City of Kunming and Yunnan Province

9. Kunming City Center

Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, is distinguished both by its delightful year-round climate and by its ethnically rich population. The city is also a regionally important manufacturing center and a major transportation crossroads for southwest China. Although traditionally regarded as one of China's more isolated and backward provincial capitals, the growing economic and strategic importance of China's southwestern provinces since the late 1930s has spurred rapid growth. Kunming municipality (including rural areas and satellite towns) now boasts a population of over 2 million, many of whom are members of China's ethnic minority groups, including the Yi, Hui, Bai, Miao, and Hani.