Yunnan is the most southwestern province in China, with the Tropic of Cancer running through its southern part. The province has an area of 394,000 square km, 4.1 percent of the nation's total. The province borders Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guizhou Province in the east, Sichuan Province in the north, and Tibet Autonomous Region in the northwest. It shares a border of 4,060 km with Myanmar in the west, Laos in the south, and Vietnam in the southeast.
It enjoys a tropic highland humid monsoon climate, characterized by cool summer and warm winter. It is like spring all the year round. The annual average temperature is 13-20°C and the annual rainfall is 1100 mm.
Yunnan possesses lofty mountains , deep valleys and torrential rivers , and is inhabited by more than 20 nationalities with different customs, which form the principal fetures of its sceneries and tourist industry.The national major famous scenic areas include Dianchi Lake in Kunming, Liman Stone forest, Dali,Xishuangbanna Yulong Snowberg in Lijiang,Tengchong Volcanoes, Jiuxiang, Jianshui, Lijiang R.-Daying R., and the scenic area of the Three Rivers Running Side by Side, etc. The ancient City of Lijiang has been listed in the World Heritages.Besides, the tourist activities with distinctive ethnic features attract all the tourists both from home and abroad.
The ethnic people of Yunnan are very good at expressing their culture through folk songs and dances. The exciting Bawangbian dance of the Bai people; the melodious classical music of the Naxi people; the Guozhuang dance of the Tibetan people; and the delicate Peacock dance of the Dai people, to name just a few. These rich cultural traditions are also reflected in their ethnic costumes and traditional architecture. The fertile land of Yunnan helps foster the unique life style and artistic spirit of its ethnic people. This beautiful and charming place has spectacular and picturesque scenery of high mountains, great rivers, vast grasslands, and plateau lakes. Beautiful examples include the surging Tiger Leaping Gorge of the Yangtze, the rippling waters of Lake Erhai in Dali, the Meili |Snow Mountain and the tropical rain forests in the south.
Yunnan is one of China's undeveloped provinces with more poverty-stricken counties than other province. In 1994, about 7 million people lived below the poverty line of less than an annual average income of 300 yuan per capita. They were distributed in the province's 73 counties mainly and financially supported by the central government. With an input of 3.15 billion yuan in 2002, the absolutely poor rural population in the province has been reduced from 4.05 million in 2000 to 2.86 million. The poverty alleviation plan includes five large projects aimed at improving infrastructure facilities. They involve soil improvement and water conservation, electric power, roads and "green belt" building. Upon the completion of the projects, the province will solve the problem of shortages of grain, water, electric power and roads and improve ecological conditions. |
