yunnan kunming introduce

Welcome to China Yunnan

+ 15 days Beijing & Xi`an & Yunnan & Guilin & Shanghai  tour              + 10days Beijing & Xi`an & Guilin & Shanghai  tour

     Main cities of yunnan :  dali , dehong , jinghong , kunming , lijiang , ninglang , shangri-la , tengchong , yuanyang

     yunnan kunming :  located in the middle of yunnan-guizhou plateau, is renowned as the city of eternal spring. it has an elevation of 1,891 meters with mountains surrounding it at three sides and the dianchi lake bordering on its south. it boasts pleasant climate all the year round and ample sunshine and rainfall, turning plants green and flowers in bloom in all seasons.
    kunming is a historically and culturally famous city of china, the provincial capital and the centre of politics, economy, culture, science, technology and communications of yunnan. it covers an area of 15,427 sq. km. under its jurisdiction, there are 4 urban districts and 8 outskirt counties, namely: panlong, wuhua, xishan and guangdu districts, and anning, chengong, jinning, fumin, songming, yiling, lunan and luquan counties. the total population of kunming registers 3.3 million people, of which the urban population is about one million.
      there are 12 resident nationalities, including the han, yi, miao, bai, hui, hani, etc. residing and working in the city, and people of all the 26 nationalities of yunnan province can also be found here.
      kunming is a place where wonderful scenery bestowed by nature and achievements of human culture coexist. with a long history and distinctive geographical features, kunming is endowed with numerous places of historical interest and natural wonders. around kunming city, there are 12 scenic spots, namely: huating monastery, taihua monastery, sanqingge pavilion and the dragon gate, constructed in the yuan, ming and qing dynasties and located at the forest park of the western hills; the grand view (daguan) park and the 180-character couplet, famed in china for its length and beauty; the golden palace (jindian) made of bronze during the ming dynasty; the black dragon pool and its reputed plum of the tang dynasty, the cypress of the song dynasty, and the camellia of the ming dynasty; the bamboo monastery with its 500 arhats, renowned as "a pearl of sculptural art in the east"; the yuantong monastery, constructed in the tang dynasty and expanded in the song dynasty; the kunming zoo and its 100 and more species of animals and a sea of cherry flowers and flowering crabapples; the green lake park and its limpid waters; tanghua monastery of the ming dynasty and its flowers and plants; the haigeng beach with its fine sand; anning hot spring - the "number one hote spring in the world" and caoxi monastery and the stone forest with its myriad of pinnacles reputed as a natural wonder under heaven. kunming has attractive landscape, majestic mountain ranges, rivers, caves, various ethnic customes and historic heritage. it is also enjoys the fame as the "kingdom of animals" and the "kingdom of plants". hence kunming attracts more and more tourists from home and abroad.

    as "a land of letters", dali was the cradle of the bai culture. in the long history of the past, the ancestors of the bais and the yis had created the brilliant erhai culture and left numerous illuminating historical and cultural relics. within the boundaries of dali, there are many ancient pagodas, steles, places of historical interest and frescoes. the ancient dali city is still standing there elegantly and toweringly. the most outstanding places of interest in dali are: the ancient city proper of dali, the three pagodas on the ruins of chongshengsi monastery, nanzhao stele, the tablet commemorating kublai khan's conquest of yunnan, the remains of taihe city, the tomb of du wenxiu, the scroll of pictorial history of nanzhao (tang dynasty), pictures on buddhist themes painted by zhang shengwan of dali (song dynasty), and the frescoes in xingjiaosi temple of shaxi (ming dynasty). all these are the witnesses of the brilliant history of this ancient city.
    cangshan mountain and erhai lake are the best scenic spots in dali, which are reputed as the "snow-covered cangshan mountains and jade-green erhai lake". cangshan mountain stands erect like a huge screen. its snowcapped pinnacles and the streams in between under fleecy clouds make a beautiful picture. the placid and crystal clear erhai lake comprises the following famous scenic spots: the three islets, the four sand bars, the five miniature lakes and the nine curvatures. the magnificent three pagodas, the lofty cangshan mountain and the colourful butterfly spring add lustre to what is already beautiful. the wind, flowers, snows and the moon make a perfect natural picture that renders this ancient city even more attractive. so, people adorn it as "a corner of mother nature" and "switzerland in the east."
    the folk ways of the minority nationality are richly colourful. the architectural layout of "sanfang yizhaobi" (a courtyard with rooms on three sides and a screen wall on the remaining side) and "sihe wutiangjing" (one big courtyard with four smaller ones at the corners of the main one) of the bai nationality is elegant yet unsophisticated. "every household has a water well and every family owns a number of potted flowers" are the tradition and common practice of the bais. the attire of the bai girls is brilliant and graceful, simple yet harmonious. the national minorities in the dali area have many traditional festivals and gatherings, namely: the benzhu festival (worshipping the guardian saint or the local god of a bai community), the flower festival, the march fair, raosanling festival, torchlight festival and lake tour festival. among them, the march fair is the most magnificent of all.
    dali today is full of vitality and prosperity in both the urban and rural areas. with the development in machinery, electricity, textile, chemicals, papermaking, tea processing, marble products and so on, it has now become an industrial base in the west of yunnan province. the mainstay in the economy of the city is the production of cigarettes, tea, marble articles, clothing, cement and electric power. the dali marble, tuocha (white tea), furniture, tie-dyed cloth, straw woven hats, and plywood are well known both at home and abroad. in agriculture, dali mainly produces rice, wheat, broadbeans and maize. the species of rice "dianyue no. 1" turns out 1,014 kilograms per mu (1/15 of a hectare) creating the highest record in china. and one crop of broad beans ranked the first in our country, yielding 514 kilograms per mu. in recent years, medicinal and perfuming crops are popularized. in sum, both in the city and around the countryside, dali has become wealthy and prosperous, indeed a land of "fish and rice" in the west of yunnan.