Geography

Yunnan on the southern border of southwest China takes its name from its location to the south of Yunling Mountains. Situated at 21 degrees north latitude and 97-106 degrees east longitude, it has an area of more than 390,000 square kilometers.

 Climate

Yunnan with its complicated terrain has a diversified climate. It is divided, from north to south, into three climatic zones-- temperate, sub-tropical and tropical, distributed, from low to high terrain, over four regions -- the low, hot river valleys, mountain areas, and frigid highlands, forming a peculiar "three-dimensional" climate. Yunnan's climate is characterized by small seasonal change in temperature, great difference in daytime temperature, and regional contrast between dry and wet seasons. Its mean annual temperature increases from 7oC. in the northwest to 22oC or more in the Yuanjiang River valley. It has abundant rainfall and a mean annual precipitation of 750-1,750 mm. The rainfall in the wet season of May to October accounts for 83% of the annual precipitation.

 Administrative Division and Population

Yunnan Province is divided into 3 districts, 8 autonomous prefectures, 5 prefecture-level cities, 10 county-level cities, 80 counties and 29 autonomous counties with a population of 31.74 million, of which 12.5% live in urban areas and the rest in rural areas. One-third of the total population in the province are ethnic minorities.

 Food

It had formed the Dian style dishes, such as rice noodle of across the bridge, steamed chicken soup, Xiuanwei ham, and Yilian toast duck, etc.

 Culture

Operas of ethnic minorities like Dianju, Baiju, Daiju, etc. and dances like Peacock Dance, Fan Dance, and Lushen Dance, etc.

 Brief Introduction

Yunnan, Dian for short, has Kunming City as its capital. Yuanmou was the home of the Yuanmou Man, who lived 1.7 million years ago and whose fossils were found in recent years.

Yunnan abounds in mineral resources, namely, tin, zinc, titanium, copper, antimony, and phosphorous. Non-ferrous metals, tobacco and sugar production are in the first places in China. Its agricultural products mainly include rice, rape, sugarcane, tobacco, tea, rubber, banana and medicinal herbs.

It is the province with biggest number of ethnic minorities in China, including the Yi, Bai, Hani, Zhuang, Dai, Miao, Lisu, Hui, Lahu, Va, Naxi, Yao, Tibetan, Jingpo, Blang, Achang, Nu, Pumi, Jino, Benlong, Mongolian and Drung. Each of them has its own typical custom, architectural style and colorful literature.

Yunnan boasts a lot of places of interest, such as the Dianchi Lake, Cangshan Mountain in Dali, the Stone Forest, Xishuangbanna and so on.