Kunming

Coordinates: 25°02′47″N 102°42′34″E / 25.0464°N 102.7094°E / 25.0464; 102.7094
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Kunming
昆明市
Prefecture-level city
From top, left to right: Downtown Kunming,
Chenggong
Admin units
List
Government
 • Type
Cwb
Home toKarst wonders
Websitewww.km.gov.cn
Symbols
FlowerCamellia japonica
TreeMagnolia denudata
Kunming
Hanyu Pinyin
Kūnmíng
Bopomofoㄎㄨㄣ   ㄇㄧㄥˊ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhKuenming
Wade–GilesKʻun1-ming2
Tongyong PinyinKunmíng
IPA[kʰwə́n.mǐŋ]
Wu
RomanizationKhuen1min1
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationGwān-mìhng
JyutpingGwan1-ming4
IPA[kʷɐn˥.meŋ˩]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJKhun-bêng
Former names
Yunnan-Fu (former name used during imperial dynasties)
Hanyu Pinyin
Yúnnánfǔ
Bopomofoㄩㄣˊ ㄋㄢˊ ㄈㄨˇ
Wade–GilesYün2-nan2-fu3
Tongyong PinyinYúnnánfǔ
IPA[yn.nǎn.fù]

Kunming

above sea level and a latitude just north of the Tropic of Cancer. The city is the fourth most populous city in Western China, after Chongqing, Chengdu, and Xi'an, as well as the third most populous city in Southwestern China after Chongqing and Chengdu. As of 2020 census, Kunming had a total population of 8,460,088 inhabitants, of whom 5,604,310 lived in its built-up (or metro) area made of all urban districts but Jinning, not conurbated yet. It is at the northern edge of Dian Lake, surrounded by temples and lake-and-limestone
hill landscapes.

Kunming consists of an old, previously walled city, a modern commercial district, residential zones, and university areas. The city is also one of the major centers for scientific research and education in Southwestern China. As of 2023, it was listed among the top 125 cities in the world by scientific research output.[5] The city has an astronomical observatory, and its institutions of higher learning include Yunnan University, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming Medical University, Yunnan Normal University, Yunnan Agricultural University and Southwest Forestry University. On the northeast mountainous outskirt is a bronze temple dating from the Ming dynasty, the largest of its kind in China.

Kunming is also one of the major economic centers in Western China. The city's economic importance derives from its geographical position, as it shares a border with various

luxury hotels
.

Etymology

The name "Kunming" evolved from an ancient ethnicity named

Lake Dian area later. "Kunming" has acted as a place name since the Three Kingdoms period, but the reference was not clear because this ethnicity occupied a large region. In the Yuan dynasty, the central government set "Kunming County" in modern Kunming; the name "Kunming" has continued to this day.[8]

Some modern research states that the name "Kunming" of Kunming Yi is a cognate word of "Khmer" and "Khmu" that originally meant "people".[9]

History

See also: History of Yunnan

Early history

Kunming long profited from its position on the caravan roads through to

Tibeto-Burman languages was also established near the area.[10]

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.[11]

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 borderland. During the Sui dynasty (581–618), two military expeditions were launched against the area, and it was renamed Kunzhou in Chinese sources.[12]

Medieval China

Sutra Stone Pillar, Dali Kingdom period.

Founded in 765, Kunming was known to the Chinese as Tuodong (拓東) city in the

cowries as cash and ate their meat raw, as described by the 13th-century Venetian traveler Marco Polo.[16]

Ming and Qing dynasties

Jesuit missionaries

In the 14th century, Kunming was retaken from Khan Mongolian control when the

Manchu rule. During the beginning of Qing rule, the entirety of Yunnan and Guizhou were ruled from Kunming and Wu.[17] During the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, the seat of Wu's newly declared Zhou dynasty was moved to Hengzhou, Hunan. Later in 1678 when Wu died, his grandson Wu Shifan resisted the Qing for two more months before committing suicide, thereby reverting control of the city back into Qing hands. During the Ming and Qing 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. [citation needed] Many of the city's inhabitants were displaced as a result of the 1833 Kunming earthquake.

The rebel leader

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

Yangtze River
. But these trails were all extremely difficult, passable only by mule trains or pack-carrying porters.

Old Kunming quarter, containing the narrow and curved Sister Buildings (姊妹楼) behind the Victory Monument on Guanghua Jie, located across the street to the north of the old Bird and Flower Market

After Qing dynasty

"In the late 1800s, the French started to build the Kunming-Haiphong railway for trade and shipping of weapons".[18]

Kunming reverted to county status in 1912, under the name Kunming, and became a municipality in 1935. [

Indochina
).

Kunming became a

treaty port opening to foreign trade in 1908 and soon became a commercial center.[12] A university was set up in 1922. In the 1930s the first highways were built, linking Kunming with Chongqing in Sichuan and Guiyang
in Guizhou to the east.

The local warlord General Tang Jiyao established the Wujiaba Aerodrome in 1922; an additional 23 airports would be established in Yunnan from 1922 to 1929.[19]

Flag and emblem of Kunming City from 1922 until 1949 under the Republic of China government.[20]

Second World War (1937-1945)

Kunming was transformed into a modern city as a result of fighting of the Second Sino-Japanese War/World War II in 1937 with the outbreak of the Battles of Shanghai, Nanking and Taiyuan, forcing a great movement of refugees from the north and eastern coastal regions of China,[21] bringing much commerce and industry into the southwest of China, including Kunming. They carried dismantled industrial plants with them, which were then re-erected beyond the range of Japanese bombers. [citation needed] In addition, a number of universities and institutes of higher education were evacuated there. The increased trade and expertise quickly established Kunming as an industrial and manufacturing base for the wartime government in Chongqing. [citation needed]

As the battles of Shanghai, Taiyuan and

Second World War in Europe in 1939, including the relocation of the Chinese Air Force Academy from Jianqiao Airbase to Kunming's Wujiaba Airbase, where the airfield was vastly expanded, becoming the new training hub for the battered but regrouped Chinese Air Force in which Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault took command of cadet training duties in the summer of 1938. The Chinese Air Force command established the 41st Pursuit Squadron based in Kunming, also known as the French Volunteer Group squadron in June 1938, and with them they brought Dewoitine D.510 fighters, with the intention of securing the sale of the planes to the Chinese Air Force; the French participated in some combat engagements against Japanese raids, including dogfights against Mitsubishi A5M fighters with Chinese Hawk III fighters over Nanchang, but after several setbacks, including a fighter pilot KIA, the group was disbanded in October 1938.[22]

Although the Empire of Japan was focusing on ending the Chinese war of resistance at the

National Redoubt in case the temporary capital in Chongqing fell, with an elaborate system of caves to serve as offices, barracks and factories, but never utilised. Kunming was to have served again in this role during the ensuing Chinese Civil War, but the Nationalist garrison there switched sides and joined the Communists. Instead Taiwan would become the last redoubt and home of the Republic of China government; a role it fulfills to this day.[25]

When the city of

1st Special Forces Group) was also headquartered in Kunming. Its mission was to divert and disrupt Japanese combat operations in Burma.[26]

The Flying Tigers and P-40 Warhawk in Kunming Air Base, 1944

Kunming, the northern terminus of all three of the Burma Road, the Ledo Road, and The Hump supply-line, was increasingly targeted by the IJAAF. When the Burma Road was lost to the Japanese, the Hump became China's primary lifeline to the outside world. The 1st American Volunteer Group, known as the "Flying Tigers", was based in Kunming and tasked with defense of The Hump supply-line against Japanese aerial interceptions.[27]

Further information:
Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road

Industry became important in Kunming during World War II. The large state-owned Central Machine Works[28] was transferred there from Hunan, while the manufacture of electrical products, copper, cement, steel, paper, and textiles expanded.

After World War II

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. The existence of the walls still echoes today at 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'), in the location of Kunming's east wall.

After 1949, Kunming developed rapidly into an

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, in much of the rest of the country Kunming was still generally thought as a remote frontier settlement. Accordingly, the government utilized Kunming as a place where to exile people who had fallen politically out of favor, especially during the Cultural Revolution.

In 1957, Kunming's rail link to Hanoi was re-opened (after being cut during World War II). It was cut again in 1979.

An old wooden house and a modern skyscraper in the background

Since the

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand has visited Kunming many times to study Chinese culture and promote friendly relations. [citation needed
]

The rail link to Vietnam re-opened again in 1996.

In July 2005, the second

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. 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. [citation needed]

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.[29] It was primarily during 1997 and 1998 that much of the city's roads, bridges and high rises were built.

Kunming night

The World Horticultural Expo was widely regarded as a public relations success for Kunming.[citation needed] Today the after-effects 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.[dubious – discuss]

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.[30]

On 1 March 2014, 29 people were killed, and more than 130 were injured at Kunming Railway Station in a terrorist attack.[31]

Geography

Map including Kunming (labeled as K'UN-MING (YÜNNANFU) 昆明) (AMS, 1954)
Lake Dian
Kunming at dawn, from the peak of Changchongshan (长虫山).
Panoramic view of northern central Kunming taken from Yu'an Shan Cemetery (玉安山公墓), looking northeast to east-southeast.

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 21,600 square kilometres (8,340 square miles). Its widest stretch from the east to the west amounts to 140 kilometres (87 miles) and its largest expansion from the north to the south amounts to 220 kilometres (137 miles).

Situated in a fertile lake basin on the northern shore of the

above sea level
.

About 96 km (60 mi) southeast of the city centre is the

Shilin County
, 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 metres (6,200 feet) on the

subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb), the monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 8.9 °C (48.0 °F) in January to 20.3 °C (68.5 °F) in June, with daily high temperatures reaching their lowest point and peak in December and May, respectively. The city is covered with blossoms and lush vegetation all-year round.[33]
The period from May to October is the monsoon season and the rest of the year is dry. The city has an annual mean temperature of 15.52 °C (59.9 °F), rainfall of 979 millimetres (38.5 in) (nearly three-fifths occurring from June to August) and a frost-free period of 230 days. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 30% in July to 69 percent in February and March, the city receives 2,198 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extreme temperatures in the city have ranged from −7.8 to 31.3 °C (18 to 88 °F).

Climate data for Kunming (1991–2020 normals)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 23.3
(73.9) 		25.6
(78.1) 		28.2
(82.8) 		30.4
(86.7) 		31.3
(88.3) 		30.0
(86.0) 		30.3
(86.5) 		30.3
(86.5) 		30.4
(86.7) 		27.4
(81.3) 		25.3
(77.5) 		25.1
(77.2) 		31.3
(88.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 16.3
(61.3) 		18.5
(65.3) 		21.8
(71.2) 		24.3
(75.7) 		25.2
(77.4) 		25.4
(77.7) 		24.8
(76.6) 		25.0
(77.0) 		23.5
(74.3) 		21.1
(70.0) 		18.7
(65.7) 		16.0
(60.8) 		23.5
(74.3)
Daily mean °C (°F) 9.3
(48.7) 		11.5
(52.7) 		14.8
(58.6) 		17.8
(64.0) 		19.6
(67.3) 		20.7
(69.3) 		20.5
(68.9) 		20.2
(68.4) 		18.8
(65.8) 		16.2
(61.2) 		12.5
(54.5) 		9.5
(49.1) 		16.0
(60.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 4.0
(39.2) 		5.8
(42.4) 		8.9
(48.0) 		12.0
(53.6) 		14.9
(58.8) 		17.3
(63.1) 		17.6
(63.7) 		17.2
(63.0) 		15.7
(60.3) 		12.9
(55.2) 		8.2
(46.8) 		4.8
(40.6) 		11.6
(52.9)
Record low °C (°F) −2.8
(27.0) 		−1.6
(29.1) 		−5.2
(22.6) 		2.0
(35.6) 		5.5
(41.9) 		10.8
(51.4) 		11.6
(52.9) 		11.5
(52.7) 		6.2
(43.2) 		4.0
(39.2) 		−0.8
(30.6) 		−7.8
(18.0) 		−7.8
(18.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 23.8
(0.94) 		11.9
(0.47) 		19.6
(0.77) 		25.4
(1.00) 		80.1
(3.15) 		173.1
(6.81) 		215.7
(8.49) 		195.9
(7.71) 		119.3
(4.70) 		82.4
(3.24) 		30.1
(1.19) 		13.7
(0.54) 		991.0
(39.02)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 4.3 3.7 5.4 6.5 11.1 16.5 19.7 18.9 13.9 12.0 5.3 3.7 121.0
Average snowy days 1.0 0.4 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0.4 2.1
Average
relative humidity
(%) 		66 58 54 55 64 75 79 78 78 78 74 71 69
Mean monthly sunshine hours 223.6 223.9 253.3 252.2 217.2 148.0 122.6 142.9 127.1 143.2 191.5 195.4 2,240.9
Percent possible sunshine 67 70 68 66 52 36 29 36 35 40 59 60 52
Source: China Meteorological Administration[34][35]

[36]

See or edit raw graph data.

Natural resources

Mineral resources include phosphorus, salt, magnesium, titanium, coal, quartz sand, clay, silica, copper. Phosphorus and salt mines are the most plentiful. Kunyang Phosphorus Mine is one of the three major

Dongchuan
is a major copper production base.

Proven reserves of

billion cubic feet), equal to 720 million tonnes (710 million long tons; 790 million short tons) of standard coal.[37] Geothermal
resources are widely distributed.

Environment and horticulture

Kunming has 2,585 hectares (6,390 acres) of lawns, trees and flowers, averaging 4.96 square metres (53.4 square feet) per capita and a green space rate of 21.7 percent. The city's smoke control area is 115 square kilometres (44 square miles) and noise control area 87 square kilometres (34 square miles). [citation needed]

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. [

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 lawsuits. It is to be part of the city's intermediate people's court and will have jurisdiction over appeals by companies that have been found guilty of violating environmental laws in cities throughout Yunnan.[38]

Demographics

The population of

nationalities
in the province live in Kunming, and the average life expectancy of the city's population is 76 years old.

Ethnic Composition of Kunming (November 2010)[39]
National name
Han
 Yi
Hui
 Bai Hmong Hani Zhuang Dai Lisu
Naxi
 Others
Population 5,542,394 444,261 158,384 82,560 59,925 25,807 23,283 20,831 19,756 11,010 43,998
Proportion of total population (%) 86.17 6.91 2.46 1.28 0.93 0.40 0.36 0.32 0.31 0.17 0.68
Proportion of minority population (%) --- 49.93 17.80 9.28 6.73 2.90 2.62 2.34 2.22 1.24 4.94

Cityscape

Dongfeng (East Wind) Square. The building in the background, Workers' Cultural Hall, has been demolished for subway construction.

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 now-demolished 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 receives sewage and wastewater from surrounding pipes.[40]
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 stirred with shovels. [citation needed] 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

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. [citation needed
]

Jinbi Lu runs roughly parallel to and south of Dongfeng Lu, reached from Beijing Lu. Two large

Chinese pagodas rise in the vicinity, each a solid thirteen stories 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. [citation needed] 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.

Central Kunming

Parks

Western Hills
near Kunming

Cuihu Park (Green Lake Park) is one of Kunming's major parks and is predominately a lake surrounded by greenery. Located in the west side of the park is the statue of one of Yunnan's most famous patriots—Nie Er, the composer of China's national anthem
. Now it is open to public for free.

Dian Chi in Kunming's southwestern limits. Originally laid out by the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing dynasty
, 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.[41]

Other parks in Kunming include

Wuhua District
.

Landmarks

The "Garden of the World Horticultural Exposition", located in the northern suburbs of Kunming, is six kilometres (3.7 miles) from central Kunming. From 1 May to 31 October 1999, Kunming held the 1999 World Horticulture Exposition, with the theme of "Man and Nature—Marching Toward the 21st Century".

The "

Golden Hall Scenic Zone", located on the Mingfeng Hill in the northern suburbs of Kunming, is eight kilometres (5.0 miles) from central Kunming. Constructed in 1602 (the 30th year of the Wanli
reign period of the Ming dynasty), all of its beams, 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.

Notable museums in Kunming:

Yuantong Temple, the largest Buddhist complex in Kunming

Qiongzhu Si (Bamboo Temple) built in 639 and rebuilt in 1422 to 1428. Numerous Buddhist temples line the road to the Dragon Gate (龙门) in the Western Mountains
.

Administrative divisions

The prefecture-level city of Kunming has jurisdiction over 14 subdivisions; seven districts, one county-level city, three counties and three autonomous counties. 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.

Map
Name Simplified Chinese Hanyu Pinyin Population
(2020 census) 		Area (km2) Density
(/km2)
City Proper
Chenggong District
 呈贡区 Chénggòng Qū 649,501 510 1,273.5
Panlong District
 盘龙区 Pánlóng Qū 987,955 869 1,136.9
Wuhua District
 五华区 Wǔhuá Qū 1,143,085 315 3,628.8
Guandu District
 官渡区 Guāndù Qū 1,602,279 633 2,531.2
Xishan District
 西山区 Xīshān Qū 960,746 880 1,091.8
Suburban and satellite city
Jinning District
 晋宁区 Jìnníng Qū 346,268 1,337 259.0
Dongchuan District
 东川区 Dōngchuān Qū 260,744 1,866 139.7
Anning
city 		安宁市 Ānníng Shì 483,753 1,303 371.2
Rural
Fumin County 富民县 Fùmín Xiàn 149,506 1,060 141
Yiliang County 宜良县 Yíliáng Xiàn 384,875 1,913 201
Songming County 嵩明县 Sōngmíng Xiàn 410,929 826 497.5
Shilin Yi Autonomous County 石林彝族自治县 Shílín Yízú Zìzhìxiàn 240,827 1,680 143.3
Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County 禄劝彝族苗族自治县 Lùquàn Yízú Miáozú Zìzhìxiàn 378,881 4,234 89.5
Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County 寻甸回族彝族自治县 Xúndiàn Huízú Yízú Zìzhìxiàn 460,739 3,588 128.4

Society and culture

Yunnan Art Theater

Leisure and entertainment

Mixian (米线) rice noodles being cooked in copper pots (铜锅) on gas elements at a noodle restaurant in Kunming.

Within Kunming, the entertainment district has its focus around Kundu Square, with many cinemas, bars, clubs and restaurants. Food aside, one feature of less formal

Yunnanese restaurants is that they often have a communal bamboo water pipe and tobacco for their customers. [citation needed
] 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.

Language

Further information: Kunming dialect

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'.

The pronunciations of certain Chinese characters are very different from Mandarin Chinese. For example, "鱼 (fish)" would be pronounced as "yi" in Kunming dialect instead of "yu" in Mandarin Chinese; "街 (street)" would be pronounced as "gai" instead of "jie".

When someone speaks Mandarin Chinese with a strong Kunming accent, it'll be called Mapu (马普), short for Majie (马街, a place in Kunming) Mandarin Chinese.

The Kunming Dialect is slowly dying due to it being 'informal' and is being replaced by Mandarin Chinese. Nevertheless, it is still spoken by a decent amount of residents today. Sometimes this is called dirt language or slum language (土话)

Tourism

Panlong River

Kunming attracts domestic and foreign tourists year-round. At the center of Yunnan and as its capital, Kunming is also a

Shangrila
.

Conference and exhibition venues in Kunming include the Kunming International Convention and Exhibition Center and the Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Hall.

Kingdom of the Little People, a theme park featuring performers with dwarfism, is also located near Kunming.[42]

Other famous attractions include Stone Forest and Yunnan's Ethnic Village.

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.[43]

Hongta Sports Center was built in 2000 by Hongta (Red Pagoda) cigarette company, at a cost of US$58 million. Located near Haigeng Park, the complex is mostly used by professional athletes, but also acts as a sports club for the general public. 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-metre (160-foot) 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; also pool tables and a basement bowling alley. The complex comes complete with a 101-room hotel and restaurant.[43]

Haigeng National Training Center is located ten minutes away from Hongta on Dianchi (Lake Dian) near Kunming's award-winning Lakeview Golf Club and new condominium developments. This complex dates from the late 1970s and was built by the government specifically to specialize in high-altitude training.[43]

Golf

Golf is a major attraction in Kunming. There are four golf courses within an hour's drive of downtown. For the last six years [when?], 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.[44] 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.

Robert Trent Jones, Jr designed the two courses.[44]

Sport facilities

Major sports facilities include:

Economy

Kunming industrial zone on the west coast of the Lake Dian

Kunming has three economic advantages over other cities in southwest China: significant natural resources, a large

consumer market and a mild climate. Due to its position at the center of Yunnan, one of China's largest producers of agricultural products, minerals and hydroelectricity
, Kunming is the main commercial hub for most of the province's resources.

Kunming's chief industries are

construction equipment and machines. [citation needed
]

In May 1995, the State Council approved Kunming as an Open City. By the end of 1995, the city had approved 929 overseas-funded enterprises with a total investment of $2.3 billion including $1.1 billion of foreign capital. More than 40 projects each had an investment of more than $9 million.

Kunming is a center of

tanneries, woodworking and papermaking factories, use local agricultural products. In 1997, Yunnan Tire Co. opened a tire plant in Kunming, with a capacity to produce two million tires per year. [citation needed
]

Development zones

Kunming has two major development zones, Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone (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).

Industrial parks

There are 30 key industrial parks promulgated and recognized by National Development and Reform Commission in Yunnan Province.[45]

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.

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 RMB39.88 billion for 2007 topped the list. The tobacco
sector remains the largest sector in the province.

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 (US$300,000) from the 2 million sprays of flowers (as of 2006[update]). The provincial government agency, the Yunnan Flower Association, regulates the industry.[46]

Logistics

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.

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.

Solar energy

Lake Dian

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. [citation needed]

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.[47]

Suntech Power announced in December 2008 that it was 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 began generating power on 28 December 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 were under construction.

Transport

See also: Transport in Yunnan
Kunming Changshui International Airport

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.

Air transport

Main articles: Kunming Changshui International Airport and Kunming Wujiaba International Airport

Kunming has air connections with several Chinese and Southeast Asian cities. Kunming is served by Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG), which opened in June 2012, replacing the older international airport, which was located 4–5 km (2.5–3.1 mi) southeast of central Kunming.

The now defunct

Yunnan Airlines was headquartered in Kunming until it was acquired by China Eastern Airlines. China Southwest Airlines used to operate routes to and from Kunming, until it was merged with Air China
.

Xishuangbanna
, and plans to expand to other areas of China.

Currently, the longest non-stop flight from Kunming is to Paris, France, operated by China Eastern Airlines since 18 December 2014.[48]

Highway

See also: Asian Highway Network and Eurasian Land Bridge
Kunming's main railway station

seaports of Southeast Asia
.

Rail

Kunming is the main rail hub of Yunnan province. The

Xiaguan Town
).

Kunming has three major railway stations:

As of 2017, railway development projects continue to proceed in the Kunming metropolitan area. In February 2017, the railway authorities announced that a connector between the new Kunming South railway station and the old Kunming railway station (also known as the Nanyao Station; 南窑火车站) will open by the end of 2017, making it possible for some high-speed train to serve Kunming railway station as well.[50]

Urban rail plan

See also: Kunming Metro
Kunming Metro began operation in 2014

In May 2010, Kunming began construction on its first urban rail lines, line 1 and 2 of the Kunming Metro. An elevated test section had been under construction since 2009. Parts of lines 1 and 2 opened in April 2014.[51] Construction on line 3 began in August 2010 and the Phase 1 was completed in 2018. The entire system consisting of 6 lines and covering a total of 162 kilometres (101 miles) is estimated to be complete by 2018.

High-speed rail plan

Kunming will be the hub and terminus for the "

Pan Asia High Speed Network" using high-speed trains to connect China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.[52]

Completed but under trial high-speed railways:

  1. Kunming–Shanghai
    . The construction completed on 16 June 2016. It goes through 6 provincial capital cities: Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanchang, Changsha, Guiyang and Kunming. The overall length is 2,266 kilometres (1,408 miles). As estimated it would take 3 hours from Shanghai to Nanchang, 2.5 hours from Hangzhou to Nanchang, 4 hours from Kunming to Changsha, 8 hours from Kunming to Hangzhou and 9 hours from Shanghai to Kunming. It is expected to start operating on 30 December 2016.

Construction is underway for the following high-speed railways:

  1. Kunming–Shanghai
    . The speed will be 350 km/h (220 mph).
  2. Kunming–Nanning. The speed will be 200 km/h (120 mph). Later the speed may be improved to 250 km/h (160 mph) 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 (160 mph).
  2. Kunming–Chongqing. The speed will be 350 km/h (220 mph).
  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 (160 mph).
  4. Kunming to Kolkata, India via Myanmar
  5. Kunming to Kyaukphyu, Myanmar.[53]
Kunming traffic

Road and transit

Dongfeng Road, one of Kunming's main arteries.

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

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.
  • 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.

Leaving China by road into

Xishuangbanna
.

The

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.

Local transit

Public buses and taxis are the two main means of transport within the city. A metro system is currently under construction (see Kunming Metro).

Nearly two hundred public bus lines crisscross the city center, covering the whole prefecture.

Cycling is common, and many hotels around the Kunming Railway Station provide bicycle rental services.

Conscious of its growing traffic issues, the city is currently renovating a pedestrian-friendly city centre.

Central Kunming

The city hangs off two main

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.

Education and research

Kunming remains a major educational and cultural center in the

southwest region of China
, with universities, medical and teacher-training colleges, technical schools, and scientific research institutes.

Colleges and universities

See also: List of universities and colleges in Yunnan

Yunnan University

Yunnan University (云南大学), located in Kunming, is one of the largest and the most prestigious universities in China and is the only university in Yunnan province which has been developed into a "National Key University". It was founded in 1922, as "University of the Eastern Land". Its name has been changed six times subsequently. The institution has 17 schools on the local campus and 3 independent schools located in other cities. It claims the largest and best law school in Yunnan province.

Yunnan Normal University

Yunnan Normal University (云南师范大学) was founded in 1938 as the National Normal College of Southwestern Union University. In 1946, when some faculties returned to the north of China, it changed its name to National Kunming Normal College. It now as 6 campuses in Kunming itself and other cities. With 22 schools, it has an enrollment of some 33000 undergraduate students.

Kunming University of Science and Technology

Kunming University of Science and Technology (昆明理工大学) was established in 1954 and was given "key university" status in 2010. In 2017, it had 3 campuses in Kunming housing 24 schools and had an enrollment of 27000 undergraduates.

Yunnan Nationalities University

Yunnan Nationalities University was founded in 1951 as Yunnan Nationalities College. It is now one of six "key" universities in the province. It has established cooperative relations with 26 foreign universities including University of Bergen in Norway, La Trobe University in Australia, and University of Virginia in the United States. The university has a Nationalities Museum, which contains more than 20000 rare exhibits. There are more than 23000 undergraduates on campus.

Huayang Academy

Huayang Academy is a specialist Chinese language training centre considered unique for offering training Kunming dialect as well as standard Mandarin. Its locality is a popular centre of Western culture in Kunming, attracting numerous foreign-owned businesses.[54]

Management training

The Shanghai-based

MBA students from China's less-developed regions.[55]

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 the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was established in 1957. It was formerly known as Kunming Office of CAS and was promoted and renamed into a branch in 1958. 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 administers five research institutes:

At present, it has a total staff of 1,160, of whom 808 are professional researchers, seven are academicians and 343 are senior researchers. There are also 447 PhD degree students and 530 master's degree students. The retired staff is 1,090. The Branch has set up three national key open labs, two CAS key open labs, five key labs set up by CAS and local province, three engineering centers, five doctoral sites, five post doctoral stations and national famous plant herbariums and halls of wildlife specimens and has a series of up-to-date 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.

Libraries

Twin towns and sister cities

Kunming currently maintains sister city agreements with the following foreign cities.[56]

City Region Country Date
Fujisawa Kanagawa Japan 1981-01-15
Zürich Zürich Switzerland 1982-02-17
Chefchaouen Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Morocco 1985-05-14
Denver Colorado United States 1986-05-15
Wagga Wagga New South Wales Australia 1988-08-14
Cochabamba Cochabamba Bolivia 1997-09-25
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
 Thailand 1999-06-07
Mandalay Mandalay Myanmar 2001-05-10
New Plymouth Taranaki New Zealand 2003-08-11
Chittagong Chittagong Bangladesh 2005-08-18
Jyväskylä Central Finland Finland 2008-09-18
Yangon Yangon Myanmar 2008-12-01
Phnom Penh – Cambodia 2011-06-08
Polonnaruwa North Central Province Sri Lanka 2011-07-27
Vientiane Vientiane Laos 2011-10-17
Kuching Sarawak Malaysia 2012-04-19[57]
Antalya Antalya Turkey 2013-05-10
Pokhara Gandaki Province Nepal 2013-07-08
Kolkata West Bengal India 2013-10-23
Schenectady New York United States 2014-03-25
Da Nang – Vietnam 2015-02-06
Grasse Alpes-Maritimes France 2016-03-27
Olomouc Olomouc Czech Republic 2017-09-11
Dietzenbach
Hessen
 Germany 2020-02-14[58]

In April 2020, The City of Wagga Wagga council voted to cut ties with its sister city Kunming city, a week later they would vote again joining Kunming as a sister city.[59][60][61]

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.[62] China Health Management Corp (CNHC) is the main private healthcare provider in the city. It has been predicted that private hospitals will provide 70 percent of total medical health care services by 2012 within Kunming City.[63]

Hospitals in Kunming include:

HIV/AIDS

Main article: HIV/AIDS in Yunnan

In late 2006, China's first provincial-level

AIDS
treatment center was built. The US$17.5 million center is located 28 km (17 mi) 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.

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 2005, Yunnan was home to more than 48,000 HIV-infected patients, 3,900 patients with AIDS and a death toll of 1,768.[64]

Military

Kunming is headquarters of the 14th Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, 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.

Public security and crime

The headquarters of the Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau 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.[65]

Drug trafficking

See also: Illegal drug trade in China

Kunming has a pivotal role as a major conduit point in international

Chinese city to the Golden Triangle 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.[66]

Dali[citation needed
] from 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.

Chinese government has made growing the poppy illegal, and all but stamped out its production within the borders of Yunnan.[citation needed
]

International relations

The following countries have a

diplomatic mission in Kunming
:

Notable residents

Notable people from Kunming include:

Diplomats:

National Southwestern Associated University:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ /kʊnˈmɪŋ/;[3] Chinese: 昆明; pinyin: Kūnmíng

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Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kunming.
Look up Kunming or K'un-ming in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Kunming.