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Brief description |
 Kunming is the capital of Yunnan Province. It is known by a number of different names, including "The Kingdom of Plants and Animals" and "The Garden of Heavenly Flowers", but it is most popularly referred to as "Spring City". At an altitude of 1890m, Kunming enjoys mild temperatures year round, and can thus be visited at any time of the year. It is the most ethnically diverse city in China, with 26 of China's ethnic nationalities included in its population.
Today Kunming is the political, cultural and business center of Yunnan, and economically, it is on the launch pad: the government's plans are for the city to be the main commercial and financial hub for the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, which will make it one of Asia's most important trade and economic centers.
Kunming boasts a wealth of interesting attractions both natural and man-made. Dianchi Lake, "The Pearl of the Plateau", is dotted with a number of interesting sites, including the Yunnan Nationalities Village, Western Hills and the Longmen Grottoes.
There are also a number of must-see sites that lie a short bus-ride outside the city. These include the Stone Forest, Heilongtan Park, Taihe Palace, and Bamboo Temple. The Stone Forest is actually comprised of karst rock, bent and twisted into countless weird shapes. Meanwhile the Bamboo Temple is popular among tourists for its 500 hand carved Arhats.
Other major attractions in Kunming include the Golden Temple and the Tanhua Temple. Located in Jindian Park, the former was made with some 240 tons of bronze, while the latter is famed for its beautiful orchids.
Known as it is as "The Garden of Heavenly Flowers", it is no surprise that the city was chosen as the venue for the International Horticulture Expo in 1999. The site remains today, and has drawn millions of visitors to learn how humankind and nature can co-exist in the 21st century. Other parks worth visiting include Cuihu Park, Daguan Park and Xihua Park.
A trip to this ethnically diverse city is not complete without visiting its museums. The Kunming City Museum displays fossils, bronze culture artifacts and much more, while the Yunnan Provincial Museum exhibits bronze and other archeological records of many of the ethnic groups that reside in the area. But to get a true picture of the diversity of this city, visitors must go to the Yunnan Minority Museum of Minority Nationalities.
Kunming also has a lot to offer in terms of nightlife. It has night markets selling a host of ethnic trinkets, restaurants selling local delicacies like rice noodles and Xuanwei ham, and bar streets where visitors can have a drink with the friendly locals.
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Location /Climate |
Kunming is situated in the northeast of Yunnan Province (102° -103° E and 24° -26° N) on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau at an altitude of 1890m meters above sea level. The city is referred to by many names, but the nickname "Spring City" was given to characterize its springtime-all-year-round climate that is influenced by the southern Asiatic monsoon. Its perpetual spring weather is characterized by an annual average temperature of about 16°C. It never goes below 1C (34F) in winter, while the warmest summer day is never above a balmy 25C (77F). The city has approximately 1035 mm of annual rainfall, of which the majority falls from May to October |
Area & Population |
| Kunming is located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The city occupies an area of more than 21,111 square kilometers, and has a total urban population of 6.152 million (2006). The city has a diverse population with at least 26 ethnic nationalities residing in the area, including Han (86.52%), Hui, Yi, Bai, Miao, Sani, Lisu, Dai, Zhuang, Naxi, Man, Mongol and others. |
History |
| The history of Kunming dates back more than 2,000 years. Historians reckon it was capital of the State of Chu between 339 BC and 8 AD. However, little about the area was written down until the 13th century. It got its current name in 1276 from the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty |
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Yuan Dynasty (AD 1206-1368)
Site of Capital: Beijing (then called Dadu)The invading Mongols formed the Yuan dynasty, eventually reuniting China after 300 years of division. The Yuan made huge strides in agriculture, science and culture, and opened China up to the world. However, heavy taxation, discrimination against the Han Chinese, and the incompetence of later emperors weakened the dynasty's authority. [ Dynasties ] |
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| The city experienced many changes when the Ming Dynasty |
Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644)
Site of Capital: Nanjing, BeijingA 276-year period of rule by Chinese emperors after the overthrow of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. The first century was rich and productive: the Forbidden City was built, porcelain, literature and agriculture flourished, and China established trade links with Africa and Asia. The later period saw withdrawal and decline. [ Dynasties ] |
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took over in the 14th century. They renamed the city Yunnanfu and built a protective city wall. But the wall did not protect it from invasion forever: in the 19th century, the city suffered attack after attack at the hands of Du Wenxiu, often referred to as 'The Sultan of Dali' during the Panthay Rebellion.
Also in the 19th century, Kunming began to be influenced by the West, with intrusions from British colonial Burma and French Indochina. This opened the city to foreign trade. During the Sino-Japanese war, the city became a refugee center for many eastern Chinese who had fled from the rampaging Japanese. To help keep the Japanese out, Anglo-American forces sent supplies to nationalists based in Yunnan and Sichuan through the famous Burma Pass. |
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