| |
| city of spring |
| Why is the weather in Kunming spring all the year round and the city itself called "City of Spring" Kunming has the mountainous monsoon climate |
 "Climate remains like that of February and March and flowers blossom throughout the year " Yang Shen a great poet in the Ming Dynasty depicted Kunming like this He also called it the "City of Spring" and noted that "The Lantern Festival is approaching everywhere in the City of Spring Willows are weeping above the window and flowers are the bridge covering"
Why is the weather in Kunming spring all the year round and the city itself called"City of Spring" Kunming has the mountainous monsoon climate that characterizes a low-latitude plateau Located in the Central Yunnan Basin between the Hengduan Mountains in West Yunnan and the East Yunnan Plateau it is surrounded by ranges of mountains Due to the northern Wumeng and other mountains which block the cold air from the north to the southern warm and humid marine monsoon currents from the Bay of Bengal and to the Dianchi and Yangzong lakes which help to regulate its temperature and humidity Kunming has a type of climate free from bitter cold in winter and torrid heat in summer with an average temperature of 9℃ in winter and 23℃ in summer It has an annual temperature of 15.1℃ and an annual temperature range from approximately 12℃ to 13℃ Furthermore in Kunming dry and rainy seasons are clearly marked with the period from May to October as the rainy season and the rest as the dry season The city has a mean annual rainfall of 1 000 mm with an annual sunshine period of 2250 hours and an annual frost-free period of 230 days
Kunming the capital city of Yunnan is one of the central cities in Southwest China and the gateway of China to Southeast and South Asian countries
Kunming covers an area of 21 100 km² with a downtown area of 142 5 km² The highest point of the city the Mazong Ridge of the Jiaozi Mountain in Luquan County is 4 247 meters above sea level and its lowest point where the Xiaojiang River joins the Jinsha River in Dongchuan District has an elevation of 695 meters
Kunming has under its jurisdiction five districts eight counties and one city and a total population of more than 4 81 million (by the end of 2000) and 26 ethnic groups Ethnic minorities account for 12 55 of its total population of which those with more than 4 000 members are the Yi Hui Bai Miao Lisu Zhuang Dai Hani and Naxi Throughout the ages people of different ethnicities here have developed their own peculiar life styles and customs and different traditional festivals cultures and art forms all of which constitute a gorgeous and varied picture of ethnicity
Kunming is well known for its beautiful landscape and agreeable climate Here flowers bloom fresh all the year round and more than 400 types of lovely and fascinating flowers bloom of which camellia yulan magnolia azalea fairy primrose lily and orchid have been named the six famous flowers of the city and camellia the official city flower
As one of the first 24 famous national historical and cultural cities Kunming has a long history Its present name "Kunming" was the sound of the name of an ethnic group residing in Southwest China in ancient times This group lived a nomadic life in West Yunnan and moved to settle on the Dianchi Lake during the Han and Tang dynasties During the Yuan Dynasty the administration of "Kunming Two Thousand Households" was established near the lake Soon the administration was replaced by the County of Kunming and the name of the group was first used to designate the place a tradition that continues today
The palaeoanthropological fossils unearthed from the Longtan Mo-untain Chenggong claim to be the earliest human fossils available so far in Kunming and have a history of appproximately 30 000 years About 2 800 years ago slavery towns appeared around the lake At the end of the Warring States Period (300 BC) Zhuang Qiao a general of the State of Chu came to this area with an army and established the Kingdom of Dian In 109BC Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty extended his territory to Yunnan Chang Qiang king of the state submitted himself to the rule of the Han government and was therefore confirmed by Emperor Wudi as king of the Kingdom of Dian and granted the gold "Seal of King of Dian" Meanwhile the prefecture Yizhou was established with the lake area as its center under which were 24 counties In 255 A D Zhuge Liang captured the prefecture and renamed it Jianning During the Eastern Jin Dynasty Jianning was replaced by Jinning and during the Sui and the Tang dynasties Jinning became Kunzhou During the Kingdom of Nanzhao in the Tang Dynasty the town of Tuodong was constructed in 765 A D and in 871 A D was renamed Shanchan In the early Yuan Dynasty Kublai Khan established the "Two Thousand Household Administration of Kunming" under the"Ten Thousand Household Administration of Shanchan" in 1225 A D In 1276 A D he established Yunnan Province changed the Town of Shanchan to Kunming County (also known as Yachi Yaqi) and moved the political center of the province from Dali to Kunming In 1928 Kunming was established as a city under the direct control of the provincial government and the administration has remained so to now
Since the beginning of modern times Kunming has been a glorious city with a long tradition of revolution After the Opium War struggles against foreign religions as well as the sale of the seven mines were all organized here The Yunnan Military Academy established in 1909 was the base of the Chinese Revolutionary League in this province and produced a large number of outstanding students including Zhu De Ye Jianying Fan Shisheng Long Yun Lu Han and many others who became the major force of the 1911 Revolution in Yunnan and contributed much to the Northern Expedition the Anti-Japanese War and the Liberation War On October 30th 1911 under the leadership of Li Genyuan and Cai E the army and people in Kunming initiated the Chongjiu (September 9) Uprising and overthrew the reign of the Qing Dynasty in Yunnan；On December 25th 1915 Cai E Tang Jiyao and others started the State-Guarding Movement and destroyed Yuan Shikai's dream of restoration and becoming emperor of China In October 1935 the Red Army on the Long March visited Kunming where they disseminated the earliest revolutionary ideas During the Anti-Japanese War Kunming became an important city in the rear and the "Stronghold of Democracy" The Burma Road and the Hump Route offered great assistance to the front Meanwhile great progress was made in its industry culture education and other fields the construction of the four industrial districts―Haikou Majie Ciba and Anning helped to create many "First Products in China" and the Southwest Associated University marked a glorious achievement in the history of education in China At the end of 1 945 the "December the First" Patriotic and Democratic Movement was started in Kunming a movement which marked the beginning of the second front during China's War of Liberation On December 9th 1949 a peace uprising was staged in Kunming and this uprising led to the subsequent liberation of the entire province On February 20th 1950 when the Chinese People's Liberation Army entered the city a new era began in the history of Kunming
As a place of excellent products and outstanding people Kunming has produced Sayyidadjall Shams-eddin Zheng He Lan Mao Xu Xiake Dan Dang Qian Feng Nie Er and many other famous peop1e and left numerous historical relics The city has 331 key historical reservations of which seven (i e the Golden Temple at the Taihe Palace the Stone Buddhist Scripture Pillar of the Kingdom of Dali the site of the Yunnan Military Academy the Tomb of Nie Er and the Guardian Pagoda at the Miaozhan Monastery the Bamboo Temple and the Shizhai Mountain Ancient Graveyard) are national 49 are provincial 35 are municipal and 240 are of county or district level Yunnan Provincial Museum located on West Dongfeng Road has a collection of more than 50 000 historical artifacts of which over 1 000 are treasure ones Situated in Haigeng Kunming Yunnan Ethnology Museum houses a variety of ethnic cultural relics that represent the historical development of all the ethnic groups in Yunnan And the Kunming Municipal Museum which is located on Tuodong Road has individual exhibition halls for bronze dinosaur fossils a stone Buddhist scripture pillar and the history and new looks of Kunming as a famous city；these exhibitions embody the history culture art natural science and technology and other aspects of Kunming
Additionally as an excellent tourist city in China Kunming has three national tourist areas (the Stone Forest Dianchi Lake and Jiuxiang) one national tourist and holiday zone (Kunming Dianchi National Tourist and Holiday Zone) and five national 4A scenic areas (Kunming EXPO Garden Yunnan Ethnic Villages the Stone Forest the Golden Temple and Jiuxiang of Yiliang) Kunming is the political economic and cultural center of Yunnan the communications hub of the province the center of tourism of the province and its largest gathering and distribution center of tourists.
The Stone Forest Scenic Area is a national scenic area and a national geological park In February2004 it was declared by UNESCO as one of the first 28"world geological parks" Situated in Shilin County the Stone Forest is 78 km from the city of Kunming proper This scenic area has such natural tourism resources as the Stone Forest underground caves underground rivers lakes springs and waterfalls As the most typical karst landform in the world the area is called" the first mysterious scene in the world "And as the hometown of Ashima it has a strong flavor of ethnic customs In this sense the Stone Forest is an enormous and comprehensive tourist area for natural landscape ethnic customs holiday entertainment and scientific research
The Stone Forest Scenic Area covers an area of 350 km² and consists of 7 tourist sections Plum Valley Stone Forest Naigu Stone Forest Zhiyun Cave Qifeng Cave Changhu Lake Yuehu Lake and Dadieshui Waterfall Of these the Plum Valley Stone Forest is the main area
The Plum Valley Stone Forest covers 12.9 km² and is mainly made up of such parts as Stone Forest Lake Major Stone Forest Minor Stone Forest and Outer Stone Forest The Major Stone Forest the earliest part opened for tourism features clusters of giant gray-black stone peaks stone columns and stone swords with their tips pointing towards the blue heaven like a boundless forest thus the name"Stone Forest" Its main sites include such scenes as the Wonderful Scene of the Stone Forest A Critical Moment Lotus Peak Sword Peak Pool Two Birds Feeding Each Other and Peak Observing Pavilion Of these the Wonderful Scene of the Stone Forest best typifies the whole Stone Forest and thus has the two bright red and well-known characters Shi Lin (Stone Forest) inscribed attractively in Chinese li script
The Minor Stone Forest lies to the northeast of the major one The Major Stone Forest was famous for its magnificence and splendor while the Minor Stone Forest is known for its delicacy and grace It includes such spots as Ashima Journey of Tang Seng to the West and Sword of the King of the Yue State Ashima a tall and slender peak standing by the Jade Bird Pool looks just like a profiled charming and graceful Sani girl She is the incarnation of the heroine of the Sani epic "Ashima" Now this masterpiece of nature has become a symbo1 of tourism in Yunnan The Outer Stone Forest refers to the part of this scenic area outside the other two stone forests With a circumference of scores of li it has an open terrain and is verdantly wooded The main scenic spots included in this stone forest are the Shepherd Su Wu Mother and Son Traveling Together A Glossy Ganoderma of Ten Thousand Years Camel Riding on an Elephant and others
The Naigu Stone Forest 10 km northeast of the Plum Vailey Stone Forest covers 7 83 km² "Naigu"is a Yi word which means"black" Thus the Naigu Stone Forest means literally the Black Stone Forest The main spots of this stone forest are Meeting between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai the Meeting Platform for Immortals Watching above Peaks and A Forest of 0ne Stone
The Dadieshui Waterfall is located near the Village of Xiantang in the lower reaches of the Bajiang River (a branch of the Nanpan River) 23 km southwest of the county seat With a width of more than 30 meters and a drop of over 90 meters it is the most magnificent waterfall in Yunnan The most characteristic ethnic feature of this scenic area is the yearly Yi Torch Festival on the 24th of the sixth month of the lunar calendar On that day the Sani people gather at the Stone Forest in the daytime wrestling bullfighting and doing other games After night falls they gather around a flaming campfire singing and dancing heartily to their dasanxian (a large three-string musical instrument) throughout the night |
| Posted on Aug 27, 2008, Resource from Yfao China |
QUICK GUIDANCE,...
)