Welcome To Yunnan

Yunnan is located in the southwest of China and borders 
on Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar with a total boundary
 line of 4,061 kilometers; it is an important passage
 connecting China, South Asian and Southeast Asian 
 countries.

Yunnan covers an area of 394,000 square kilometers
 with the average altitude ranging from 2,500 to 3,000
 meters above the sea level, includes 16 prefectures and
 municipalities, and has a total population of 44 million
 of which 30 percent are minorities; there are 26 
nationalities with a population of more than 5,000
 respectively and 25 ones are minorities, for which
 Yunnan Province ranks first in China. Yunnan Province is rich in resources
 too; thanks to its variety of species, it is appropriately called The World's 
Gene Databank by zoologists and botanists; endowed with the prototypes 
of its ethnic cultures, it fascinates anthropologists all over the world who 
praise it as the Living Fossils of Human Evolution; it is also vividly named 
as the Red Land due to its red soil.

The cultural genes revealing the same origin of Yunnan and the interior
 of China find full expression in different parts of Yunnan Province. The 
 archaeological discoveries have proved that Yunnan is not only one of the
 birthplaces of mankind in Asia and in the world but also a birthplace of the 
ancient civilization of China. The bronze wares unearthed in Yunnan have 
proved that as early as the Warring States Periods and the Qin and Han 
Dynasties, Yunnan created wonderful cultural treasures.

In 1997, Lijiang Old Town was inscribed upon the World Heritage List 
by UNESCO; since 2001, Sideng Street of Shaxi Town in Jianchuan
 County of Yunnan has been on the World Heritage List of Memorial 
Architecture and in August of 2003, the Dongba Classics were inscribed 
upon the World Memory Heritage List. With its unique and mysterious 
ethnic histories and cultures, Yunnan also fascinates scholars, 
experts and tourists as well. Yunnan has wonderful natural landscapes;
 its gorgeous mountains and rivers have become natural tourism 
resources: the karst landscapes in the east, the snowcapped mountains
 and glaciers in the north, the terrestrial-heat springs and volcanoes in
 the west, the tropical rainforests in the south and the plateau lakes
 in central Yunnan; especially, Kunming, its capital city, is regarded 
as a city of eternal spring with pleasant and mild weather conditions all
 the year round. In July of 2003, owing to its natural values, the Three
 Rivers on Parallel Area of Yunnan was inscribed upon the World Heritage
 List by UNESCO, which has a total area of 34,000 square kilometers, the
 largest of its kind in China and is a famous scenic resort. Yunnan's colorful
 ethnic customs have created its rich and unique cultures which are 
perfectly and harmoniously merged with its wonderful natural 
landscapes, revealing an image of Everlasting Shangri-La and attracting
 numerous tourists from all over the world.

The natural beauties, ethnic customs and local cultures of Yunnan 
comprise its exclusive tourism treasures. At present, Yunnan has ten 
scenic tourist regions and one holiday resort at national level, ranking
 third in China in this respect. In addition, there are forty-eight scenic
 tourist regions and eight holiday resorts at provincial level, thus 
 forming eleven tourist routes and six selected routes at national level.
 If you have not been in Yunnan, you may ignore her, but once you are 
in Yunnan, you will for sure fall in love with her; this is the sincere 
expression of many tourists who have visited Yunnan.

In 2002, Yunnan received 52 million domestic and overseas tourists 
 (person-time) with a total income of 29 billion Yuan (RMB), accounting 
 for 12.8 percent of the GDP of Yunnan Province, which implies the initial
 transition from a province with rich tourism resources to a province with
 a strong tourism economy. In 2001, The World Tourism Organization
 and Yunnan Provincial Government jointly worked out a General Plan for
 Yunnan Tourism Development in the early 21st Century and its goal is
 to build Yunnan into a strong tourism economy. The main target is as
 follow: Yunnan would have been built into an Asia-famous or even 
world-famous tourism attraction by 2020 with the number of tourists
 hitting 70 million (person-time yearly) and a total tourism income of 
77 billion Yuan (RMB), accounting for over 15 percent of the GDP of
 Yunnan Province, which indicates the transition of Yunnan tourism from
 a supporting industry to a major industry.

Colorful Yunnan, Tourism Paradise. Enthusiastic and hospitable people 
here welcome friends from home and abroad to enjoy the beauty, myths
 and mysteries of Yunnan; and you will better understand, “If you have 
not been in Yunnan, you may ignore her, but once you are in Yunnan, you
 will, for sure, fall in love with her.”

A mysterious and exotic Yunnan is absolutely a great, pleasant and
 brand-new experience.

Welcome to Yunnan!

Yu Dingcheng

Director of Yunnan Provincial Tourism Administration

Logo of Yunnan Tourism Website