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Kunming is known as the "Spring City". The weather is as temperate as spring all year round, not having severe winters or hot summers.
The rich cultural and historical heritage of the city offers a wealth of treasures. The Golden Temple Park and the Bamboo Temple are essential stops on the tourist route. The city also boasts numerous natural attractions, the Stone Forest being the most popular, winning world fame for of its breathtaking beauty.
Kunming is the political, economic, communications and cultural center of the province, and is the seat of the Yunnan provincial government. 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 north of the tropic of cancer. It covers an area of 21,501 km2 and its urban area covers 6,200 km2. Kunming has an estimated population of 5,740,000 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 walled city, a modern commercial suburb, and a residential and university section. The city has an astronomical observatory, and its institutions of higher learning include Yunnan University and a medical college. On the outskirts is a famed bronze temple, dating from the Ming dynasty. Kunming was formerly called Yunnanfu (literally meaning "Yunnan Capital") until the 1920s the latest.
Another fascinating aspect of the city are the many different cultures and ethnic groups thriving here. The ethnic groups, featuring a wealth of cuisine and entertainment, practice various cultural and religious activities.
Tourism
A canal in the city center
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.
Over 24 million domestic tourists visited Kunming in 2007, with 800,000 foreign tourists visiting annually.
Amusement parks
* Da Guan Lou Park
* Kunming Amusement Park
Economy
Kunming industrial zone on the west coast of the Lake Dian
Kunming's chief industries are the production of copper, lead, and zinc; its iron and steel industry has been greatly expanded. Salt and phosphate mines around Kunming are some of the largest in China. Kunming's economy was ranked 12th of all Chinese cities in 1992.
Kunming is also a center of the engineering industry, manufacturing machine tools, electrical machinery and equipment, and automobiles (including heavy goods vehicles). It has a major chemical industry, as well as plastics, cement works and textile factories. Its many processing plants, which include tanneries and 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.
Because of its location in the southwest of China, Kunming was generally passed over in China's rapid economic growth in the 1990s. However, recently the city has received renewed attention, launching Kunming into an international commercial hub of South and Southeast Asia.
Kunming economic authorities are active participants in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, 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 Kunming transportation access to sea ports.
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.
For the fiscal year of 2007, Kunming's gross domestic product (GDP) was 139.3 billion yuan; fixed asset investment was 81.8 billion yuan; real estate investment was 22.2 billion yuan; retail sales was 56.9 billion yuan; Per capita disposable income within Kunming's urban areas grew to 12,083 yuan; Kunming's average farmer outside of the city earning 4,003 yuan.
Kunming 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 governments. 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, previous each fair attracted about 4,000 to 6,000 overseas guests from around fifty countries. The accumulated contracts signed for trade and investment during the fairs are estimated about 25 billion US dollars. See also, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the main organizing body.
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 Flower Association, regulates the industry.
