Yunnan Geographic Location And Climate

Yunnan Geographic Location And Climate

Geographic Location
Yunnan, also named as Dian for 

short, is situated in the Southwest

 frontier of China. Stretching 

about 865 kilometers from east 

to west and 990 kilometers from

 north to south, it covers an

 area of 394,000 square

 kilometers. Accounting for 4.1 percent of the total land area of China, 

it is the 8th largest province in China; with Kunming being its capital 

city; Yunnan has 8 municipalities and 8 minority autonomous prefectures 

under jurisdiction altogether. Yunnan is also situated in the southwestern 

part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It borders on Guizhou Province and 

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the southeast, Sichuan Province in 

the northeast and Tibet Autonomous Region in the northwest. In its west 

and south Yunnan shares a common border with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam 

along a total boundary of 4,060 kilometers. In the bordering area, there 

are 12 national border ports, 8 provincial border ports, and over 90 

routes leading into the neighboring countries. In addition, Yunnan is

 geographically proximate to Thailand, Cambodia, Bangladesh and India.

 Since ancient times, Yunnan has been serving as China's gateway to

Southeast Asia and South Asia and is a convergence for oriental and

 western cultures. The Southern Silk Road which existed 2,000 years

 ago started its journey from Sichuan to Yunnan, and extended from

 Yunnan further down to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Arabia 

region, and the West.

Climates
Yunnan's climate turns out to be the subtropical plateau monsoon type.

 Thanks to its unique geographic location, highly complex topography,

 and big variations in elevation, Yunnan exhibits diversified climates.

 The major characteristics include: slight temperature variation year

 round but sharp between day and night; distinct dry and rainy seasons

 and an obvious altitudinal variation in climate. Generally speaking, 

the temperature drops by 0.5 ℃ with every altitudinal 100-meter rise.

 The diversity of Yunnan's climatic types could be better described with

 a local saying, "One can experience all four seasons in the same mountain

 and each season is

 just a few miles away

 from each other".
Rainfall in this

 province is abundant

 but distributes 

unevenly; and in most

 areas, the annual 

rainfall is more than

 1,000 mm with about 85 percent concentrating in the months from May to 

October; dry season falls between November and April during which the 

precipitation accounts for only 15 percent. Throughout the province, the

 frost-free period is long; the southern border area of the province is

 free from frost all year round while the frost-free period a bit further

 north ranges from 300 to 330 days; in the central part, the frost-free

 period is about 250 days and even in the comparatively colder northwestern

 and northeastern parts, 210 to 220 days are immune from frost.