Yunnan Travel

Yunnan Province is located on the southwest boundary of the People's Republic of China. The south part of Yunnan Province is on the belt of the Tropic of Cancer. The widest distance from the east to the west is 864.9 kilometers and the longest distance from north to south is 900 kilometers with a total area of 394,000 square kilometers, it accounts for 4.1% of the total area of China. In the entire province, about 84% area is mountainous region, 10% area is plateau and hilly land and 6% area is basin and valley. The average altitude of the province is around 2,000 meters above the sea level. The highest point is 6,740 meters and the lowest is 76.4 meters above the sea level.

Yunnan borders on Guizhou province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the east, Sichuan province in the north, Tibetan Autonomous Region in the northwest, Burma in the west and Laos and Vietnam in the south. Geographically, Yunnan is connected to the rest of the Asian Continent in the north and faces the Southeast Asian Peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean in the south. Because of its geographical location, Yunnan is affected by the Southeast Monsoon and Southwest Monsoon as well as weather conditions from the Tibetan Plateau. As a result, Yunnan has a diverse favorable natural environment.

Of the 4,060 kilometers long border between Yunnan and the neighbouring countries, the Sino-Bumese section covers 1,997 kilometers, Sino-Laotian section 1,353 kilometers. Yunnan has long been a gateway from China to countries in Southeast Asia. There are over 20 roads leading to these countries. There are 15 ethnic groups in China where people of the same ethnic origin live in adjacent countries on both sides of the border.

Altogether Yunnan Province has total 16 prefectures, among which there are 8 ethnic minority autonomous prefectures (Chuxiong Yi Nationality Autonomous Prefecture, Honghe Hani and Yi Nationality Autonomous Prefecture, Wenshan Zhuang Nationality Autonomous Prefecture, Xishuangbanna Dai Nationality Autonomous Prefecture, Dali Bai Nationality Autonomous Prefecture, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Nationality Autonomous Prefecture, Nujiang Lisu Nationality Autonomous Prefecture, Diqing Tibetan Nationality Autonomous Prefecture), 3 Prefectures (Simao, Lijiang and Lincang), and 5 cities directly under the jurisdiction of the provincial government (Kunming, Qujing, Yuxi, Baoshan, Zhaotong). Yunnan province has 128 cities and counties, among which there are 29 ethnic minority autonomous counties.

Basic Data Of Yunnan

1. Name: Yunnan Province

2. Area: 394,100 square kilometers

3. Population: 42.88 million (the 2000 population census), of which the 25 ethnic nationalities take up over 14 million. Of all the ethnic group, the Yi nationality enjoys the largest population, 4.47million. Other ethnic groups with a population respectively exceeding 1 million include the Bai Hani, Zhuang and Dai.

4. Capital: Kunming

5. Geography: Yunnan is located in southwestern China, between 97° 31' 39" - 106° 11' 47" east longtitude and 21° 8' 32" - 29° 15' 8" north latitude; surrounded by Guizhou, Guangxi, Sichuan and Tibet, and bordering Myanmar, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam. It is a highland province with a terraced topographical feature stretching from the northwest to the southeast, resulting in a diversity of elevations and climates.

6. Natural Resources: As one of the largest provinces in China, Yunnan abounds in land resources; the per capita land area is about 16 mu (15 mu = 1 hectare). However, cultivated land constitutes only a small part of the total, owing to steep mountains. In addition, Yunnan has large areas under forest cover, although they are distributed unevenly. Furthermore, it has 230 million mu of grassland. Yunnan is rich in mineral resources, especially non-ferrous metals. With the greatest number of wild animal species in China, Yunnan is known as a "kingdom for wild animals". Xishuangbanna, with its picturesque landscape and rich wildlife, is a major tourist attraction.

7. Economy: In 2000, the province's GDP amounted to 195.509 billion Yuan, total industrial and agricultural output value reached 227.022 billion Yuan, total import and export volume nearly US$1.8 billion, fiscal revenue 43.295 billion Yuan and grain output 14.678 million tons. A major hallmark of Yunnan is the multi-ethnicity of its inhabitants. Burdened by a large population, Yunnan is one of the poorest provinces in China.

Natural Landscape Of Yunnan

As a plateau and mountainous province, Yunnan belongs to the southward extension part of Qing-Zang Plateau. With an average elevation of around 2000m, Yunnan enjoys huge elevation differences. The highest point is 6740m, the Kawagebo Peak, the main peak of Meili Snow Mountain in northwestern Yunnan, while the lowest point is only 76.4m, the confluence between Nanxi River and Yuanjiang River in Hekou County which borders Viet Nam. With over 600 rivers and streams of different sizes in its territory, Yuannan has comparatively developed water systems. The number of major rivers is 180, who are mainly the upper reaches of rivers emptying into seas. They respectively belong to the 6 river systems of the Ayiyawadi River, Nujiang River, Lancang River (Mekong), Jinshajiang River, Red River and Pearl River.

Climate Of Yunnan

With exceptionally rich climatic resources, Yunnan belongs to the climatic type of sub-tropical plateau monsoon. "Four seasons can be found along the same mountain slope and different weather conditions can be witnessed over a short distance of 10 li." Is the vivid description of vertical and diversified climate in Yunnan. The average temperature in summer is 19-22 degrees centigrade.

Yunnan Natural Resources

Yunnan is the province with the richest variety of plants in China. Of the 30,000 odd species of higher plants in China, over 17,000 are found in Yunnan, accounting for 62.9% of China¡¯s total. Thus, Yunnan has always been dubbed as the Kingdom of Plants, Hometown of Spices, Natural Garden, and Treasure house of Medicinal Herbs. With 1737 species of vertebrate being found here, accounting for 58.9% of China's total, Yunnan is a rare Gene Bank of Wild Animal Species. Some wild animals can only be found in Yunnan. 46 species are listed as first-class animals under State protection while 154 are listed as second-class animals under State protection. Yunnan is rich in mineral resources and has always been dubbed as the Kingdom of Non-ferrous Metals. In addition to non-ferrous metals, chemical engineering, energy, black metals and nonmetallic minerals for building materials enjoy significant positions in China. Precious metal resources also have favorable prospects. 142 kinds of minerals have been found in Yunnan while the reserves of 92 minerals have already been proved and 274 places have mineral reserves.

Tourism Resources Of Yunnan

The special geological and climatic conditions, numerous ethnic groups and long history and splendid culture have created the the exceptionally rich tourism resources in Yunnan. The whole province enjoys 11 state-level tour routes, 57 state and provincial scenic areas, 22 states and provincial forest parks, 5 nature reserves, 9 state and provincial famous cities of history and culture and 187 relics units under key protection. A batch of tourism development zones have been preliminarily formed, which are featured with mountain gorges, modern glaciers, plateau lakes, stone forest, karst caves, volcanoes and geothermal phenomena, primitive forest, tropical rain forest, flowers, relics and historic sites, traditional gardening and ethnic folklores etc.