universities, museums, galleries and other important economic, cultural, and educational institutions. The headquarters of many of Yunnan's large businesses are in Kunming as well. It was important during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as a Chinese military center, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
air base, and transport terminus for the Burma Road
Burma Road
The Burma Road is a road linking Burma with the southwest of China. Its terminals are Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. When it was built, Burma was a British colony.The road is long and runs through rough mountain country...
. Located in the middle of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Kunming is located at an altitude of 1,900 m above sea level and at a latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
just north of the Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Cancer
The Tropic of Cancer, also referred to as the Northern tropic, is the circle of latitude on the Earth that marks the most northerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead at its zenith...
. It covers an area of 21473 square kilometre and its urban area covers 2,081 km². Kunming has population of 6,432,212 including 3,055,000 in the urban area and is located at the northern edge of the large Lake Dian
Lake Dian
Dian Lake or Kunming Lake is a large inter-land lake located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau close to Kunming, Yunnan, China. Its nickname is "Sparkling Pearl Embedded in a Highland," and it was the model for the Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace in Beijing.It is a freshwater fault lake at above...
, surrounded by temples and lake-and-limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
hill landscapes.
Kunming consists of an old, previously walled city, a modern commercial district, residential and university areas. The city has an astronomical observatory
Yunnan Astronomical Observatory
Yunnan Astronomical Observatory an institution of Chinese Academy of Sciences sits on the Phoenix Hill in east suburb of Kunming, Yunnan, China. It is the only research observatory in the southwest of China. It is a state institution for astronomy research and public science education...
, and its institutions of higher learning include Yunnan University
Yunnan University
Yunnan University is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in Yunnan province, China. Its main campuses are located in the provincial capital city of Kunming...
, Yunnan Normal University
Yunnan Normal University
Yunnan Normal University is located in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province. Established in 1938 as the National Normal College of Southwestern Union University based on Beijing University, Tsinghua University, and Nankai University, it was named as National Kunming Normal College in 1946...
and a medical college
Kunming Medical University
Kunming Medical University , previously known as Kunming Medical College, is a specialist medical school located in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China.-History:In 1933, Donglu University initiated a specialized associate program in medicine...
. On the outskirts is a famed bronze temple, dating from the Ming dynasty.
Its economic importance derives from its geographical position. Positioned near the border with Southeastern Asian
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
countries, serving as a transportation hub
Transportation in Yunnan
The transport infrastructure of Yunnan is served by numerous transport modes, and forms an integral part of the structure Yunnan Province and the Southwest of China. Yunnan is served by several civilian airports and a major highway and rail network...
in Southwest China, linking by rail to Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and by road to Burma and Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
. This positioning also makes it an important trade center in this region of the nation. It also houses some manufacturing, chiefly copper, though some other chemicals, machinery, textiles, paper and cement take key. Though having a nearly 2,400 year history, its modern prosperity dates only from 1910, when the railroad from Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
was built. The city has continued to develop rapidly under China's modernization efforts. Kunming's streets have widened while office buildings and housing projects develop at a fast pace. Kunming has been designated a special tourism center and as such sports a proliferation of high-rises and luxury hotels.
Early history
Kunming long profited from its position on the caravan roads through to South-East Asia, IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
. Early townships in the southern edge of Lake Dianchi (outside the contemporary city perimeter) can be dated back to 279 BC, although they have been long lost to history. Early settlements in the area around Lake Dian
Lake Dian
Dian Lake or Kunming Lake is a large inter-land lake located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau close to Kunming, Yunnan, China. Its nickname is "Sparkling Pearl Embedded in a Highland," and it was the model for the Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace in Beijing.It is a freshwater fault lake at above...
date back to Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
times. The Dian Kingdom
Dian Kingdom
The Dian Kingdom was established by the Dian people, who lived around Lake Dian in northern Yunnan, China from the late Spring and Autumn Period until the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Dian buried their dead in vertical pit graves...
, whose original language was likely related to Tibeto-Burman languages was also established near the area.
Dian was subjugated by the Chinese Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
under the reign of Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
in 109 BC
109 BC
Year 109 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Numidicus and Silanus...
. The Han Dynasty incorporated the territory of the Dian Kingdom into their Yizhou Commandery, but left the King of Dian as the local ruler.
The Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
(205 BC-AD 220), seeking control over the Southern Silk Road running to Burma and India, brought small parts of Yunnan into China's orbit, though subsequent dynasties could do little to tame what was then a remote and wild border
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
land. During the Sui dynasty
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....
(581–618), two military expeditions were launched against the area, and it was renamed Kunzhou in Chinese sources.
Medieval China
Founded in 765, Kunming was known to the Chinese as Tuodong (拓东) city in the Kingdom of Nanzhao (737-902) during the 8th and 9th centuries. Tuodong later became part of the successor Kingdom of DaliKingdom of Dali
Dali or Great Li was a Bai kingdom centred in what is now Yunnan Province of China. Established by Duan Siping in 937, it was ruled by a succession of 22 kings until the year 1253, when it was conquered by an invasion of the Mongol Empire. The capital city was at Dali.- History :The Kingdom of...
(937-1253). Eventually this changed when Tuodong came under the control of the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
invasion of the southwest in 1252-1253. In 1276 it was founded by the Mongol rulers as Kunming County and became the provincial capital of Yunnan. The city grew as a trading center between the southwest and the rest of China. It is considered by scholars to have been the city of Yachi Fu (Duck Pond Town) where people had used cowries
Cowry
Cowry, also sometimes spelled cowrie, plural cowries, is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries...
as cash and ate their meat raw, as described by the 13th-century Venetian traveler Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
who traveled to the area and wrote about his fascination of the place.
Ming and Qing dynasties
In the 14th century, Kunming was retaken as the Ming DynastyMing Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
defeated the Mongols, which built a wall
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
surrounding present-day Kunming. Ming General Wu Sangui
Wu Sangui
Wu Sangui was a Ming Chinese general who was instrumental in the succession of rule to the Qing Dynasty in 1644...
defected to Manchu invaders 300 years later and held the city until his death in 1678, long after the rest of China had fallen under Manchu
Manchu
The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...
rule. During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
(1644–1911) dynasties, it was the seat of the superior prefecture of Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
.
The area was first dubbed Kunming in the period towards the decline of the Yuan Dynasty and later still in 1832, the beginnings of a real city were acknowledged within the city walls and significant structures within their confines. Founding of the city can, therefore be said to have been a predominantly 19th century affair. It was also in this century that the city grew to become the major market and transport centre for the region.
Kunming suffered at the hands of rebel leader Du Wenxiu, the Sultan of Dali
Kingdom of Dali
Dali or Great Li was a Bai kingdom centred in what is now Yunnan Province of China. Established by Duan Siping in 937, it was ruled by a succession of 22 kings until the year 1253, when it was conquered by an invasion of the Mongol Empire. The capital city was at Dali.- History :The Kingdom of...
, who attacked and besieged the city several times between 1858 and 1868. Little of the city's wealth survived the 1856 Panthay Rebellion, when most of the Buddhist sites in the capital were razed. Decades later Kunming began to be influenced by the West, especially from the French Empire
French colonial empires
The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
. In the 1890s, an uprising against working conditions on the Kunming-Haiphong rail line saw many laborers executed after France shipped in weapons to suppress the revolt. The meter-gauge rail line, only completed by around 1911, was designed by the French so that they could tap Yunnan's mineral resources for their colonies in Indochina.
Kunming was a communications center in early times and a junction of two major trading routes, one westward via Dali
Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture
Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture of Yunnan Province, China. Dali has an area of 29,460 km² and its capital is Xiaguan.-Subdivisions:...
and Tengchong County
Tengchong County
-Economy:Tengchong's industry and handicraft work were fostered during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, nearly 400 years ago. Factories and workshops were set up first by importing equipment from abroad. Earlier products included textile goods, leather, soaps, battery, cigarettes, matches, etc. They...
into Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, the other southward through Mengzi County to the Red River in Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
. Eastward, a difficult mountain route led to Guiyang
Guiyang
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province of Southwest China. It is located in the centre of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters...
in Guizhou province and thence to Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
province. To the northeast was a well-established trade trail to Yibin
Yibin
-Administrative divisions:-Economy:The city's industry focuses on electronics, food products, and power generation. It also produces paper, silk, and leather products...
in Sichuan province on the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
. But these trails were all extremely difficult, passable only by mule trains or pack-carrying porters.
Modern history
Yunnan-Vietnam Railway
The Yunnan–Vietnam Railway is a 855 km railway built by France during 1904-1910, connecting Haiphong, Vietnam with Kunming, Yunnan province, China. The section within China from Kunming to Hekou is known as the Kunming-Hekou Railway, and is 466 km long. The section within Vietnam...
to Haiphong
Haiphong
, also Haiphong, is the third most populous city in Vietnam. The name means, "coastal defence".-History:Hai Phong was originally founded by Lê Chân, the female general of a Vietnamese revolution against the Chinese led by the Trưng Sisters in the year 43 C.E.The area which is now known as Duong...
in north Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
(part of French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
). Kunming became a treaty port opening to foreign trade in 1908 and soon became a commercial center. In the 1930s its importance grew still further when the first highways were built, linking Kunming with Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
in Sichuan and Guiyang
Guiyang
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province of Southwest China. It is located in the centre of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters...
in Guizhou to the east. Kunming's rail link to Hanoi was cut during World War II, restored in 1957, cut again in 1979, and reopened in 1996.
Kunming was transformed into a modern city as a result of the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
in 1937 when the invading Japanese forces
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
caused a great number of east-coast Chinese refugees, some of whom were wealthy, to flood into the southwest of China. They brought with them dismantled industrial plants, which were then re-erected beyond the range of Japanese bombers. In addition, a number of universities
National Southwestern Associated University
When the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out between China and Japan in 1937, Peking University, Tsinghua University and Nankai University, merged to form Changsha Temporary University in Changsha, and later National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming...
and institutes of higher education were evacuated there. The increased money and expertise quickly established Kunming as an industrial and manufacturing base for the wartime government in Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
.
During the Second World War, the city of Kunming was prepared as a National Redoubt
National Redoubt
A national redoubt is a general term for an area to which the forces of a nation can be withdrawn if the main battle has been lost—or even beforehand if defeat is considered inevitable...
in case the temporary capital in Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
fell, an elaborate system of underground caves to serve as offices, barracks and factories was prepared but never utilised. Kunming was to have served again in this role during the ensuing Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
, but the Nationalist
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
garrison turned coat and joined the Communists. Instead Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
would become the last redoubt and home of the Chinese Nationalist government, a role it fulfills to this day.
When the Japanese occupied French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
in 1940, the links of Kunming with the west, both via the newly constructed Burma Road
Burma Road
The Burma Road is a road linking Burma with the southwest of China. Its terminals are Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. When it was built, Burma was a British colony.The road is long and runs through rough mountain country...
and by air, grew increasingly vital as Allied forces provided essential support by importing materials from the British-colony Burma. By this time, Kunming acted as an Allied military command center, which grouped the Chinese, American, British and French forces together for operations in Southeast Asia, including China, India and Burma. The Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
' Service Unit Detachment 101 (predecessor to the 1st Special Forces Group) was also headquartered in Kunming and whose mission was to divert and disrupt Japanese combat operations in Burma.
Later on in the war, Kunming was targeted by the Imperial Japanese Air Force during their bombing campaigns
Aerial Engagements of the Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War began on 7 July 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in the Republic of China. The regional conflict lasted until the end of World War II, when the Empire of Japan surrendered to the Allies in August 1945...
, and when the Burma Road was lost to the Japanese, the American Volunteer Group, known as the "Flying Tigers
Flying Tigers
The 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force in 1941–1942, famously nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was composed of pilots from the United States Army , Navy , and Marine Corps , recruited under presidential sanction and commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. The ground crew and headquarters...
", used Kunming as a base in 1941 and 1942 to fly in supplies over the Himalayas from British bases in India in defiance of Japanese assaults. They also were tasked with defending China's lifeline to the outside world, the Burma Road
Burma Road
The Burma Road is a road linking Burma with the southwest of China. Its terminals are Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. When it was built, Burma was a British colony.The road is long and runs through rough mountain country...
and the Ledo Road
Ledo Road
The Ledo Road was built during World War II so that the Western Allies could supply the Chinese as an alternative to the Burma Road which had been cut by the Japanese in 1942. It was renamed the Stilwell Road in early 1945 at the suggestion of Chiang Kai-shek...
, which had Kunming as a northern terminus. See Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road
Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road
Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road was the name of the Chinese intervention to aid their British allies in the 1942 Burma Campaign. Its forces were composed of the Fifth, Sixth and Sixty-sixth Army under the command of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma, commanded by Lt. General Joseph Stilwell, Lt...
.
Industry became important in Kunming during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The large state-owned Central Machine Works was transferred there from Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
, while the manufacture of electrical products, copper, cement, steel, paper, and textiles expanded. A university
Yunnan University
Yunnan University is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in Yunnan province, China. Its main campuses are located in the provincial capital city of Kunming...
was set up in 1922. Until 1952, Kunming was a walled city. The city government in 1952 ordered hundreds of young people to tear down the wall and use its bricks to make a new road running north-south. To show its appreciation for the young people that demolished the east wall, the city government named the new street after them. Their existence still echoes today in place names like Xiao Ximen (小西门, 'Lesser west gate') and Beimen Jie (北门街, 'North gate Street'). There are also less obvious connections to the wall, such as Qingnian Lu (青年路, 'Youth Road'), which was once Kunming's east wall.
After 1949 Kunming developed rapidly into an industrial metropolis
Metropolitan Regions of China
According to research by the of the People's Republic of China, ten major metropolitan regions are forming in China. Together, they constitute about one-tenth of China's land area, one-third of the country's population and one-half of the country's GDP...
with the construction of large iron and steel and chemical complexes, along with Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
, Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
and Guiyang
Guiyang
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province of Southwest China. It is located in the centre of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters...
in the southwest
Southwest China
Southwest China is a region of the People's Republic of China defined by governmental bureaus that includes the municipality of Chongqing, the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, and the Tibet Autonomous Region.-Provinces:-Municipalities:...
. A Minorities' Institute was set up in the 1950s to promote mutual understanding and access to university education among Yunnan's multiethnic population. The city consolidated its position as a supply depot during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and subsequent border clashes
Sino-Vietnamese War
The Sino–Vietnamese War , also known as the Third Indochina War, known in the PRC as and in Vietnam as Chiến tranh chống bành trướng Trung Hoa , was a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...
. Until Mao Zedong's death, Kunming was still generally thought in much of the rest of the country as a remote frontier settlement and so it acted as a place up to then for the government to exile people who had fallen politically out of favor, especially during the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
.
Tourism in China
Tourism in China has greatly expanded over the last few decades since the beginning of reform and opening. The emergence of a newly rich middle class and an easing of restrictions on movement by the Chinese authorities are both fueling this travel boom. China has become one of the world's...
and foreign investment
Economy of the People's Republic of China
The People's Republic of China ranks since 2010 as the world's second largest economy after the United States. It has been the world's fastest-growing major economy, with consistent growth rates of around 10% over the past 30 years. China is also the largest exporter and second largest importer of...
, for instance investors from Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
trace their ancestries back to Yunnan. Several Thai Chinese
Thai Chinese
The Thai Chinese are an overseas Chinese community who live in Thailand. Thailand is home to the largest, oldest, most prominent, and most integrated overseas Chinese community in the world with a population of approximately 9.5 million people...
banks have offices in Kunming, for example, Kasikorn Bank
Kasikorn Bank
Kasikornbank Public Company Limited formerly known as the Thai Farmers Bank was established on 8 June 1945 by Choti Lamsam, with registered capital of Baht 5 million and has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand since 1976...
and Krung Thai Bank
Krung Thai Bank
Krung Thai Bank Public Company Limited is the state-owned bank under the license issued by the Ministry of Finance.- History :The bank was incorporated on March 14, 1966 through the merger of Agriculture Bank Limited and Mondhon Bank Limited, which the government was their major shareholder...
. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand has visited Kunming many times to study Chinese culture and promote friendly relations.
On July 2005, the second Greater Mekong Subregion
Greater Mekong Subregion
The Greater Mekong Subregion is not a geological region, but rather, a development project mooted by the Asian Development Bank in 1992 that brought together the riparian states of the Mekong River basin, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Yunnan Province of China...
(GMS) Summit was held in Kunming, with government leaders from China, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam participating. There, China agreed to lend its neighbors more than $1 billion for a series of projects. China was then promoting GMS cooperation as a first step toward building an eventual China-ASEAN Free Trade Area
Free trade area
A free trade area is a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free trade agreement , which eliminates tariffs, import quotas, and preferences on most goods and services traded between them. If people are also free to move between the countries, in addition to FTA, it would also be...
.
Infrastructure improvements have been underway to improve links between Kunming and Southeast Asia in time for the 2010 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, which would have a population of approximately 1.8 billion. The FTA is expected to make Kunming a trade and financial center for Southeast Asia. In addition to physical improvements to enhance Kunming's trade with Southeast Asia, the central and provincial governments have made financial preparations to assist the city's emergence. At the end of 2004, the central government approved Kunming to be one of the 18 mainland cities in which foreign banks could conduct business in renminbi
Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the city center was rebuilt, with Swiss help, in its current 'modern' style to impress visitors attending the 1999 World Horticultural Exposition
1999 World Horticultural Exposition
The 1999 World Horticultural Exposition was an A1 category international garden festival as recognised by the International Association of Horticultural Producers in Kunming, China. The theme of the exposition was "Man and Nature, marching into the 21st century."...
.. It was primarily during 1997 and 1998 that much of the city's roads, bridges and high rises were built.
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
success for Kunming, which seemed to exceed almost all expectations. Today the aftereffects of the Expo are apparent in more than just the physical improvements to the city-it was the Expo that made the outside world take notice of Kunming, which was relatively unknown at the time.
In July 2006 talks at the ASEAN Regional Forum, China, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
and Myanmar (Burma) agreed to construct a highway from Kunming to Chittagong
Chittagong
Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...
through Mandalay
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....
for trade and development.
The Future
In recent years, Kunming's transport links to Southeast Asia and elsewhere, particularly its air links, are steadily expanding, with direct routes already existing to all major Chinese cities, most major Southeast Asian cities and some major cities in Japan and South Korea.Key development issues for Kunming include a local educated and talent pool that is less sophisticated than larger Chinese cities and the need for increased transport links.
Geography
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
province. It is located between north latitude 24°23´ and 26°22´N, and east longitude 102°10´and 103°40´E, with a total area of 21600 square kilometre. Its widest stretch from the east to the west amounts to 140 km (87 mi) and its largest expansion from the north to the south amounts to 220 km (137 mi).
Situated in a fertile lake basin on the northern shore of the Lake Dian
Lake Dian
Dian Lake or Kunming Lake is a large inter-land lake located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau close to Kunming, Yunnan, China. Its nickname is "Sparkling Pearl Embedded in a Highland," and it was the model for the Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace in Beijing.It is a freshwater fault lake at above...
and surrounded by mountains to the north, west, and east, Kunming has always played a pivotal role in the communications
Communications in the People's Republic of China
The People's Republic of China possesses a diversified communications system that links all parts of the country by Internet, telephone, telegraph, radio, and television...
of southwestern China. Lake Dian, titled as "the Pearl of the Plateau", is the sixth largest fresh water lake in China, is the largest lake in Yunnan and has an area of approximately 340 square kilometre. Kunming's highest point is Mazong Ridge of the Jiaozi Mountain in Luquan with an elevation of 4247 m (13,934 ft), and its lowest point is the joint of the Xiaojiang River and the Jinsha River
Jinsha River
Jinsha River is the westernmost of the major headwater streams of the Yangtze River, southwestern China.Its headwaters rise in the Wulan and Kekexili ranges in western Qinghai province, to the south of the Kunlun Mountains, and on the northern slope of the Tanggula Mountains on the border of the...
in Dongchuan District
Dongchuan District
Dongchuan District is a district under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. Dongchuan was upgraded to a city in 1958. In 1998 Dongchuan city was merged into Kunming city and became one of its districts...
, with an elevation of 695 m (2,280 ft). Its downtown area is 1891 m (6,204 ft) above sea level.
About 96 km (60 mi) southeast of the city is the Stone Forest, a karst formation developed as a tourist attraction consisting of rock caves, arches, and pavilions. It is part of the larger karst-based landscape of the area.
Climate
Located at an elevation of 1,890 m on the Yungui Plateau with low latitude and high elevation, Kunming has one of the mildest climates in China, characterised by short, cool dry winters with mild days and crisp nights, and long, warm and humid summers, but much cooler than the lowlands. The weather never gets very hot in summer; the temperature has exceeded 30 °C (86 °F) only on a handful of occasions. However, freak snowfalls occur in occasional winters. Controlled by a subtropical highland climate (KöppenKöppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Cwb), average highs are around 15 °C (59 °F) in winter and 24 °C (75 °F) in summer. With its perpetual spring-like weather which provides the ideal climate for plants and flowers, Kunming is known as the "City of Eternal Spring". The city is covered with blossoms and lush vegetation all-year round. The period from May to October is the rainy season and the rest of the year is dry. The city has a mean annual rainfall of 1010 millimetres (40 in), with an annual sunshine period of 2,250 hours and an annual frost-free period of 230 days. Extreme temperatures in the city have ranged from −7.8 °C to 32.2 °C (90 °F).
Natural resources
Mineral resources include phosphorus, salt, magnesium, titanium, coal, quartz sand, clay, silica, copper. Phosphorus and salt mines are the most plentiful. Proven reserves of phosphorus mine is 2,277 million tons. Kunyang Phosphorus Mine is one of the three major phosphorusPhosphorus
Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
mines in the country. Rock salt reserves are 1,222 million tons and mirabilite
Mirabilite
Mirabilite, also known as Glauber's salt, is a hydrous sodium sulfate mineral with the chemical formula Na2SO4·10H2O. It is a vitreous, colorless to white monoclinic mineral which forms as an evaporite from sodium sulfate bearing brines. It is found around saline springs and along saline playa lakes...
reserves are 1,908 million tons. Dongchuan is a major copper production base.
Proven reserves of Coal bed gas is about 500 billion cubic meters, equal to 720 million tons of standard coal. http://en.km.gov.cn/showArticle.aspx?cid=57&aid=230 Geothermal
Geothermal
Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to:* The geothermal gradient and associated heat flows from within the Earth- Renewable technology :...
resources are widely distributed.
Environment and horticulture
Kunming has 2,585 hectares of lawns, trees and flowers averaging 4.96 square meters per capita. The green space rate is 21.7%. The city's smoke control area is 115 square kilometers and noise control area 87 square kilometers.Kunming is a significant horticultural center in China, providing products such as grain, wheat, horsebeans, corn, potato and fruit such as peaches, apples, oranges, grapes and chestnuts. Kunming is world-famous for its flowers and flower-growing exports. More than 400 types of flowers are commonly grown in Kunming. The camellia
Camellia
Camellia, the camellias, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalaya east to Korea and Indonesia. There are 100–250 described species, with some controversy over the exact number...
, yulan magnolica, azalea
Azalea
Azaleas are flowering shrubs comprising two of the eight subgenera of the genus Rhododendron, Pentanthera and Tsutsuji . Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks...
, fairy primrose, lily and orchid are known as the six famous flowers of the city.
The camellia was confirmed by the Municipality of Kunming as its city flower in 1983.
The Kunming city government plans to create an environmental trial court
Trial court
A trial court or court of first instance is a court in which trials take place. Such courts are said to have original jurisdiction.- In the United States :...
to deal with environment-related lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
s. It is to be part of the city's intermediate people's court and will have jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
over appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
s by companies that have been found guilty of violating environmental law
Environmental law
Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
s in cities throughout Yunnan province.
Paleontology
Among Chinese fossilFossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s that were discovered in 2002 was an important new invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
animal species from Early Cambrian deposits at Chengjiang near Kunming. Didazoon haoae represented an entirely new phylum
Phylum
In biology, a phylum The term was coined by Georges Cuvier from Greek φῦλον phylon, "race, stock," related to φυλή phyle, "tribe, clan." is a taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. "Phylum" is equivalent to the botanical term division....
of metazoans (multicellular animals), the phylum Vetulicolia
Vetulicolia
VetulicoliaThe phylum name, Vetulocolia, is derived from the type genus, Vetulicola, which is a compound Latin word composed of vetuli, or "old," and cola, or "inhabitant." is an extinct phylum encompassing several Cambrian organisms...
. The specimen had a series of gill slits, which suggested that this new group illustrates an early stage in the diversification of the deuterostome
Deuterostome
Deuterostomes are a superphylum of animals. They are a subtaxon of the Bilateria branch of the subregnum Eumetazoa, and are opposed to the protostomes...
s, one of the major animal divisions. Other deuterostome groups are the chordate
Chordate
Chordates are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail...
s (which includes the vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
s), hemichordates, and echinoderm
Echinoderm
Echinoderms are a phylum of marine animals. Echinoderms are found at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone....
s. Also reported was a Devonian Chinese fossil fish, Styloichthys changae, that has features linking the lungfish
Lungfish
Lungfish are freshwater fish belonging to the Subclass Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining characteristics primitive within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and structures primitive within Sarcopterygii, including the presence of lobed fins with a well-developed...
to tetrapod
Tetrapod
Tetrapods are vertebrate animals having four limbs. Amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals are all tetrapods; even snakes and other limbless reptiles and amphibians are tetrapods by descent. The earliest tetrapods evolved from the lobe-finned fishes in the Devonian...
s (four-legged vertebrates).
In 2004, newly discovered well-preserved soft-bodied fossils of deuterostomes from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang deposits near Kunming represented a new group of echinoderms (a group of marine animals). Named vetulocystids, these deuterostomes were a diverse superphylum that included the chordates, hemichordates, and echinoderms. The find shed some light on the origin of the echinoderms. See also Myllokunmingia
Myllokunmingia
Myllokunmingia is a chordate from the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan shales of China, thought to be a vertebrate, although this is not conclusively proven. It is 28 mm long and 6 mm high....
.
Demographics
Kunming is the focal point of YunnanYunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
minority culture. Twenty five ethnic minorities live in Yunnan. This is nearly half of the total number of ethnic minorities in China, and ethnic minorities make up about a third of the total provincial population. There is a strong migration
Human migration
Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
from the countryside.
Of the more than five million people registered as residents in Kunming last year, more than four million were Han
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
. The Yi people
Yi people
The Yi or Lolo people are an ethnic group in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Numbering 8 million, they are the seventh largest of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...
were the most prominent minority in the city, with more than 400,000 residents. The least-represented ethnic minority in Kunming were the 75 Dulong people living in the city.
Ethnic populations (as of 2006):
- HanHan ChineseHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
(汉族): 4,383,500 - YiYi peopleThe Yi or Lolo people are an ethnic group in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Numbering 8 million, they are the seventh largest of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...
(彝族): 400,200 - HuiHui peopleThe Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
(回族): 149,000 - Bai (白族): 73,200
- MiaoMiao peopleThe Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...
(苗族): 46,100 - Lisu (傈僳族): 17,700
- Zhuang (壮族): 14,000
- DaiDai peopleThe Dai peoples is one of several ethnic groups living in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture , but by extension can apply to groups in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Burma when Dai is used to mean specifically Tai Lue, Chinese Shan or even...
(傣族): 13,200 - HaniHani peoplethumb|Typical daily attire of ethnic Hani in China. Near [[Yuanyang County, Yunnan|Yuanyang]], [[Yunnan]] Province, [[China]] The Hani people are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 nationalities officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They also form one of the 54 officially...
(哈尼族): 11,000 - NaxiNakhiThe Nakhi are an ethnic group inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China....
(纳西族): 8,400 - ManchuManchuThe Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...
(满族): 4,800 - Bouyei (布依族): 3,400
- Mongol (蒙古族): 2,500
- LahuLahu peopleThe Lahu are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia and China.They are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where about 450,000 live in Yunnan province. An estimated 150,000 live in Burma. In Thailand, Lahu are one of the six main hill tribes; their...
(拉祜族): 1,700 - TibetanTibetan peopleThe Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
(藏族): 1,500 - YaoYao peopleThe Yao nationality is a government classification for various minorities in China. They form one of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they reside in the mountainous terrain of the southwest and south...
(瑶族): 1,100 - Jingpo (景颇族): 1,100
- VaVa peopleThe Va nationality lives mainly in Northern Burma, in the northern part of Shan and eastern Kachin States, near and along the border with China. Their defacto capital is Pangkham in the unofficial Wa State in North Eastern Shan state. The majority of the Va live in Burma...
(佤族): 1,000 - BlangBlangThe Blang people are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.-Language:...
(布朗族): 441 - Primi (普米族): 421
- Sui (水族): 294
- AchangAchangThe Achang , also known as the Ngac'ang or Maingtha are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...
(阿昌族): 263 - NuNu peopleThe Nu people are one of the 56 ethnic groups recognized by the People's Republic of China. Their population of 27,000 is divided into the Northern, Central and Southern groups. Their homeland is a country of high mountains and deep ravines crossed by the Lancang, Dulong and Nujiang rivers...
(怒族): 156 - JinoJinoThe Jino people are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...
(基诺族): 135 - DerungDerungThe Derung people are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Their population of 6,000 is found in the Nujiang Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan province, in the Dulong valley...
(独龙族): 75
Cityscape
Kunming's public focus is the huge square outside the Workers' Cultural Hall at the Beijing Lu-Dongfeng Lu intersection, where in the mornings there are crowds doing taijiquan and playing badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
. Weekend amateur theatre are also performed in the square. Rapidly being modernized, the city's true center is west of the square across the adjacent Panlong River
Panlong River
Panlong River passes through Kunming City, Yunnan, China. It receives a large quantity of municipal sewage and wastewater from industrial effluent...
(now more of a canal), outside the Kunming Department Store at the Nanping Lu/Zhengyi Lu crossroads, a densely crowded shopping precinct packed with clothing and electronics stores. The river is polluted, black and oily. Surrounding the area are plenty of new high-rises.
The center is an area of importance to Kunming's Hui
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
population, with Shuncheng Jie, one of the last old streets in the center of the city, previously forming a Muslim quarter. Until shortly before 2005, this street was full of wind-dried beef and mutton carcasses, pitta bread and raisin sellers, and huge woks of roasting coffee beans being earnestly stirred with shovels. Under Kunming's rapid modernisation, however, the street has been demolished to make way for apartments and shopping centers. Rising behind a supermarket one block north off Zhengyi Lu, Nancheng Qingzhen Si is the city's new mosque, its green dome and chevron-patterned minaret visible from afar and built on the site of an earlier Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
edifice.
Running west off Zhengyi Jie just past the mosque, Jingxing Jie leads into one of the more bizarre corners of the city, with Kunming's huge Bird and Flower Market convening daily in the streets connecting it with the northerly, parallel Guanghua Jie. The market offers many plants such as orchids that have been collected and farmed across the province. In the small grounds of Wen Miao, a now vanished Confucian temple off the western end of Changchun Lu, there is an avenue of pines, an ancient pond and pavilion, and beds of bamboo, azaleas and potted palms-a quiet place where old men play chess and drink tea.
Jinbi Lu runs roughly parallel to and south of Dongfeng Lu, reached from Beijing Lu. Two large Chinese pagoda
Chinese pagoda
Chinese Pagodas are a traditional part of Chinese architecture. In addition to religious use, since ancient times Chinese pagodas have been praised for the spectacular views which they offer, and many famous poems in Chinese history attest to the joy of scaling pagodas.-History:The pagoda is...
s rise in the vicinity, each a solid thirteen storeys of whitewashed brick crowned with four iron cockerels. The West Pagoda was built between 824 and 859, during the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
; its original counterpart, the East Pagoda, was built at the same time, but was destroyed by an earthquake in 1833 and rebuilt in the same Tang style in 1882. South down Dongsi Jie, past another mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, the entrance to the West Pagoda
Eastern and Western Pagodas
The Eastern and Western Pagodas of Kunming , are located in the south of the city comprising two pagodas rising up in close proximity to one another...
is along a narrow lane on the right. In the tiny surrounding courtyard, sociable idlers while away sunny afternoons playing cards and sipping tea in the peaceful, ramshackle surroundings. The East Pagoda
Eastern and Western Pagodas
The Eastern and Western Pagodas of Kunming , are located in the south of the city comprising two pagodas rising up in close proximity to one another...
is a more cosmetic, slightly tilted duplicate standing in an ornamental garden a few minutes' walk east on Shulin Jie. The temples associated with both pagodas are closed to the public.
Parks
Cuihu Park (Green Lake Park) is one of Kunming's major park and is predominately a lake surrounded by greenery. It has a large and elaborate network of waterways and winding paths, with broad, lotus-covered pools and overhanging willows. It is a place where thousands exercise, do taijiquan, sing and feed the flocks of black-headed gulls. Located in the west side of the park is the statue of one of Yunnan's most famous patriots - Nie ErNie Er
Nie Er , was a Chinese composer. He is known for composing the national anthem of the People's Republic of China, the March of the Volunteers. In numerous Shanghai magazines he went by the English name "George Njal"...
, the composer of China's national anthem
March of the Volunteers
March of the Volunteers is the national anthem of the People's Republic of China , written by the noted poet and playwright Tian Han with music composed by Nie Er. This composition is a musical march...
.
Daguan Park
Daguan Park
Daguan Park , located in the southwestern suburb of Kunming City, is a lakeside park. Today many locals come to sit, drink tea, fly kites, and go boating. Among shady walks and pools, Daguan's focal point is Daguan Ge, a square, three-storeyed pavilion built to better Kangxi's enjoyment of the...
lies on Dian Chi in Kunming's southwestern limits. Originally laid out by the energetic seventeenth-century Qing emperor Kangxi, it has been modified over the years to include a noisy funfair, food stalls and emporiums, and is a favourite haunt of Kunming's youth.
Kunming's zoo, founded in 1950, is adjoined to Yuantong Park. The zoo houses 5,000 animals from 140 species and receives 3 million visitors a year.
Other parks in Kunming include Black Dragon Pool, and the Kunming Botanical Gardens in the north, and Wenmiao Tea Garden in Wuhua District
Wuhua District
Wuhua District is a district under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan, China.-Administrative divisions:...
.
Landmarks
The "Garden of the World Horticultural ExpositionWorld Horti-Expo Garden
The World Horti-Expo Garden is a botanical garden center in Kunming, China. It played host to the October 1999 Kunming International Horticulture Exposition...
", located in the northern suburbs of Kunming, is six kilometers from central Kunming. From May 1 to October 31, 1999, Kunming held the 1999 World Horticulture Exposition, with the theme of "Man and Nature-Marching Toward the 21st Century". In the garden, visitors can see gardening and horticultural works from all over China and East Asia. All the horticultural works in the garden concentrate on the theme of "Man and Nature", with pavilions, towers, terraces, banks, islets and bridges.
The "Golden Hall Scenic Zone", located on the Mingfeng Hill in the northern suburbs of Kunming, is eight kilometers from central Kunming. Constructed in 1602 (the 30th year of the Wanli
Wanli Emperor
The Wanli Emperor was emperor of China between 1572 and 1620. His era name means "Ten thousand calendars". Born Zhu Yijun, he was the Longqing Emperor's third son...
reign period of the Ming Dynasty), all of its beans, pillars, arches, doors, windows, tiles, Buddhist statues, and horizontal inscribed boards are made of copper, weighing more than 200 tons. It is the largest copper building in China.
There are two major museums in Kunming, Yunnan Provincial Museum
Yunnan Provincial Museum
Yunnan Provincial Museum is located in Kunming, on Wuyi Lu. It houses an exhibition centered on Yunnan's ethnic minorities, as well as a collection of artifacts from tomb excavations at Jinning on the southern rim of Lake Dian.-External links:...
and Kunming City Museum
Kunming City Museum
Kunming City Museum is a history museum in Kunming City, Yunnan, China. Smaller than the Yunnan Provincial Museum, Its most notable exhibit is about the history of the city...
. A third which opened in November 2006, is the Kunming Natural History Museum of Zoology
Kunming Natural History Museum of Zoology
The Kunming Natural History Museum of Zoology is located on the campus of Kunming Institute of Zoology, Jiaochang East Road, Kunming, Yunnan, China...
. Completed in 1995 is the Yunnan Ethnology Museum
Yunnan Ethnology Museum
Yunnan Nationalities Museum is located on the east bank of Dianchi Lake next to Yunnan Nationalities Village in Kunming City, China. Completed in 1995, it is a comprehensive ethnology museum. Covering an area of over 200 mu, the museum has a building area of 130,000 square meters. It consists of...
.
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
. The temple sits on the southern slopes of Yuantong Park. Northwest about 12 km from the city center is the Qiongzhu Si (Bamboo Temple) built in 639 and rebuilt in 1422 to 1428.
South Asian Gate
South Asian Gate will be Kunming City's tallest skyscraper at 83-storeys, with a height of 333m. It will be situated in the Tuodong Lu Central Business District and will be the largest building in the Yunnan province....
will be Kunming's first supertall skyscaper.
Administrative divisions
The prefecture-level city of Kunming has jurisdiction over 14 subdivisions; five districts, one county-level city, five counties and three autonomous counties.Kunming is bounded by Qujing
Qujing
Qujing is a prefecture-level city in eastern Yunnan province of Southwest China. It is an important industrial city, and is Yunnan's second largest city by population, after Kunming....
City to the east, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture of Yunnan Province, China. Its name is derived from the Honghe river and the two major ethnic minority groups who live there: the Yi and the Hani. Honghe has an area of 32,929 km²...
to the southeast and Yuxi
Yuxi
Yuxi is a prefecture-level city in the Yunnan province of the People's Republic of China. The administrative center of Yuxi is Hongta District. Yuxi is approximately 90 km south of Kunming.-Geography:...
City to the southwest, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture located in Yunnan, China. Chuxiong has an area of 29,256 km². The capital of the prefecture is Chuxiong City.- Subdivisions :There is one county-level city and 9 counties.- Demographics :...
to the west and Zhaotong
Zhaotong
Zhaotong is a prefecture-level city located in the northeast corner of Yunnan province of Southwest China.-Demography:The prefecture, almost exclusively agricultural, is one of the poorest in China, which led the authorities to encourage young people to migrate to eastern and southern parts of...
City to the northeast. Kunming also borders with Panzhihua
Panzhihua
Panzhihua is a prefecture-level city located in the far south of Sichuan province of Southwest China, on the confluence of the Jinsha and Yalong Rivers. It has an administrative area of , and a total population of 1,100,800 as of 2007. It is the only city in China having a name of a flower, and...
prefecture level city and Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Liangshan , officially the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture in Sichuan, south central China whose capital is Xichang. Liangshan has an area of 60,423 km² and over 4.5 million inhabitants...
of Sichuan province.
Kunming plans to add two new districts to its existing four urban districts (Panlong, Wuhua, Guandu, Xishan) over the next few years.
| Map | # | Name | Hanzi | Hanyu Pinyin | Population (2003 est.) |
Area (km²) | Density (/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Proper | |||||||
| 1 | Panlong District Panlong District Panlong District is a district under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan, China.-Administrative divisions:... |
盘龙区 | Pánlóng Qū | 600,000 | 340 | 1,765 | |
| 2 | Wuhua District Wuhua District Wuhua District is a district under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan, China.-Administrative divisions:... |
五华区 | Wǔhuá Qū | 810,000 | 398 | 2,036 | |
| Suburban | |||||||
| 3 | Guandu District Guandu District Guandu District is a district under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China.-Administrative divisions:... |
官渡区 | Guāndù Qū | 750,000 | 552 | 1,359 | |
| 4 | Xishan District Xishan District, Kunming Xishan District is a district under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China.-Administrative divisions:... |
西山区 | Xīshān Qū | 850,000 | 791 | 1,075 | |
| Satellite cities and district | |||||||
| 5 | Dongchuan District Dongchuan District Dongchuan District is a district under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. Dongchuan was upgraded to a city in 1958. In 1998 Dongchuan city was merged into Kunming city and became one of its districts... |
东川区 | Dōngchuān Qū | 300,000 | 1,674 | 179 | |
| 6 | Anning City Anning, Kunming Anning is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. It is located approximately 28 kilometers southwest of Kunming city... |
安宁市 | Ānníng Shì | 270,000 | 1,313 | 206 | |
| Rural | |||||||
| 7 | Chenggong County Chenggong County Chenggong County is a county under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China.Chenggong is the chief zone for the expansion of the city of Kunming, 20 minute drive away – it is the site of the new Kunming Wujiaba International Airport, and new campuses for Yunnan University and... |
呈贡县 | Chénggòng Xiàn | 160,000 | 541 | 296 | |
| 8 | Jinning County Jinning County Jinning County is a county, under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan, China.-Administrative divisions:... |
晋宁县 | Jìnníng Xiàn | 270,000 | 1,391 | 194 | |
| 9 | Fumin County | 富民县 | Fùmín Xiàn | 140,000 | 1,030 | 136 | |
| 10 | Yiliang County | 宜良县 | Yíliáng Xiàn | 410,000 | 1,880 | 218 | |
| 11 | Songming County Songming County Songming County is a county, under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan, China.It's famous for the Yanglin Fat Liquor and the Dian opera.- Economy of Songming County :... |
嵩明县 | Sōngmíng Xiàn | 340,000 | 1,442 | 236 | |
| 12 | Shilin Yi Autonomous County Shilin Yi Autonomous County Shilin Yi Autonomous County is an autonomous county, under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan, China.- Administrative divisions :... |
石林彝族 自治县 | Shílín Yízú Zìzhìxiàn | 230,000 | 1,777 | 129 | |
| 13 | Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County | 禄劝彝族苗族自治县 | Lùquàn Yízú Miáozú Zìzhìxiàn | 450,000 | 4,378 | 103 | |
| 14 | Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County is an autonomous county, under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan, China.- Geography :Xundian lies northeast of the center of Yunnan... |
寻甸回族彝族自治县 | Xúndiàn Huízú Yízú Zìzhìxiàn | 500,000 | 3,966 | 126 | |
Leisure and entertainment
Within Kunming, the entertainment district has its focus around Kunming Square, with many cinemas, bars, clubs and restaurants. Eating out is the main pleasure after dark in Kunming. Food aside, one feature of less formal Yunnanese restaurants is that they often have a communal bamboo water pipe and tobacco for their customers. Nightlife has improved recently, thanks to rising incomes and tourist population. There are plenty of student bars and clubs. The city has several operatic troupes and indigenous entertainments which include huadeng, a lantern dance. Although indoor performances are lacking, there are often informal shows at the weekend outside the Workers' Cultural Hall and in Cuihu Park. There are similar shows at the Yunnan Arts Theater on Dongfeng Xi Lu. Kunming's main cinema house is on the south side of the Dongfeng Lu/Zhengyi Lu intersection. The other main multiplex, the XJS, at the junction of Wenlin Jie and Dongfeng Xi Lu.Arts
In October 2006, artists from China, Taiwan, the US, Canada, Japan and elsewhere adopted a constitution for the newly formed International Folk Arts and Craft Union (IFACU). The stated mission of IFACU is to organize and promote cooperation among the world's artists to promote and preserve folk arts and crafts. The organization will be based in Kunming, ostensibly because of the ethnic diversity in Yunnan and the variety of folk artFolk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
and crafts found throughout the province. The first IFACU general assembly is scheduled to take place in Kunming sometime in 2008.
Art galleries
- YunArt Gallery, highlights leading and up-and-coming artists from Yunnan. http://www.yunartgallery.cn/en/about/
- TCG Nordica, an international art gallery and culture centre situated in the heart of the artist community at Chuang Ku/LOFT in Kunming. http://www.tcgnordica.com/english
Language
The Kunming dialect is very similar to that of Sichuan and Guizhou but uses the third tone much less than standard Chinese. Many terms are used only in Kunming dialect, such as 板扎 meaning 'terrific'.Cuisine
Yunnan cuisine
Yunnan cuisine is an amalgam of Han Chinese and Chinese minority cuisines. As the province with the largest number of ethnic minorities, Yunnan has a great variety of food, and it is difficult to make generalisations. Many Yunnanese dishes are quite spicy, and mushrooms feature prominently...
and combines fresh ingredients afforded by the moderate climate with mild herbs and spices giving its cooked dishes sufficient flavour but lacking the pungency associated with food from other regions of the country. The city's climate fosters the growth of literally hundreds of species of mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
which are consequently a predominant feature of many dishes. There are other regional Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
s, with a few upmarket restaurants serving international dishes. Back lanes running north off Dongfeng Xi Lu or Jinbi Lu have the famous stalls and restaurants where the locals offer specialties such as grilled cheese, hotpots, fried snacks rolled in chilli powder, loaves of meat-stuffed soda bread, and rich duck and chicken casseroles. The special dish of Kunming is guò qiáo mĭxiàn, a boiling, chicken soup with rice noodles under a very thin layer of oil. Raw meat and vegetables are added by the consumer to ensure the ingredients are fresh and the ingredients will be cooked in the hot soup since the cut of the raw meat and vegetables are extremely thin. The legend behind "crossing bridge noodles" involves a student studying for the imperial exam (which was given once per year). He went to study on an island a short way from his wife and village. Every day his wife would bring him food, but because of the distance (she had to cross a bridge) the food would get cold. The student's wife figured out that by layering the broth with oil, she could keep the food hot.
Some of the most famous Kunming food is as follows:
- Over the Bridge Rice Noodles Guo qiao mi xianGuo qiao mi xianCrossing the bridge noodles is a kind of rice noodle soup from Yunnan province, China. It is one of the most common dishes in Yunnan cuisine.-History:The bridge-crossing noodle's origins are uncertain...
过桥米线 - Steam Potted Chicken 气锅鸡
- Er Kuai (Rice Cake)
- Smoked Smelly Bean Curd - a popular night stall snack 臭豆腐
- The Eight Treasures of Yunnan - a type of stuffed cake
Sports
Every year, many Chinese and international athletes come to Kunming for high-altitude training. The city has been China's national high-elevation training base for more than 30 years. There are two major training complexes, Hongta Sports Center and Haigeng National Training Center.Haigeng National Training Center is located on Lake Dianchi near Kunming's award-winning Lakeview Golf Club and new condominium developments, and is relatively isolated. It contains eight basketball courts, weight rooms, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, a dozen football pitches, two running tracks, a pool for swimming and one for diving. It also has a large snooker hall, a room for table tennis and a volleyball gym. Athletes, coaches and team managers stay onsite in the complex's many dormitories and hotel rooms.
Hongta Sports Center was built in 2000 by one of Yunnan's largest corporations Hongta cigarette company with a cost of US$58 million. Near Haigeng Park, the complex is mostly used by professional athletes but also acts as a sports club for the general public. The general public can use all of its extensive facilities and every weekend, it hosts amateur football matches. Aside from about 10 football pitches, including one surrounded by a running track, Hongta also has a 50 m swimming pool, a badminton gymnasium, tennis courts and a basketball court. It also has one of China's few ice hockey rinks, and a workout room with treadmills and weightlifting machines. There are also game rooms for air hockey and pool tables, and a basement bowling alley. Hongta also has a 101-room hotel and restaurant.
Golf
GolfGolf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
is a major attraction in Kunming. There are four golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
s within an hour's drive of downtown. For the last six years, Spring City Golf and Lake Resort in nearby Yiliang County has reigned as the best golf course in China and Hong Kong according to US Golf Digest. In 2004, it was named Asia's best golf resort by Asian Golf Monthly. It hosts the Kunming Leg of the Omega China Tour.
Kunming has attracted foreign investment in golf course development. "Spring City" Golf Resort is a US$600 million project that began as an investment led by Singapore's Keppel Land Group in 1992. Today it is not only ranked by some as China's top golf course, but also one of the top golf destinations in all of Asia. Much of this is attributable to Keppel's financial backing in addition to having golf legend Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
and eminent golf course designer Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
Robert Trent "Bobby" Jones, Jr. is a noted golf course architect. He is the son of legendary golf course designer Robert Trent Jones and the brother of golf course designer Rees Jones....
design the two courses.
Sport facilities
Major sports facilities include:- Tuodong Sports Center, a multi-purpose venue
- Golf: Spring City Golf and Lake Resort, its 'Mountain Course' was designed by Jack Nicklaus
- Lakeview Golf Villa
- Cuihu Park tennis courts
- Kunming Municipal Athletic Center
- Kunming Gymnasium
- Yunnan Provincial Stadium, home to Hongta Yunnan Football Club
- Wuhua District Stadium
Media
Hong Kong China International and Dianchi National Tourist Resort will jointly invest and construct a new television and film base in Kunming. The Kunming TV, Film and New Media Industry Base (昆明影视与新媒体产业基地) or "Dream City" will be built by a joint venture created for the project with an investment of three billion yuan (US$418 million) allocated for the base's first phase, which will cover three square kilometers. The base will feature television and film studios, shooting stages and equipment, state-of-the-art production facilities and video game production, and a film school established by Peking UniversityPeking University
Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...
and Beijing Film Academy
Beijing Film Academy
Beijing Film Academy is a coeducational state-run higher education institution in Beijing, China. The film school is the largest institution specialised in the tertiary education for film and television production in Asia...
.The whole project is expected to be completed by 2013 with a total investment of 17 billion yuan ($2.3 billion).
Film festivals
- BigScreen FestivalBigScreen FestivalThe BigScreen festival or "BigScreen Italia" is a film festival that focuses on Chinese and Italian cinema. It was first held in 2004 in Padua, Italy, but has recently been moved to Kunming, Yunnan, China.-BigScreen Asia '01:...
(or "BigScreen Italia"), focuses on Chinese and Italian cinema - Yunnan Mulicultural Visual Festival ("Yunfest"), focuses on Chinese documentaries in Yunnan http://www.yunfest.org/
- Kunming Anime Festival
Tourism
Dali, Yunnan
Dali City is a county-level city in and the seat of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, northwestern Yunnan province of Southwest China.-History:...
, Lijiang and Shangrila
Shangri-La County
Shangri-La County is a primarily Tibetan county in northwestern Yunnan province, Southwest China and is the location of the seat of the Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.-Name:...
. Kunming is located in an earthquake zone and the last earthquake happened in 2009.
Over 24 million domestic tourists visited Kunming in 2007, with 800,000 foreign tourists visiting annually. Kunming's total revenue from tourism in 2007 was 16.8 billion yuan, an increase of 8.0% over 2006.
Kunming hosts the China International Travel Mart every two years. This tourism and regions were present during the 2005 edition.
Conferencing and exhibition venues in Kunming include the Kunming International Convention and Exhibition Center and the Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Hall.
The Kingdom of the Little People
Kingdom of the Little People
The Kingdom of the Little People is a theme park located near Kunming, Yunnan that features comic performances by people with dwarfism. Supporters of the park claim that it provides employment to people who would otherwise be unable to find work, but it has been criticized for treating dwarfism as...
, a theme park featuring performers with dwarfism
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
, is also located near Kunming.
Economy
Due to its position at the geographical center of Yunnan, one of China's largest producers of agricultural products, minerals and hydroelectric power, Kunming is the main commercial hub for most of the province's vast resources.
Kunming's chief industries are copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
production. Its iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
and steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
industry has been greatly expanded. Salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
and phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...
mines around Kunming are some of the largest in China. Yunnan Copper Company Limited, based in Kunming, is one of Yunnan's largest mining corporations. From the late 1970s, Kunming's main industries also came to include food and tobacco processing and the manufacture of construction equipment
Construction Equipment
Construction Equipment is a trade publication and web site serving the information needs of construction contractors, materials producers, and other owners and operators of construction equipment....
and machines.
In May 1995, the State Council
State Council of the People's Republic of China
The State Council of the People's Republic of China , which is largely synonymous with the Central People's Government after 1954, is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the Premier and includes the heads of each governmental department and agency...
approved Kunming as an Open City. By the end of that year, the city had approved 929 overseas-funded enterprises with a total investment of 2.286 billion US dollars including 1.073 billion U.S. dollars of foreign capital. More than 40 projects each had an investment of more than nine million U.S. dollars.
Kunming is also a center of engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and the manufacture of machine tool
Machine tool
A machine tool is a machine, typically powered other than by human muscle , used to make manufactured parts in various ways that include cutting or certain other kinds of deformation...
s, electrical machine
Electrical machine
An electrical machine is the generic name for a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy, converts electrical energy to mechanical energy, or changes alternating current from one voltage level to a different voltage level....
ry, equipment
Electrical equipment
Electrical equipment includes any machine powered by electricity. They usually consists of an enclosure, a variety of electrical components, and often a power switch...
and automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s (including heavy goods vehicles). It has a major chemical industry
Chemical industry
The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into more than 70,000 different products.-Products:...
, as well as plastics, cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
works and textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
factories. Its many processing plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s, which include tanneries, woodworking
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
and papermaking
Papermaking
Papermaking is the process of making paper, a substance which is used universally today for writing and packaging.In papermaking a dilute suspension of fibres in water is drained through a screen, so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibres is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibres by...
factories, use local agricultural product
Agriculture in China
Agriculture is an important economic sector of China, employing over 300 million farmers. China ranks first in worldwide farm output, primarily producing rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed, pork, and fish.-History:...
s. In 1997, Yunnan Tire Co. opened a tire plant in Kunming, with a capacity to produce two million tires per year.
Because of its location in the southwest of China, Kunming missed out on China's rapid economic growth in the 1990s. However, the city has recently received renewed attention, becoming an international commercial hub for South and Southeast Asia. The Kunming economic authorities are active participants in the Greater Mekong Subregion
Greater Mekong Subregion
The Greater Mekong Subregion is not a geological region, but rather, a development project mooted by the Asian Development Bank in 1992 that brought together the riparian states of the Mekong River basin, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Yunnan Province of China...
(GMS), promoting trade throughout China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
Several railroads and highways have been planned to connect Kunming to areas of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, providing access to seaports.
In 2006, the Chinese government approved a 2912 km oil pipeline to be built from the Indian Ocean coastal town of Sittwe
Sittwe
-Economy:In February 2007, India announced a plan to develop the port, which would enable ocean access from Indian Northeastern states, so called "Seven sisters", like Mizoram, via the Kaladan River....
, Myanmar to Kunming. This pipeline will carry African and Middle Eastern petroleum to China, bypassing some oil shipments through the Strait of Malacca
Strait of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow, stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1414 to 1511.-Extent:...
and the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
. The pipeline will cut oil transport time by two weeks. In addition, Kunming is also said to be the site for an oil refinery
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
for the incoming oil.
Development zones
Kunming has two major development zones, Kunming High-tech Industrial Development ZoneKunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone
The Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone , is a state-level high-tech industrial zone established in 1992 in Northwest Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. It is administratively under Kunming Prefecture. It has covers an area of 9 square kilometers...
(biological medicine, new materials, electronic information, photoelectron, agriculture) and Kunming Economic and Technology Development Zone
Kunming Economic and Technology Development Zone
The Kunming Economic and Technology Development Zone , is a state-level economic development zone established on February 13, 2000 in East Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. It is administratively under Kunming Prefecture...
(mechanical equipment production, biological science and food industry, information industry, software).
- Kunming Economic & Technology Development Zone
First established in 1992, Kunming Economic & Technology Development Zone is a national-level zone approved by State Council. Kunming is located in east-central Yunnan province with preferential location. After several years' development, the zone has formed its pillar industries, which include tobacco processing, machinery manufacturing, electronic information, and biotechnology.
- Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone
The Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone (KMHNZ), is a state-level high-tech industrial zone established in 1992 to the northwest of downtown Kunming. It is administratively part of Kunming City. It has covers an area of 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi). KMHNZ is located in the northwest part of Kunming city, with 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Kunming Railway Station, and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Kunming Wujiaba International Airport.
Industrial parks
There are 30 key industrial parks promulgated and recognized by National Development and Reform CommissionNational Development and Reform Commission
The National Development and Reform Commission , formerly State Planning Commission and State Development Planning Commission, is a macroeconomic management agency under the Chinese State Council, which has broad administrative and planning control over the Chinese economy...
in Yunnan Province. http://en.km.gov.cn/ColumnInfo.aspx?cid=23&page=2
The largest include:
- Chenggong Industrial Park
- Anning Industrial Park
- Songming Yanglin Industrial Development Zone
- Dongchuan Special Industrial Park
- Xundian Special Industrial Park
- Kunming Haikou Industrial Park
Statistics
For the fiscal year of 2009,- Kunming's gross domestic product (GDP) was 180.9 billion yuan;
- fixed asset investment was 160.1 billion yuan;
- real estate investment was 36.9 billion yuan;
- retail sales was 86.5 billion yuan;
- per capita disposable income within Kunming's urban areas grew to 16,496 yuan;
- Kunming's average farmer outside of the city earned 5,080 yuan.
Companies
As of 2008, Kunming is home to 65 of the Top 100 Enterprises in Yunnan Province. The top 100 enterprises were based on their revenues for 2007. Hongta Group, with revenues of some RMBRenminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
39.88 billion for 2007 topped the list, while Hongyun Group took the third place with revenues of RMB39.23 billion. The tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
sector remains the largest sector in the province.
Top 10
Top 10 Kunming-based companies, according to Yunnan Provincial Enterprise Association http://www.clzg.cn/xinwen/2007-11/10/content_1023835.htm:
(company; annual operating revenue; primary business)
- Hongta Group (红塔集团): 40,798,100,000 yuan; tobacco
- Yunnan Copper Group (云铜集团): 32,690,420,000 yuan; copper/nonferrous metals
- Hongyun Group (红云集团): 25,644,350,000 yuan; tobacco
- Yunnan Power Grid Co (云南电网公司): 23,299,000,000 yuan; power generation/transmission
- Kunming Iron & Steel Company (昆明钢铁控股有限公司): 16,539,360,000 yuan; ferrous metals
- Sinopec YunnanSinopecChina Petroleum & Chemical Corporation Limited , or Sinopec Limited , is a majority owned subsidiary of state owned company Sinopec Group. Sinopec Limited is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York ....
(中石化云南石油分公司): 16,000,000,000 yuan; petroleum/petrochemicals - Yuntianhua Group (云天化集团): 15,217,980,000 yuan; chemicals, fertilizer
- Honghe Cigarette Factory (红河卷烟总厂): 14,500,000,000 yuan; tobacco
- Yunnan Metallurgical Group (云南冶金集团): 14,240,180,000 yuan; non-ferrous metals
- Kunming Rail Bureau (昆明铁路局): 10,015,840,000 yuan; rail logistics
Financial services
- Kunming International Trust CompanyKunming TrustKunming International Trust Co, established in 1993, is a Chinese trust company based in Kunming, Yunnan. It is a relatively small firm in China which has several billion yuan of assets under management but is the largest in the southwest province of Yunnan...
Pharmaceuticals
- Kunming Pharmaceutical CorporationKunming Pharmaceutical CorporationKunming Pharmaceutical Corp. is a company that is involved in the manufacture and sale of natural drugs, as well as the wholesale and retail of other drugs. It is the largest pharmaceutical enterprise in Yunnan....
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=SHA:600422
Retail and real estate
Modern retail stores have sprung up over the past four years. Several hypermarkets and supermarket chains have taken root while convenience stores are proliferating.
In 2008 Kunming municipality's per capita disposable income reached 14,482 yuan. Given the relatively low cost of living in Kunming, city residents are increasingly spending on retail goods and services. Kunming's government has begun to acknowledge the growing influence of consumer spending
Consumer spending
Consumer spending or consumer demand or consumption is also known as personal consumption expenditure. It is the largest part of aggregate demand or effective demand at the macroeconomic level...
on local economic growth. Retail spending in 2006 totaled 70.074 billion yuan, a 23.1 percent increase over 2007.
One unique aspect of the retail scene in Kunming is that there are very few centralized shopping areas offering a wide variety of goods. This is primarily due to the city's loose zoning
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
and the lack of an integrated development plan. While lagging behind larger cities in categories such as concentration of high-technology, Kunming has a high concentration of foreign retailers and is already home to four Carrefours, one B&Q, one Metro and three Wal-Marts. Kunming also has three Watson's outlets and a growing number of international fast food outlets such as McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut. Louis Vuitton recently opened an outlet in Kunming, one of 16 nationwide, in the luxury-focused Gingko Shopping Center in the city's center. Gingko also contains outlets for high-end goods by Salvatore Ferragamo, Chanel, Versace, Mont Blanc and Burberry. The French luxury brand Hermes chose Gingko in Kunming as the location for its first mainland retail outlet two years ago. Luxury car companies are also making their presence felt in Kunming. Big names including Mercedes-Benz, Maserati, Lexus and Porsche have dealerships in the city.
In July 2006, Hong Kong-based property developer Shui On Land signed an agreement with the Kunming government in relation to a residential, business and cultural development covering 2.5 million square meters.
The area around Lake Dianchi, just southwest of the city center, is currently seeing a boom in high-end residential projects.
Import & Export Commodities Fair
The China Kunming Import & Export Commodities Fair (known as 'Kunming Fair') is a regional trade fair jointly sponsored by seven local Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
n governments including Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Tibet, Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
and Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
. Kunming Fair has been successfully held annually for fourteen consecutive years. In addition to a mass of domestic buyers and over 1,000 Chinese exhibitors, each fair has attracted about 4,000 to 6,000 overseas guests from around fifty countries. The accumulated trade and investment contracts signed during the fairs are estimated to be worth about 25 billion US dollars. See also, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade
China Council for the Promotion of International Trade
The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade is a trade body of the Chinese government founded in 1952. It also goes by the name of the China Chamber of International Commerce ....
(CCPIT), the main organizing body.
From 2008, China's Ministry of Commerce
Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China , formerly Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation is an executive agency of the State Council of China...
has participated in hosting the fair with the stated goal of increasing its scale and quality.
Flower industry
Yunnan has developed into the largest flower export base in Asia, with many Dutch experts having transferred technology to the area. The Dounan Flower Market, located in suburban Kunming, is the largest in China with daily sales of 2.5 million yuan (USD 300,000) from the 2 million sprays of flowers (as of 2006). The provincial government agency, the Yunnan Flower Association, regulates the industry. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/business/worldbusiness/25flower.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1Chenggong
Chenggong County
Chenggong County is a county under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China.Chenggong is the chief zone for the expansion of the city of Kunming, 20 minute drive away – it is the site of the new Kunming Wujiaba International Airport, and new campuses for Yunnan University and...
, 20 minutes drive from central Kunming and already a major source of fresh flowers, has plans to emerge as the "Flower Hub of Asia". According to the Kunming Administration Public Information Service Web, Chenggong exported 812 tons of flowers to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in 2007, with trade volume of US$1,300,000.
The authorities in Kunming have formulated plans for the development of each district in Chenggong. While Kunming's administrative authorities have already moved to Chenggong, a number of key universities in Yunnan, like Yunnan University
Yunnan University
Yunnan University is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in Yunnan province, China. Its main campuses are located in the provincial capital city of Kunming...
and Yunnan Normal University
Yunnan Normal University
Yunnan Normal University is located in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province. Established in 1938 as the National Normal College of Southwestern Union University based on Beijing University, Tsinghua University, and Nankai University, it was named as National Kunming Normal College in 1946...
are also relocating to the area. With Chenggong already home to Kunming International Airport and the Kunming International Flora Auction Trading Center Co., Ltd. the county has positioned itself as one of China's main flower producers.
The "Kunming International Flower Exhibition" is now held every year. http://www.ynflora.cn/ It is organized by the Government of Yunnan province and sponsored by Yunnan Flower Industry Office, CCPIT Yunnan branch and Yunnan EXPO Group.
Telecommunications
The city has a 2,460,000-line telephone switching system with 3,270,800 customers, averaging 57.3 phones for every 100 people.The Yunnan Telecom Corporation Kunming Branch is a multiple high tech enterprise that is the main driver of telecommunications in Kunming. Kunming Branch currently operates a modern fixed telephone network and with more than 1,000,000 subscribers and has 2,000,000 internet users. The data network has 5,000 of Netphone dial ports and the outbound bandwidth of the Chinanet has reached 1.2G within this year. It operates the CHINAPAC, DDN, ATM/CHINA FR and the computer internet, Multimedia Communication Network, IP broad band MAN based on the ATM broadband Technology that have covered the whole city, which can provide various services such as ISDN and ADSL. All of which give a strong support to the three online roll-out projects. The Kunming Branch has built up the IP broadband communication network based on IP over DWDM mode.
Wi-Fi
Kunming plans to be blanketed with Wi-FiWi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
connectivity by the end of 2009 with the "Kunming Wi-Fi Metropolitan Area Network project". It would deploy more than 3 thousand access points in Kunming to provide the convenience and reliability of NonStop Wireless networking.
The first phase will enable Wi-Fi access along Kunming's main ring roads, important scenic spots, the central business district and some residential areas. Phases two and three will extend coverage to the entire Kunming prefecture area.
3G
According to a Kunming Daily report, Kunming will be issued with 3G3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
license
License
The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...
s in June 2009 with 28 other second- and third-tier Chinese mainland cities. First-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou were issued 3G licenses in early January 2009.
Logistics
As part of the overall infrastructure network, road links between Kunming and LaosLaos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
will soon be completed, forming part of a transnational highway that will eventually link Yunnan with Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. Projects such as these and the Pan-Asian Railway-a bold project linking Kunming to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
via Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, with a total length of 5,600 km of rail line, due for completion in the next few years-are likely to turn Kunming into a major logistics hub.
Kunming East Station is at present Yunnan province's only container handling depot, with direct links to only three provinces; Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
and Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
. It also has direct access to the metropolitan district of Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
. These lines are currently being upgraded to carry double-stacked container wagons. In addition, there is a large shortage of rail cars suited for containers and large volumes better suited to be transported in containers are still carried on flat-beds or general open wagon cars better suited to carrying bulk commodities.
In July 2006, as part of the Kunming Development Plan, construction of a comprehensive intermodal container depot located in Jiaying, Chenggong County
Chenggong County
Chenggong County is a county under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China.Chenggong is the chief zone for the expansion of the city of Kunming, 20 minute drive away – it is the site of the new Kunming Wujiaba International Airport, and new campuses for Yunnan University and...
, about 20 km from Kunming City, one of 18 new rail container depots planned by the Railway Ministry across the country. The engineering construction program occupies an area of 16,000 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
, with a fixed investment roughly equal to RMB449.5 million (US$55.6 million). The new depot handles 63 million tons annually.
The Jiaying Depot is connected with the new system of highways built linking Yunnan to the increasingly important markets of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, facilitating cheap Chinese exports to the region and granting resource-poor China greater access to the region's massive raw material resources. Yunnan has thereby become a progressively important area in the Southwest's rail logistics both in terms of national and international logistics.
Utilities
Kunming provides 1,560,000 tons of tapped water a day. Altogether 1,095,000 households are supplied with piped gas for cooking and 1,070,000 families use liquefied gas to cook. The rate of the urban gasification reached 92%.Sustainable development
Kunming, because of its remote location, had been an economic backwater for much of the last three decades. That was before rapid growth in China's trade with Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and China's domestic tourism industry
Tourism in China
Tourism in China has greatly expanded over the last few decades since the beginning of reform and opening. The emergence of a newly rich middle class and an easing of restrictions on movement by the Chinese authorities are both fueling this travel boom. China has become one of the world's...
in addition to Beijing's 'Go West
China Western Development
China Western Development , also China's Western Development, Western China Development, Great Western Development Strategy, or the Open Up the West Program is a policy adopted by the People's Republic of China to boost its less developed western regions.The policy covers 6 provinces , 5 autonomous...
' initiative aimed at increasing domestic and foreign investment in western China
Western China
Western China , refers to the western part of China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers six provinces: Gansu, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan; one municipality: Chongqing; and three autonomous regions: Ningxia, Tibet, and Xinjiang.-Administrative...
.
The strategies for economic development in Yunnan, as designed by the provincial government, can be described in short as the realization of 3 targets and the construction of 5 pillar industries. Yunnan often proudly presents itself as a "green" province with an equally "green" economy. This means importance is attached to the sustainable development of the region's bio-resources as well as the protection of its natural environment. The agricultural sector therefore gets a lot of support in the development of e.g. green or organic food
Organic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
, but also the production of traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...
, cut flowers and bio-chemicals is being encouraged.
The focus of the five pillar industries are the development of the tourism, tobacco, mineral and (hydro)power industries. Furthermore, as already mentioned, there's support for the development and improvement of green food, the horticultural sector and the biochemical industry.
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
to share experiences on sustainable urban development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
. Today, many sectors are concerned by this cooperation. The so-called "Chinagarten" (Chinese garden) is a remiscence for Zürich's technical and scientific assistance in the development of the Kunming city drinking water supply and drainage. See also: Water supply and sanitation in the People's Republic of China
Water supply and sanitation in the People's Republic of China
Water supply and sanitation in China is undergoing a massive transition while facing numerous challenges such as rapid urbanization, a widening gap between rich and poor as well as urban and rural areas...
.
The technical cooperation between Kunming and Zürich started with a cooperation project in the field of drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
supply. Later other sectors such as "old town protection", "sewage and waste water treatment", "city planning", "urban and regional transport planning" were added in the co-operation list.
Based on their experience, specialists from Zürich supported Kunming in the process of urban planning and development
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
. Many Chinese specialists went to Zürich for technical visits or trainings, getting an insight into the management of an advanced modern European city. The dialogue between specialists has been an important experience for both partners, establishing a relationship of mutual trust over the years.
The cooperation has improved the water supply
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
with the planning of modern drinking water treatment plants. It also led to a plan of protecting old buildings in the city. The solutions used in Kunming have, in the meantime, become a model in the People's Republic of China and are receiving attention beyond the provincial borders.
Eco-town
The Kunming Project is located on a naturally vegetated site adjacent to the International Horticultural Expo, on the north-eastern fringes of Kunming City. The project comprises four prototypePrototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
houses and a 2,000 m² Visitor Centre on a five hectare site. In 2006 the project was completed and is the first "intelligent & green" project in mainland China. Expo INTEGER Kunming is the first eco-town
Ecovillage
Ecovillages are intentional communities with the goal of becoming more socially, economically and ecologically sustainable. Some aim for a population of 50–150 individuals. Larger ecovillages of up to 2,000 individuals exist as networks of smaller subcommunities to create an ecovillage model that...
in southern China, with an emphasis on sustainable lifestyle, environmental protection and intelligent technology. The project aims to provide a focal point for the improvement of housing standards and building technology in the context of China. It will develop a sustainable housing and lifestyle model appropriate for the urbanization of the western region in China.
Public transportation
Traffic congestion
Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...
has been a problem for residents in recent years in Kunming. Fifty years ago, the small city only had several hundred motor vehicles. The figure increased to almost 100,000 in the mid 1970s. Since the 1980s, the city has embarked on a fast development. Road construction has not kept up to pace with the increasing amount of traffic, though several projects at expanding and connecting roads are being implemented. Currently, the city has over 1.2 million cars.
Kunming's then Vice-Mayor Li Jiang said the serious imbalance between the enormous amount of traffic and limited roads affected not only the city's economic and social development but also the residents' daily lives.
Several regulations being implemented are: 1. Rigorous driver training including retraining the driving teachers 2. Training the police to enforce new and existing driving and parking regulations 3. Train the police to drive in a completely law abiding manner. 4. Enforce traffic regulations on all vehicles, especially those with white license plates who routinely break laws. 5. Develop and enforce zoning laws that force property owners to provide adequate parking for cars, scooters, bicycles and delivery vehicles. 6. By implementing no. 5, eliminate the parking of bicycles and scooters on pedestrian sidewalks.
One major co-operation results in transportation sector was the Kunming Urban Public Transportation Master Plan. Several modern bus lanes were planned according to this plan, and the Bus Rapid Transit
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
(BRT) priority policy was put forward by Kunming Administration. The modern BRT can reach the carrying capacity and service level of rail traffic, but its construction and operation costs are much lower than those of rail traffic, which makes it suitable for Kunming as a medium-sized city in China.
After establishing the BRT priority policy, Kunming built its first modern bus lane in April 1999, which marked the earliest practice of BRT in China. Today, four special bus lanes have been constructed and the basic layout of a cross-grid bus lane network is already in the place.
However, starting to promote BRT can't solve all transportation problems. Compared with world-class BRT systems, Kunming's BRT system still has a long way to go in improving carrying capacity and service level, to let the public see the expected effects of public traffic priority.
Meanwhile, the bus lane network is to be further expanded, to make the bus lanes reach the planned length of 63 km. To achieve this target, more high-standard bus lanes are to be built, and to improve the city's existing bus lanes' operation and management levels as well. It has been suggested that the priorities in promoting BRT should be put into practice the new free-transfer ticket systems and optimize the bus route network.
Kunming recently has adopted prohibiting automobiles turning left policy. However, the responses to this measure are mixed. Wang Haihui, who is from the city's transportation department, said this measure alleviated road congestion situation and reduced passengers' time spent on the buses. But Yang Qing, Professor of Urban Planning at Kunming Ligong University, who drives a car every day, complained the measure didn't have very obvious positive impact on his daily transit.
How to solve the traffic jams has aroused public concerns. According to a random survey by the local television station, nearly 60 per cent of Kunmingers attribute the traffic jams to a large increase in motor vehicles. He Dongquan, Director of Transportation Program of Energy Foundation, suggests that more people should take buses instead of driving cars in order to save road space.
According to Xinhua News Agency's report, a blueprint entitled Modern New Kunming is in the making. According to this plan, Kunming will be built into a city formed by four ecological areas with specific functions, favorable living environment, and convenient transportation.
Solar energy
In July 2008, Kunming began to implement a program to transform the city's solar energy industry into a US$8.8 billion industrial base in China by 2013. Kunming receives an annual average sunshine of more than 2,400 hours. Each 1 kW PV system has the potential to generate 1500 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year from solar energy.The government plans to put in place policies (low-interest loans, tax exemption and other concessions or subsidies) and a fund to encourage private sector
Private sector
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
participation in the city's solar energy-based infrastructure development. The fund, which will be included in the municipal government's annual budget, will particularly finance LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
for public lighting, solar photovoltaic projects, and the propagation of energy saving projects.
As of 2007, the Kunming Economic Committee listed about 130 solar energy enterprises in the city. Of these, 118 enterprises produce solar lamps and solar water heaters, with a combined total production value of about US$ 43.8 million, and 10 enterprises are engaged in solar photovoltaic cells manufacturing, with a total production value of about US$51.2 million.
Suntech Power
Suntech Power
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is the world's largest producer of solar panels, with 1,800MW of annual production capacity by the end of 2010. With offices or production facilities in every major market, Suntech has delivered more than 13,000,000 solar panels to thousands of companies in more...
announced in December 2008 that it is jointly constructing a solar energy project with Yunnan Provincial Power Investment and other investors. The 1MW first-phase of the Shilin
Shilin Yi Autonomous County
Shilin Yi Autonomous County is an autonomous county, under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan, China.- Administrative divisions :...
66MW on-grid solar power station in Kunming began generating power on December 28, 2009. The initial phase of the 66MW project was originally scheduled to start production in first half of 2010 while the 20MW second phase and 36 MW third phase are under construction.
Transport
Air transport
Kunming is served by an international airportKunming Wujiaba International Airport
- History :The airport is among the oldest airports in China, with a history that can be traced back over 100 years to the early 1900s, when Wujiaba Airport was first built under the supervision of local warlord, General Tang Jiyao....
, located 4–5 km southeast of central Kunming that have new international and domestic terminal buildings next to each other. Kunming has air connections with several Chinese and Southeast Asian cities. CAAC
Civil Aviation Administration of China
The Civil Aviation Administration of China , formerly the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China , is the aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China. It oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents...
shuttle buses (¥5) serve passengers between the airport (Tuodong Lu) and the city center. Transport by taxi cost around 15 yuan and it takes about 20 minutes. Three public buses run on the route including No. 52, 67 and 78.
Kunming Changshui International Airport
Kunming Changshui International Airport
Kunming Changshui International Airport is an airport under construction in Kunming, Yunnan, People's Republic of China. The airport is located 22 km east of metropolitan Kunming in a degraded mountain area elevated 2100 meter. It is intended to replace the current Kunming Wujiaba...
,a new international airport in Kunming slated for completion by 2011. It is projected to be China's fourth largest airport and one of the world's top 80 airports. The new airport is expected to greatly increase the city's access to countries in SE Asia and S Asia. The airport is being constructed by Yunnan Airport Group. It will be able to handle 25 million passengers yearly, compared to the current capacity of 20 million at Kunming Wujiaba International Airport
Kunming Wujiaba International Airport
- History :The airport is among the oldest airports in China, with a history that can be traced back over 100 years to the early 1900s, when Wujiaba Airport was first built under the supervision of local warlord, General Tang Jiyao....
, which will remain operational until the switchover in 2011. The new airport is expected to handle 38 million every year by 2020 and 65 million passengers per year in 2035.
The new airport will have a 4,000 m long and 60 m wide runway, a 4,000 m long and 45 m wide runway; a 550,000 square meter terminal building; a 2,800 square-meter tower; and other supporting facilities including air traffic management and a fuel supply system. The terminal is the largest free-standing structure in the world. It looks like a bird, 1150 meters wide, 850 meters long. The columns that support the terminal will not be regular vertical columns; they will look like waving ribbons that extend throughout the terminal.
The airport is projected to cost US$3 billion and it will be partially solar power
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
ed. It was designed by the UK-based design engineering consultancy Arup
Arup
Arup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the...
.
The airport construction is part of the larger Kunming Air Hub City. The Air Hub City is planned to have about 200,000 residents. Most of its industries will be related to transport: logistics, aircraft maintenance, aviation education and technology, travel-related services, hospitality, and tourism.
Airlines
The now defunct Yunnan Airlines was headquartered in Kunming until it was acquired by China Eastern AirlinesChina Eastern Airlines
China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited is an airline headquartered on the grounds of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Changning District, Shanghai, China. It is a major Chinese airline operating international, domestic and regional routes. Its main hubs are at Shanghai Pudong...
. China Southwest Airlines used to operate routes to and from Kunming, until it was merged with Air China
Air China
Air China is the flag carrier and one of the major airlines of the People's Republic of China. Based in Beijing Capital International Airport, Air China is the world's 10th largest airline by fleet size. The airline ranked behind its main competitors China Southern Airlines and China Eastern...
.
Other than China Eastern and Air China, Kunming Airlines
Kunming Airlines
Kunming Airlines is an airline based in Kunming, Yunnan, People's Republic of China established in 2005.-History:In November 2005 it was reported that Sichuan Airlines Group would invest US$4 million to acquire a 40% stake in Kunming Airlines, which would operate passenger and cargo services...
, Shanghai Airlines
Shanghai Airlines
Shanghai Airlines is an airline headquartered in the Jing'an District, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, but its operations remain separate post-merger, retaining its distinct brand and livery....
, Dragonair
Dragonair
Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited , operating as Dragonair, is an international airline and flag carrier headquartered in Hong Kong; with its corporate headquarters, Dragonair House Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited (T: 港龍航空有限公司, S: 港龙航空有限公司, Cantonese: gong2 lung4 hong4 hung1 jau5 haan6 gung1 si1,...
, JAL
Japan Airlines
is an airline headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. It is the flag carrier of Japan and its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport , as well as Nagoya's Chūbu Centrair International Airport and Osaka's Kansai International Airport...
, Malaysia Airlines (MAS), Korean Air
Korean Air
Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. , operating as Korean Air, is both the flag carrier and the largest airline of South Korea, with global headquarters located in Seoul, South Korea. Korean Air's international passenger division and related subsidiary cargo division together serve 130 cities in 45...
, Vietnam Airlines
Vietnam Airlines
Vietnam Airlines Company Limited, trading as Vietnam Airlines , is the national flag carrier of Vietnam. Founded in 1956 under the name Vietnam Civil Aviation, the airline was established as a state enterprise in April 1989. Vietnam Airlines is headquartered in Long Bien, Hanoi, with hubs at Noi...
and Thai Airways International
Thai Airways International
Thai Airways International Public Company Limited is the national flag carrier and largest airline of Thailand. Formed in 1988, the airline's headquarters are located in Chatuchak District, Bangkok, and operates out of Suvarnabhumi Airport. Thai is a founding member of the Star Alliance. Thai is a...
are the other main airlines that operate out of Kunming (see also Kunming Wujiaba International Airport
Kunming Wujiaba International Airport
- History :The airport is among the oldest airports in China, with a history that can be traced back over 100 years to the early 1900s, when Wujiaba Airport was first built under the supervision of local warlord, General Tang Jiyao....
).
Lucky Air
Lucky Air
Lucky Air is an airline based in Kunming, Yunnan, People's Republic of China. It operates scheduled services from Dali to Kunming and Xishuangbanna, and plans to expand to other areas of China. Its main base is Dali Airport.- History :...
is a budget airline based in Kunming and operates scheduled services from Dali to Kunming and Xishuangbanna, and plans to expand to other areas of China.
Highway
China National Highway 108
China National Highway 108 is a National Highway which connects Beijing through Chengdu to Kunming. In Beijing it is known as Jingyuan Road....
, 213
China National Highway 213
China National Highway 213 runs from Lanzhou in Gansu to Mohan in Yunnan. It is 2827 kilometres in length and runs via Chengdu, Sichuan and Kunming, Yunnan.-Route and distance:...
and 320
China National Highway 320
China National Highway 320 runs southwest from Shanghai towards Zhejiang Province, Jiangxi Province, Hunan Province, Guizhou Province, and ends in Ruili, Yunnan, which is on China-Burma border. It is 3,695 kilometres in length. In 2010, the Kali section of this highway was hampered due to cold...
intersect in Kunming. Highways link Kunming to Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, and provide Yunnan province access to seaports of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
.
Rail
Kunming is the main rail hub of Yunnan province. The Chengdu-Kunming Railway from SichuanSichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, Shanghai-Kunming Railway
Shanghai-Kunming railway
The Shanghai-Kunming Railway or Hukun Railway , also known as the Hukun Line, is a major arterial railroad across eastern, south central and southwest China. It connects Shanghai, whose shorthand name is Hu, and Kunming. The line has a total length of 2,690 km and passes through Shanghai...
from Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
, and Nanning-Kunming Railway from Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
converge in Kunming from the north, northeast and east. The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway
Yunnan-Vietnam Railway
The Yunnan–Vietnam Railway is a 855 km railway built by France during 1904-1910, connecting Haiphong, Vietnam with Kunming, Yunnan province, China. The section within China from Kunming to Hekou is known as the Kunming-Hekou Railway, and is 466 km long. The section within Vietnam...
runs from Kunming southeast to Hekou
Hekou Yao Autonomous County
The Hekou Yao Autonomous County is an autonomous county in the southern part of the Yunnan province of China. It is part of the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture and borders the northern Vietnamese town of Lao Cai.-Industrial Park:...
and Lao Cai
Lao Cai
Lào Cai is a city in northeastern Vietnam. It is the capital of Lao Cai province. The city borders the city of Hekou, in the Yunnan province of Southwest China. It lies at the junction of the Red River and the Nam Ti River approximately 160 miles northwest of Hanoi...
on the Sino-Vietnamese border and then on to Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
. The Kunming-Yuxi Railway runs south to Yuxi
Yuxi
Yuxi is a prefecture-level city in the Yunnan province of the People's Republic of China. The administrative center of Yuxi is Hongta District. Yuxi is approximately 90 km south of Kunming.-Geography:...
, where a second rail line to Vietnam is being planned and built. To the west of Kunming, the Guangtong-Dali Railway extends off the Chengdu-Kunming Line to Dali
Dali City
Dali City is a county-level city in and the seat of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, northwestern Yunnan province of Southwest China.-History:...
(Xiaguan Town
Xiaguan Town
Xiaguan or Xia Guan is a town under the jurisdiction of Dali City, Yunnan province, China, lying on the southern end of Erhai Lake. It's also known as New Dali. It is about 30 minutes south of Old Dali by bus.-See also:*Xiaguan tea factory...
).
Kunming has two railway stations:
- Kunming Railway StationKunming Railway StationKunming Railway Station is a railway station serving the city of Kunming, Yunnan, China. It is located about 4 kilometers from the city center.-Connections:...
is at the southern end of Beijing Xi Lu. Compared with the other railway station (North Railway Station), Kunming Railway Station services most of the trains to places to other provinces of China. Trains run north to Chengdu, southeast via Xingyi to Baise and Nanning in Guangxi, and east through Guizhou, via Liupanshui, Anshun, Guiyang, into the rest of the country. Tickets are sold in three days in advance.
- Kunming North Railway Station (serviced by the No. 23 Bus) is for routes to HekouHekou, SichuanHekou, Sichuan is a town in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, China....
and VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Every Friday and Sunday, a train departs to HanoiHanoiHanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
, the capital of Vietnam (the train from Kunming to Hekou and Hekou to Hanoi is currently not operating). It takes about 16 hours to reach Hekou (a seat is ¥35, berths around ¥90), and 32 hours to HanoiHanoiHanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
(hard sleeper lower bunk ¥175, upper bunk ¥235).
Trains from Kunming to: Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
(daily; 48 hr); Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
(3 daily; 18-21 hr); Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
(2 daily; 23 hr); Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
(2 daily; 45 hr); Guilin
Guilin
Guilin is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of far southern China, sitting on the west bank of the Li River. Its name means "forest of Sweet Osmanthus", owing to the large number of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city...
(2 daily; 30 hr); Guiyang
Guiyang
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province of Southwest China. It is located in the centre of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters...
(5 daily; 12 hr); Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
(daily; 28 hr); Hekou
Hekou, Sichuan
Hekou, Sichuan is a town in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, China....
(1 daily; 16 hr); Kaiyuan (2 daily; 8 hr); Nanning
Nanning
Nanning is the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush tropical foliage.-History:...
(daily; 20 hr); Panzhihua
Panzhihua
Panzhihua is a prefecture-level city located in the far south of Sichuan province of Southwest China, on the confluence of the Jinsha and Yalong Rivers. It has an administrative area of , and a total population of 1,100,800 as of 2007. It is the only city in China having a name of a flower, and...
(3 daily; 6 hr); Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
(2 daily; 60 hr); Xiaguan
Xiaguan Town
Xiaguan or Xia Guan is a town under the jurisdiction of Dali City, Yunnan province, China, lying on the southern end of Erhai Lake. It's also known as New Dali. It is about 30 minutes south of Old Dali by bus.-See also:*Xiaguan tea factory...
(daily; 8 hr); Xichang
Xichang
Xichang is a city in and the seat of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in the south of Sichuan province, People's Republic of China. In 2004 it had a population of 126,700.-Geography:...
(3 daily; 12 hr).
Urban rail plan
In May 2010, Kunming has begun construction on its first urban rail lines, line 1 and 2 of the Kunming MetroKunming Metro
Kunming Rail Transit or Kunming Metro is a rapid transit system currently under construction in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan. With a population just over 3 million, Kunming is one of the largest cities in China without a metro system. The system will initially consist of 2 lines, with a further...
. An elevated test section had been under construction since 2009. Lines 1 and 2 were scheduled to open in 2012, but with delays, it is estimated they won't open until early 2013. Construction on line 3 began in August 2010 and is expected to be completed in 2016. The entire system consisting of 6 lines and covering a total of 162 kilometers is estimated to be complete by 2018.
High Speed Rail Plan
Construction is underway for the following high speed railways.1. Kunming-Guiyang-Changsha-Hangzhou Shanghai. The speed will be 350 km/h or 219 miles/h.
2. Kunming-Nanning. The speed will be 200 km/h or 125 miles/h. Later the speed may be improved to 250 km/h or 156 miles/h.
3. Kunming-Vietnam via Honghe Prefecture.
4. Kunming-Singapore via Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Study or planning is being done for the following railways.
1. Kunming-Chengdu. The speed will be 250 km/h or 156 miles/h.
2. Kunming-Chongqing. The speed will be 350 km/h or 219 miles/h.
3. Intercity rail will connect three neighboring cities: Qujing, Chuxiong, and Yuxi. The line to Chuxiong will then be extended to Dali. The speed will be 250 km/h or 156 miles/h.
4. Kunming to Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
via Myanmar
Road and transit
Dali, Yunnan
Dali City is a county-level city in and the seat of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, northwestern Yunnan province of Southwest China.-History:...
and Lijiang several times a day.
There are four major long-distance bus stations in Kunming with the South Bus Station and Railway Square Bus Station being the most primary.
- South Bus Station faces the Kunming Railway Station in Beijing Xi Lu, with standard, luxury, express and sleeper buses departing for all over Yunnan and neighboring provinces. Buses depart here generally fall into three types: Regular, Faster, and Luxurious. A regular bus runs slower and usually the bus condition is not so good as the faster one. The standard bus to JinghongJinghongJinghong romanised as chiang rung, chiang hung, chengrung, cheng hung, jinghung, keng hung and muangjinghung) is the capital of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China, and the historic capital of the former Tai kingdom of Sipsongpanna.-Location:Located between 100°25' -...
takes 21 hours and costs ¥119, while a luxury bus takes 16 hours and costs ¥152. A luxury bus to Xiaguan (for Dali), which leaves hourly from 8am to 7pm, takes 4 hours (two less than the regular service) and costs ¥103, and one to Lijiang which takes only nine hours and costs ¥152. Other destinations covered by this include Zhongdian and HekouHekou, SichuanHekou, Sichuan is a town in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, China....
(11 hours, ¥95).
- Railway Square Bus Station is smaller than SBS and the majority of the buses depart from the station are private-run. Usually no fixed schedules are available and buses will leave when they are full. There are standard and sleeper services to Dali, Jinghong and elsewhere in Yunnan.
Buses from Kunming to: Anshun
Anshun
Anshun is a prefecture-level city in China in the southwestern province of Guizhou where the famous Huangguoshu Waterfall is located. Within the borders of its prefecture one also finds attractions such as Long Gong Dragon Caves and the Getu River. As of 1999, it had a population of 217,215...
(24 hr); Baoshan (18 hr); Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
(36 hr); Chuxiong (6 hr); Dali
Dali, Yunnan
Dali City is a county-level city in and the seat of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, northwestern Yunnan province of Southwest China.-History:...
(12 hr); Gejiu (5 hr); Guiyang
Guiyang
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province of Southwest China. It is located in the centre of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters...
(72 hr); Hekou
Hekou, Sichuan
Hekou, Sichuan is a town in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, China....
(16 hr); Jianshui
Jianshui
Jianshui County is a city in Honghe prefecture, Yunnan province, China. It was historic center of the province and remains an important transportation crossroad.-Geography:...
(5 hr); Jinghong
Jinghong
Jinghong romanised as chiang rung, chiang hung, chengrung, cheng hung, jinghung, keng hung and muangjinghung) is the capital of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China, and the historic capital of the former Tai kingdom of Sipsongpanna.-Location:Located between 100°25' -...
(11 hr); Kaiyuan (5 hr); Lijiang (11 hr); Mangshi (22 hr); Nanning
Nanning
Nanning is the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush tropical foliage.-History:...
(72 hr); Panxian (12 hr); Ruili
Ruili
Ruili City is a county-level city in Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan province, southwest China.It is a major border crossing between China and Myanmar, with Muse town located across the border.- Name :...
(24 hr); Shilin
Shilin Yi Autonomous County
Shilin Yi Autonomous County is an autonomous county, under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan, China.- Administrative divisions :...
(3 hr); Tonghai (2 hr); Wanding (25 hr); Xiaguan
Xiaguan Town
Xiaguan or Xia Guan is a town under the jurisdiction of Dali City, Yunnan province, China, lying on the southern end of Erhai Lake. It's also known as New Dali. It is about 30 minutes south of Old Dali by bus.-See also:*Xiaguan tea factory...
(10 hr); Xichang
Xichang
Xichang is a city in and the seat of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in the south of Sichuan province, People's Republic of China. In 2004 it had a population of 126,700.-Geography:...
(24 hr); Xingyi
Xingyi, Guizhou
Xingyi is a county level city in Guizhou in southern China. It has an area of 2911 square kilometers and a population of 740,700 as the end of 2003.-History:-External links:*...
(13 hr).
Leaving China by road into Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
is also possible through the respective crossings at Hekou in southeastern Yunnan or Bian Mao Zhan in Xishuangbanna.
The Kunming-Bangkok Expressway
Kunming-Bangkok Expressway
Kunming-Bangkok Expressway is the first international expressway from China. It starts at Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan province in southwestern China, and ends at Bangkok, the capital of Thailand....
is the first expressway from China
Expressways of China
The Expressway Network of the People's Republic of China is one of the longest in the world. The network is also known as National Trunk Highway System . The total length of China's expressways was at the end of 2010, the world's second longest only after the United States and slightly longer...
to Bangkok via Laos. The 1,800 km long Kunming-Bangkok Expressway begins at Kunming going down to Ban Houayxay
Ban Houayxay
Ban Houayxay is the capital of the Lao province of Bokèo, on the border with Thailand....
in Laos; it then crosses the Mekong River to Chiangkhong in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and eventually reaches Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
.
At the 14th Greater Mekong Subregion
Greater Mekong Subregion
The Greater Mekong Subregion is not a geological region, but rather, a development project mooted by the Asian Development Bank in 1992 that brought together the riparian states of the Mekong River basin, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Yunnan Province of China...
Ministerial Conference in July 2007, China, Laos and Thailand signed an agreement on the construction of a new bridge over the Mekong River to connect Chiangkhong in Thailand and Ban Houayxay in Laos, to the Kunming-Bangkok Highway. The completion of the new bridge over the Mekong River will help connect China's southeast provinces with Bangkok. With capital investments from both China and Thailand, the bridge is expected to be completed in 2011 and will be the last link in the highway system that winds through the Mekong River region.
Local transit
Public buses and taxis are the two main means of transport within the city. There is no metro/subway system (see Kunming#Rail).Nearly two hundred public bus lines crisscross the city center, covering the whole prefecture. Prices are usually 1 yuan for a no air-conditioned and 2 yuan for air-conditioned.
Taxis are plenty with the starting price at ¥8 for the first three kilometer and ¥1.6 added for per extra km. After 10pm price rises to ¥9.6 for the first 3 km and ¥2.7 added to per extra km.
Cycling is common, and many hotels around the Kunming Railway Station provide bicycle rental services usually priced 2 yuan/hour and 10 yuan/day.
Conscious of its growing traffic issues, the city is currently renovating a pedestrian
Pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...
-friendly city centre.
Central Kunming
The city hangs off two main thoroughfareThoroughfare
A thoroughfare is a place of transportation intended to connect one location to another. Highways, roads, and trails are examples of thoroughfares used by a variety of general traffic. On land a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a rough trail to multi-lane highway with grade separated...
s: Beijing Lu forms the north-south axis, passing just east of the center as it runs for 5 km between the city's two trains stations; while Dongfeng Lu crosses it halfway along, divided into east (Dongfeng Dong Lu), middle (Dongfeng Zhong Lu) and west (Dongfeng Xi Lu) sections as it cuts right through the business center. The far end runs out of the city as Renmin Xi Lu, the first leg of the Burma Road
Burma Road
The Burma Road is a road linking Burma with the southwest of China. Its terminals are Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. When it was built, Burma was a British colony.The road is long and runs through rough mountain country...
. Most of the city's famous hotels and foreign consulates lies along Dongfeng Dong Lu and the southern half of Beijing Lu, while the majority of specific landmarks and shopping district are north and west of the center around Dongfeng Xi Lu and Cuihu Park (Green Lake Park)
Green Lake (Kunming)
Green Lake Park, or Cui Hu Park , is an urban park in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. It was established in the 17th century on the west side of the Wuhua Mountain and is sometimes described as a "Jade in Kunming"....
. Circling most of this is the city's first highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
ring road
Ring road
A ring road, orbital motorway, beltway, circumferential highway, or loop highway is a road that encircles a town or city...
, Huancheng Lu, though others are planned.
Military
Kunming is headquarters of the 14th Group Army of the People's Liberation ArmyPeople's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
, one of the two group armies that comprise the Chengdu Military Region responsible for the defense of China's southwestern borders with India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, as well as security in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
.
Education, science and technology
Kunming remains a major educational and cultural center in the southwest region of ChinaSouthwest China
Southwest China is a region of the People's Republic of China defined by governmental bureaus that includes the municipality of Chongqing, the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, and the Tibet Autonomous Region.-Provinces:-Municipalities:...
, with universities, medical and teacher-training colleges, technical schools, and scientific research institutes.
The city has more than 300 scientific research institutions employing 450,000 scientists and technicians. Included were 68,500 people with middle-level and senior professional titles.
In 1995, the city achieved 60 research findings, of which one reached the "advanced international standard", 17 "advanced domestic standard" and 21 "advanced provincial standard".
Colleges and universities
- Yunnan UniversityYunnan UniversityYunnan University is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in Yunnan province, China. Its main campuses are located in the provincial capital city of Kunming...
(1922) - Kunming University of Science and TechnologyKunming University of Science and TechnologyKunming University of Science and Technology is located in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province, Southwestern China.As the goal by 2010, KUST is to become a key university with strong science and engineering background...
(1925) - Yunnan Normal UniversityYunnan Normal UniversityYunnan Normal University is located in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province. Established in 1938 as the National Normal College of Southwestern Union University based on Beijing University, Tsinghua University, and Nankai University, it was named as National Kunming Normal College in 1946...
- Yunnan Normal University Business SchoolYunnan Normal University Business SchoolYunnan Normal University Business School is an independent university run by Yunnan Normal University with social investment. It was approved by the State Education Commission as an undergraduate university of regular higher education....
- Yunnan University of Finance and EconomicsYunnan University of Finance and EconomicsThe Yunnan University of Finance and Economics is a provincial-level university in Kunming, Yunnan province, China focusing on fields related to commerce and management.-History:...
- Yunnan Agricultural UniversityYunnan Agricultural University- History :It was initially established in Kunming in 1938 as the School of Agricultural at Yunnan University. Separated from Yunnan University in 1958, the School of Agriculture was renamed Kunming Agriculture and Forestry College...
- Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese MedicineYunnan University of Traditional Chinese MedicineYunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine , established in 1960 in Kunming, Yunnan, China, was among the second group of TCM universities set up nationwide....
- Kunming Medical UniversityKunming Medical UniversityKunming Medical University , previously known as Kunming Medical College, is a specialist medical school located in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China.-History:In 1933, Donglu University initiated a specialized associate program in medicine...
- Kunming UniversityKunming UniversityKunming University 昆明大学, founded in 1984, is Yunnan's only comprehensive professional university approved by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China....
- Southwest Forestry UniversitySouthwest Forestry UniversitySouthwest Forestry University , SWFU, is a specialist forestry university located in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China.- External links :* http://www.swfc.edu.cn/...
- Yunnan Arts UniversityYunnan arts universityYunnan Arts University , founded in 1959, is a Chinese university located in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.-External links:* *...
- Kunming Metallurgy CollegeKunming Metallurgy CollegeKunming Metallurgy College , located in Kunming, China, is a public general, full-time vocational college of higher education approved by the Ministry of Education.The college was founded in 1952...
Management training
The Shanghai-based China Europe International Business SchoolChina Europe International Business School
China Europe International Business School is one of the three international business schools affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University located in Shanghai, China. The school was established in 1994 in Beijing as a joint venture between the European Commission, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign...
, aka CEIBS, will launch in 2009 its Business Development Certificate Programme in Kunming. With the Business Development Certificate Programme, CEIBS and program partner Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
The Frankfurt School of Finance & Management is a state-accredited private university in Frankfurt, Hesse. The university is also accredited by Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation .-History:...
aim to train approximately 500 Chinese managers in the coming four years, with the first phase of the program beginning in 2008 in Hefei
Hefei
Hefei is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province in Eastern China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural centre of Anhui...
, the capital of Anhui province. Kunming and Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
will be the focus of the program's expansion in 2009. The program is part of a two million Euro umbrella project funded by the EU, which also includes another program that provides scholarships for MBA students from China's less-developed regions.
Research institutes
- Solar Energy Research Institute of Yunnan Normal University
- Kunming Municipal Planning and Design Research Institute
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Kunming Branch of Chinese Academy of SciencesChinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences , formerly known as Academia Sinica, is the national academy for the natural sciences of the People's Republic of China. It is an institution of the State Council of China. It is headquartered in Beijing, with institutes all over the People's Republic of China...
(CAS) was established in 1957. It was formerly known as Kunming Office of CAS and was extended into a branch in 1958 and renamed as Yunnan Branch of CAS. In 1962, Yunnan Branch combined with Sichuan Branch and Guizhou Branch to establish Southwest China Branch of CAS in Chengdu. In October 1978, Kunming Branch was reestablished at the approval of the State Council.
As a working department of CAS, Kunming Branch now administrates five research institutes: Kunming Institute of Botany
Kunming Institute of Botany
Kunming Institute of Botany, or KIB , founded in 1938, is a research institution in the field of Botany, which is located in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, China. The Institute has a botanical garden....
, Kunming Institute of Zoology
Kunming Institute of Zoology
Kunming Institute of Zoology , one of the 20 biological institutes under the Chinese Academy of Sciences , is one of China's first class zoological research institutes...
, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden, Yunnan Observatory and Institute of Geochemistry in Guiyang. At present, it has a total staff of 1,160, of which 808 are professional researchers, 7 academicians, 343 senior researchers. There are also 447 Ph.D. degree students and 530 master degree students. The retired staff is 1,090. The Branch has set up 3 national key open labs, 2 CAS key open labs, 5 key labs set up by CAS and local province, 3 engineering centers, 5 doctoral sites, 5 post doctoral stations and national famous plant herbariums and halls of wildlife specimen and had a series of updated research instruments and apparatus, computer networks and biodiversity information systems. The Branch has become an advanced comprehensive science research base in astronomy, geology and biology.
The administrative organ of Kunming Branch is organized by three functional departments (General Office, Office of Personnel and Office of Sci-tech Cooperation) and a supporting department (Network Center). The major tasks are: to construct the leadership of the five institutes and cadres reserve; to organize and facilitate the cooperation between CAS and Yunnan Province and Guizhou Province; to coordinate projects and poverty alleviation; to undertake the coordination and administration of the knowledge creation base of "Conservation and Research Development of Southwest China Biological Resources and Biodiversity". Kunming Branch has established international exchange platforms with southeast Asian countries. In 2005, a delegation from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology is a large national university in Vietnam. It was founded in 1975 as the Vietnam Academy of Science, and renamed the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in 2008. Its infrastructure spans Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Nha Trang, Da Lat, and...
was invited to visit Kunming Branch and reached a cooperation intention with Kunming Branch in staff exchange, coed graduate students, research program cooperation, scientific data exchange and set up labs jointly. Kunming Branch has organized the affiliated institutes to apply for the foreign aid training program from the state.
At present, Kunming Branch is preparing the establishment of the "Biodiversity National Lab" with Yunnan Province.
- Kunming Institute of BotanyKunming Institute of BotanyKunming Institute of Botany, or KIB , founded in 1938, is a research institution in the field of Botany, which is located in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, China. The Institute has a botanical garden....
, Chinese Academy of SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesThe Chinese Academy of Sciences , formerly known as Academia Sinica, is the national academy for the natural sciences of the People's Republic of China. It is an institution of the State Council of China. It is headquartered in Beijing, with institutes all over the People's Republic of China...
http://www.kib.ac.cn/kibenglish/english/ - Kunming Institute of ZoologyKunming Institute of ZoologyKunming Institute of Zoology , one of the 20 biological institutes under the Chinese Academy of Sciences , is one of China's first class zoological research institutes...
, Chinese Academy of SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesThe Chinese Academy of Sciences , formerly known as Academia Sinica, is the national academy for the natural sciences of the People's Republic of China. It is an institution of the State Council of China. It is headquartered in Beijing, with institutes all over the People's Republic of China...
http://www.kiz.ac.cn/en/ - Kunming Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Kunming Primate Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences http://www.kprc.ac.cn/
- Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Gardens
Health
Currently, there are 2,774 medical institutes of various kinds and 33,600 medical professionals in the City. The 170 medical service institutes based on communities cover a population of 1.86 million. China Health Management Corp (CNHC) is the main private healthcareHealth insurance
Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care expenses among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is...
provider in the city. It has been predicted that private hospitals will provide 70% of total medical health care services by 2012 within Kunming City.
Hospitals
- Yunnan Provincial Red Cross Hospital and Emergency Center, is the main general hospital in Kunming.
- Yunnan Provincial First People's Hospital
- First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical College
- Kunming Mental Hospital, founded in 1955, houses over 400 patients.
- Kunming Physical Rehabilitation CenterKunming Physical Rehabilitation CenterThe Kunming Physical Rehabilitation Center is operated by the Yunnan branch of the Chinese Red Cross Society with the financial and technical support of the ICRC. The center opened in early 2004 and began to expand its follow-up services in 2005 with the opening of two repair workshops in the south...
HIV/AIDS
In late 2006, China's first provincial-level HIVHIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
treatment center was built. The US$17.5 million center is located 28 km from downtown Kunming. The center has six main departments: clinical treatment, technical consulting, research and development, international exchange and cooperation, clinical treatment training and psychological therapy.The center cooperates with many of the NGOs in Kunming that are focused on HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. These organizations are working with provincial and local officials to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS among high-risk groups and prevent crossover into lower-risk groups.
Yunnan, with a population of more than 45 million, leads China in HIV/AIDS infections - primarily spread through intravenous drug use and unsafe sex, often involving the sex industry. According to official statistics, by the end of last year Yunnan was home to more than 48,000 HIV-infected patients, 3,900 patients with AIDS and a death toll of 1,768.
See also: HIV/AIDS in Yunnan
HIV/AIDS in Yunnan
The People's Republic of China's first AIDS case was identified in 1985 in a dying tourist. In 1989, the first indigenous cases were reported as an outbreak in 146 infected heroin users in Yunnan province, near China's southwest border....
, HIV/AIDS in the People's Republic of China
Further reading: "Modeling the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Among Injecting Drug Users and Sex Workers in Kunming, China", Bulletin of Mathematical Biology Volume 68, Number 3 / April, 2006; Nicolas Bacaër, Xamxinur Abdurahman and Jianli Ye http://www.springerlink.com/content/5pk8224322r208x2/
Public security
The headquarters of the Kunming Municipal Public Security BureauPublic Security Bureau
In the People's Republic of China, a public security bureau refers to the government offices while the smaller offices are called Police posts which are similar in concept to the Japanese Kōban system) present in each province and municipality that handles policing , public security, and...
is on Beijing Lu. Its foreign affairs department, located on Jinxing Huayuan, Jinxing Xiao Lu in the northeast of the city, handles immigration and travel visas.
Drug trafficking
Kunming has a pivotal role as a major conduit point in international drug trafficking as it is the closest major Chinese city situated near the Golden TriangleGolden Triangle (Southeast Asia)
The Golden Triangle is one of Asia's two main illicit opium-producing areas. It is an area of around that overlaps the mountains of four countries of Southeast Asia: Burma, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent and Pakistan, it has been one of the most...
in Southeast Asia. The Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau Narcotics Squad is the specialist counter-narcotics police service.
Police confiscated at least three tons of drugs in Yunnan in 2005. Yunnan province seized 10 tons of illegal drugs in 2006, accounting for 80 percent of the total drugs confiscated nationwide during the period, according to Sun Dahong, then deputy director of Yunnan's provincial Public Security Bureau
Public Security Bureau
In the People's Republic of China, a public security bureau refers to the government offices while the smaller offices are called Police posts which are similar in concept to the Japanese Kōban system) present in each province and municipality that handles policing , public security, and...
. The total is more than double the amount seized in the province in 2005.
Heroin and methamphetamine seem to be the main targets of the 30,000+ strong anti-drug police in Yunnan. The majority of heroin coming into China from the Golden Triangle passes through Dali, where it is then distributed to the rest of China and internationally via China's coastal cities.
Kunming Municipal Compulsory Rehabilitation Center in Kunming is the main rehabilitation center for drug addicts, mostly recovering from heroin addiction. International drug rings have used Yunnan and Kunming to channel new synthetic drugs (like methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
) as well as traditional drugs like heroin.
Opium was until recently in widespread medicinal use by many of the minority peoples of the province, however after the Opium War the Chinese government has made growing the poppy illegal, and all but stamped out its production within the borders of Yunnan.
Diplomatic representation
The following countries have a diplomatic mission in Kunming:- Consulates:
- CambodiaDiplomatic missions of CambodiaThis is a list of diplomatic missions of Cambodia. Cambodia's cadre of diplomatic personnel defected or were decimated during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. In the 1980s the Soviet Union and Vietnam slowly rebuilt the capacity of the country's foreign ministry, although the country's foreign policy...
- Myanmar (Burma) http://www.mcg-kunming.com/
- Laos
- MalaysiaDiplomatic missions of MalaysiaThis is a list of diplomatic missions of Malaysia. Malaysia's foreign ministry started in 1957 when the country obtained independence, with a staff of eleven British and Australian trained foreign service officers...
http://www.kln.gov.my/perwakilan/kunming - ThailandDiplomatic missions of ThailandThis is a list of diplomatic missions of Thailand, excluding honorary consulates.-Europe:** Vienna ** Brussels ** Prague ** Copenhagen ** Helsinki ** Paris ** Berlin...
- Vietnam
- Cambodia
Trade offices:
- AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
- NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Twin towns
Kunming is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with:
- 1981.11.05:
Fujisawa, KanagawaFujisawa, Kanagawais a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 407,731 and a population density of 5,870 people per km². The total area is 69.51 km²-Geography:...
, Japan - 1982.02.17:
ZürichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland - 1985.05.14:
ChefchaouenChefchaouenChefchaouen or Chaouen is a city in northwest Morocco. It is the chief town of the province of the same name, and is noted for its buildings in shades of blue....
, Morocco - 1986.05.15:
Denver, Colorado, United States - 1988.08.20:
Wagga Wagga, New South WalesWagga Wagga, New South WalesWagga Wagga is a city in New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, and with an urban population of 46,735 people, Wagga Wagga is the state's largest inland city, as well as an important agricultural, military, and transport hub of Australia...
, Australia (see also Wagga Wagga Botanic GardensWagga Wagga Botanic GardensWagga Wagga Botanic Gardens, Australia are located in the Wagga Wagga suburb of Turvey Park on a 20 hectare site on the south western slopes of Willans Hill Reserve. Access to the gardens is via Macleay Street near the corner of Lord Baden Powell Drive...
) - 1997.09.25:
CochabambaCochabambaCochabamba is a city in central Bolivia, located in a valley bearing the same name in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the fourth largest city in Bolivia with an urban population of 608,276 and a metropolitan population of more than 1,000,000 people...
, Bolivia - 1999.06.07:
Chiang MaiChiang MaiChiang Mai sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is the capital of Chiang Mai Province , a former capital of the Kingdom of Lanna and was the tributary Kingdom of Chiang Mai from 1774 until 1939. It is...
, Thailand - 2001.05.10:
MandalayMandalayMandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....
, Myanmar - 2003.08.11:
New PlymouthNew PlymouthNew Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers migrated....
, Taranaki, New Zealand - 2005.08.18:
ChittagongChittagongChittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...
, Bangladesh - 2008.09.18:
JyväskyläJyväskyläJyväskylä is the capital of Central Finland and the largest city on the Finnish Lakeland, north-east of Tampere and north of Helsinki, on northern coast of lake Päijänne. The city has been continuously one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. The city is surrounded...
, Finland - 2008.10.10: YangonYangonYangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...
, Myanmar - 2008.05.26:
Phnom PenhPhnom PenhPhnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
, Cambodia
Notable residents
Notable people from Kunming include:- Benedict AndersonBenedict AndersonBenedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson is Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor Emeritus of International Studies, Government & Asian Studies at Cornell University, and is best known for his celebrated book Imagined Communities, first published in 1983...
, scholar (born in Kunming) - Cai XitaoCai XitaoCai Xitao was a Chinese botanist from a village near Dongyang in Zhejiang province, China.In 1928, after studying at various institutions in Hangzhou and Shanghai, though without attaining any formal qualifications, Cai Xitao was able to secure a job at the Jing Sheng Botanic Laboratory in...
, botanist - Chih-Kung JenChih-Kung JenChih-Kung Jen was a Chinese physicist who emigrated to the U.S. and participated in some of the 20th century's major scientific, political and social developments in both the United States and China....
, physicist - Pierre Jean Marie DelavayPierre Jean Marie DelavayPère Jean Marie Delavay was a French missionary, explorer and botanist.He was sent to China in 1867, serving first in Guangdong, then moving to Kunming, Yunnan, where he remained until his death....
, 19th century French missionary, lived and died in Kunming - Nie ErNie ErNie Er , was a Chinese composer. He is known for composing the national anthem of the People's Republic of China, the March of the Volunteers. In numerous Shanghai magazines he went by the English name "George Njal"...
, composer (born in Kunming) - Frank ShuFrank ShuFrank Shu , is an astrophysicist, author and professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley and University of California, San Diego and the university president of the National Tsing Hua University....
, Chinese-American astrophysicist, born in Kunming - Lamu GatusaLamu GatusaLamu Gatusa is an associate professor at the Yunan Academy of Social Sciences, in Kunming, Yunnan, China. He is also a writer, and a three-time winner of China's Minority People Literature Award....
, professor and writer - Li Guoxing http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9010-worlds-second-face-transplant-performed-in-china.html, China's first face transplant patient. His face was terribly disfigured in 2004 after an attack by a bear. He received a partial face transplant operation at Xi'anXi'anXi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
's Xijing Hospital in April 2006, the second operation of its kind following a French female patient in 2005. - Li WeiweiLi WeiweiLi Weiwei is a female Chinese handball player. She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics.In 2004, Li Weiwei finished eighth with the Chinese team in the women's competition. She played in all seven matches and scored 32 goals....
, Olympics handball player - Liu FangLiu FangLiu Fang is one of the most prominent pipa players in the world. Born in Kunming in the Chinese province of Yunnan, she began playing the pipa at the age of 6. Her first solo public performance was at the age of 9. In 1986, at age 11, she played for Queen Elizabeth II...
, pipa player - Maran Brang SengMaran Brang SengMaran Brang Seng, was a Burmese politician and Chairman of the Kachin Independence Organization .-Mr Maran Brang Seng:...
, Burmese politician (died in Kunming) - Tang JiyaoTang JiyaoTang Jiyao was a Chinese general and warlord of Yunnan during the Warlord Era of Republican China. Tang Jiyao was military governor of Yunnan from 1913-1927.-Life:...
, general and warlord of Yunnan, died in Kunming - Tu Wei-mingTu Wei-mingTu Weiming , b.1940, is an ethicist and a New Confucian. He is Lifetime Professor of Philosophy and founding Dean of the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University...
, ethicist (born in Kunming) - Wang Hongni, triathlete and Asian Games gold medallist
- Wen YiduoWen YiduoWen Yiduo , born Wén Jiāhuá , courtesy names Yǒusān , Youshan , was a Chinese poet and scholar.-Biography:Wen was born in Xishui County, Hubei. After receiving a traditional education he went on to continue studying at the Tsinghua University. In 1922, he traveled to the United States to study fine...
, poet and scholar, (lived and assassinated in Kunming) - Zhang XiaogangZhang XiaogangZhang Xiaogang is a contemporary Chinese symbolist and surrealist painter. Paintings in his Bloodline series are often monochromatic, stylized portraits of Chinese people, usually with large, dark-pupiled eyes, posed in a stiff manner deliberately reminiscent of family portraits from the 1950s...
, artist, born in Kunming - Zhu DeZhu DeZhu De was a Chinese militarist, politician, revolutionary, and one of the pioneers of the Chinese Communist Party. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in 1955 Zhu became one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Liberation Army, of which he is regarded as the founder.-Early...
, military leader (studied in Kunming) - Zhu Youlang (Ming Dynasty emperor), (fought and was executed in Kunming)
- Anthony ZeeAnthony ZeeAnthony Zee is a Chinese American physicist, writer, and currently a professor at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and the physics department of the University of California, Santa Barbara.Zee obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1970, supervised by Sidney Coleman...
, physicist - Li Hongye, Tai Chi master in the Netherlands, Born and raised in Kunming
- Wang FeiWang FeiWang Fei is a musician of Chinese descent. She specialises in traditional Chinese musical instruments such as the guqin and the guzheng. Her teacher of the guqin is mainly Li Xiangting of the Central Conservatory of Music since 1981...
, Major of Kunming
Diplomats:
- Auguste FrançoisAuguste FrançoisAuguste François, was a French consul first in Paraguay between 1893 and 1895 then in southern China between 1896 and 1904, first in Longzhou in Guangxi province and Kunming in Yunnan....
, French consul in south China - George Soulié de MorantGeorge Soulié de MorantGeorge Soulié de Morant, born 1878 in Paris, died 1955 in Paris, French scholar and diplomat. Soulié de Morant worked several years in the French diplomatic corps in China, where he served as French consul in several Chinese cities...
, French diplomat - John S. ServiceJohn S. ServiceJohn Stewart Service was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during the World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an...
, American diplomat served in Kunming for two years
National Southwestern Associated University:
- Chen Ning Yang, physicist
- Chen YinkeChen YinkeChen Yinke was a sinologist and a fellow of Academia Sinica. His representative works are The Origins of Sui and Tang Institutions: A Brief Account 《隋唐制度淵源略論稿》, On the Political History of the Tang Dynasty 《唐代政治史述論稿》, and An Alternative Biography of Liu Rushi 《》.-Early life:Chen Yinke was born in...
, linguist - Feng YoulanFeng YoulanFeng Youlan or Fung Yu-Lan was a Chinese philosopher who was important for reintroducing the study of Chinese philosophy.-Early life, education, & career:...
, philosopher - Shiing-Shen ChernShiing-Shen ChernShiing-Shen Chern was a Chinese American mathematician, one of the leaders in differential geometry of the twentieth century.-Early years in China:...
, mathematician - Ta-You WuTa-You WuWu Ta-You was a Chinese-born atomic and nuclear theoretical physicist who worked in the United States, Canada, mainland China, and Taiwan. He has been called the "Father of Chinese Physics."...
, physicist - Tsung-Dao LeeTsung-Dao LeeTsung-Dao Lee is a Chinese born-American physicist, well known for his work on parity violation, the Lee Model, particle physics, relativistic heavy ion physics, nontopological solitons and soliton stars....
, physicist - Wang Yuan, mathematician
- Wu NingkunWu NingkunWu Ningkun , born in 1920, Yangzhou, China, is Professor Emeritus of English at the Institute of International Relations in Beijing, where he has taught since 1956. During the 1980s, he held Visiting Fellowships at Cambridge University, Northwestern University and the University of California. In...
, professor emeritus - Zhang BolingZhang BolingZhang Boling was the founder of Nankai University and the Nankai system of schools.-Biography:...
, founder of Nankai University
See also
- National Southwestern Associated UniversityNational Southwestern Associated UniversityWhen the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out between China and Japan in 1937, Peking University, Tsinghua University and Nankai University, merged to form Changsha Temporary University in Changsha, and later National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming...
(Lianda) - List of cities in the People's Republic of China
- Kunming Dog, an established breed of wolf-dog hybrid.
- 3650 Kunming3650 Kunming- External links :*...
- 2008 Kunming bus bombings2008 Kunming bus bombingsThe 2008 Kunming bus bombings occurred on 21 July 2008 when explosions aboard two public buses in downtown Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan province, killed two people. The explosions were deliberate, according to police. The attacks occurred amid heightened tensions due to the...
Further reading
- Kunming Statistical Yearbook-2007 China Statistics Press http://www.sei.gov.cn/.
- Sustainable Urban Development - the Case Study of Kunming, China Willy Schmid, Markus Eggenberger, 1997.
- NSL - Network City and Landscape - contains Kunming sustainable development papers
- Le Cai and Virasakdi Chongsuvivatwong. "Rural-urban differentials of premature mortality burden in south-west China" - International Journal for Equity in Health 2006, 5:13 doi:10.1186/1475-9276-5-13
- Elizabeth J. Remick. "Police-Run Brothels in Republican Kunming" Modern China, Vol. 33, No. 4, 423-461 (2007) DOI: 10.1177/0097700407304804
- Chin, K. and Zhang, S. "Street-Level Heroin Sales in Kunming, China". American Society of Criminology (ASC) 2008-06-26
- Kunming Communiqué on Cross-border Collaboration for Drug Demand Reduction and HIV/AIDS Prevention Social Development Division, United Nations ESCAP
- Kobusingye KA. Voluntary counseling and testing among injecting drug users in Kunming city, Yunnan Province. Int Conf AIDS. 2004 Jul 11-16; 15: abstract no. WePeC5999.
- China's Disabled Get Helping Hand in High Places Kunming Journal. Nicholas D. Kristof. May 30, 1991
- Book about Kunming's regional cooperation with Southeast Asia: ASEAN-China Relations: Realities and Prospects (2005) Saw Swee Hock, Lijun Sheng, Sheng Lijun, Kin Wah Chin, Chin Kin Wah. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) ISBN 981-230-342-1
- Wei Xing. "Prevalence of ethnic intermarriage in Kunming: Social exchange or insignificance of ethnicity?" Asian Ethnicity, Volume 8, Issue 2 June 2007 , pages 165 - 179
- Jianli Li; Mary Francis Marx. "A Survey of Four Libraries in Kunming: Library Automation and Modernization in a Far Removed Province in China" Journal of Southern Academic and Special Librarianship (2000)
External links
- Official Kunming Municipal Government Website
- Official Kunming Website (Chinese & English)
- Yunnan e-government portal
- Kunming National Economic and Technological Development Zone (KETDZ)
- Kunming article Xinhua News Agency
- Kunming profile Yunnan Gov
- Kunming - City of Perpetual Spring (china.org.cn)
- The Kunming Initiative Regional Co-operation
- Taoist temples in Kunming
Travel
- Kunming Tourist Board (Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean)
- Kunming (China National Tourist Office)
- Kunming travel guide (WikitravelWikitravel-External links:* *...
)
Maps and weather
- Kunming map
- Kunming weather forecasts: Wunderground, MSN weather, Time and Date, World Weather Information Service
News
Transportation
- Kunming Urban Transport Research Institute
- Urban Development and Transportation Policies Kunming Municipal Government City Paper
- Kunming Transport Network
- Kunming Bus System
- Kunming median bus lanes China Bus Rapid Transit
- Kunming, Yunnan Air Flight Information
- Transportation of Kunming
- The Singapore-Kunming Rail Link (SKRL)
Digital city concept
- Digital City Concept Kunming First LGS GPS network project in China (completed in May 2005)