What is Kunming?

All along

Kunming

They are all well-known "Spring Cities" in China.

People praise it

The sky is high and the clouds are light, and the four seasons are like spring

(Daguan Tower, photographer @小诗)

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Yearning for it

Blooming flowers, leisurely and relaxed

(The Jacaranda trees in full bloom beside the road in the teaching field, photographer @郑益)

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But unfortunately

It seems that in addition to the "Spring City"

Most people think this city

It's not so clear anymore

Those ones

The rise and fall of ancient civilizations

The glory and disgrace of war

The sorrow and joy of the past thousand years

As time goes by

Transformed into the setting sun by the Dianchi Lake

Gradually becoming less known

(Sunset at Dianchi Lake, fishing boats singing in the evening, photographer @奎涛)

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In fact

This "border town" in the southwest

Far more than just "Spring City"

For thousands of years

Although it is located in the frontier

But he has been at the center of controversy several times

Carrying the mission given by the times

01

origin

Kunming Today

Located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau

Different from the rolling hills of the Hengduan Mountains

The terrain here is relatively gentle.

(Kunming's location diagram, drawn by @Gong Xiangjie & Wang Shenwen/Planetary Research Institute)

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Although its northern region

There are Santai Mountain, Gongwang Mountain and Liangwang Mountain.

Three mountain ranges running north-south

Concentrated

Snow Ridge at 4,344 meters above sea level

Ma Zong Ridge is 4247 meters above sea level.

Jiaozi Mountain is 4223 meters above sea level.

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Jiaozi Mountain after the snow, photographer @何俊云)

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But in the southern region

The uplift of the earth's crust has been relatively slow

The altitude is basically no more than 2600 meters

(Changchong Mountain in the north of the city is like a winding giant python, with the main peak about 2,300 meters above sea level. Photographer: Liu Gang)

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In addition, the tectonic movement of the earth

A huge fault zone runs through the entire territory

Wherever it passes

The side that continues to rise becomes a steep cliff.

The side that is relatively subsided will collapse into a basin.

(Please watch in horizontal mode, the flat Kunming Basin and the steep Xishan. In Yunnan, small basins and river valleys with relatively high surroundings and relatively low interiors are called basins. Photographer: @山山)

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Finally formed

"High in the north and low in the south, with scattered basins"

Basic geographical pattern

(Kunming topography diagram, drawn by @Gong Xiangjie & Wang Shenwen/Planetary Research Institute)

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It is this terrain

In addition, it is located

On a plateau near 24°N

This has shaped Kunming’s unique climate.

Summer half year (May-October)

Warm and humid air currents from the Indian and Pacific Oceans

Driving straight in from the southwest and southeast

Under the mountain blockade

Generates abundant rainfall

In comparison

Winter half year (November to April of the following year)

It is mostly affected by the dry warm air current from the west.

As a result, the humidity decreases and the weather becomes dry.

(Distribution of precipitation throughout the year in Kunming, of which more than 85% of the precipitation is concentrated in the summer half of the year, map by @Gong Xiangjie & Wang Shenwen/Planet Research Institute)

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at the same time

Summer half year

Extensive cloud cover and precipitation can reduce solar radiation

Winter half year

The mountains in the north prevent the cold air from moving south.

final

Kunming's summer becomes humid and cool

Winters are dry and warm

(Comparison of temperature changes in Kunming and other cities throughout the year, drawn by @Gong Xiangjie & Wang Shenwen/Planet Research Institute)

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So here

There are flowers blooming all year round

As the saying goes

"The weather is always like February and March, and the flowers are in full bloom all year round"

(The above is quoted from "Yunnan Sea Song" by Yang Shen of Ming Dynasty; the following pictures are ① cherry blossoms on Yuantong Mountain, photographer @Lu Sixuan; ② jacaranda trees on Kunyang Street in Jinning, photographer @Duan Bingxu; ③ sunflowers beside Mantis River, photographer @Zheng Yi)

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Every autumn and winter

There are tens of thousands of red-billed gulls

Traveled here from far away Siberia

Spend a warm winter

(Since 1985, flocks of red-billed gulls have begun to spend the winter in Kunming. The picture below shows a red-billed gull over Cuihu Lake. Photographer: @苏剑飞)

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On the other hand

Plenty of rainfall

Over the years, the surface has been washed away

Or it could dissolve rocks and reshape the earth.

Forming karst landscapes such as stone forests and caves

(“Rock” mainly refers to carbonate rock; the following pictures are ① Kunming Stone Forest, ② Jiuxiang Cave, photographer @石耀臣)

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or under leaching

Enrich, precipitate and oxidize iron in the soil

Forming a bright red earth

(Dongchuan Red Land, photographer @范俊川)

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Water flows continuously

Become a river winding away

Along the way

Or encounter a cliff and a rapid waterfall

(Dadieshui Waterfall has a drop of 88 meters, which is more than 10 meters higher than the famous Huangguoshu Waterfall. Photographer: @李坤)

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Or it cuts sharply down the edge of the plateau

Splitting mountains into valleys

(Pudu River Canyon, photographer @朵尔平)

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Or it flows into a low-lying basin.

Water gathers to form a lake

(Yangzonghai, a tectonic lake formed by fault depression, photographer @潘泉)

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in

The Dianchi Lake has the largest surface area.

The ancients called it

Five Hundred Miles of Dianchi Lake

Today

It is still the largest lake in Yunnan Province.

(According to the Dianchi Water Conservancy Records, the surface area of ​​Dianchi Lake during the Tang and Song dynasties was about 510 square kilometers; please view the picture below in horizontal mode, Dianchi Lake Huanhu South Road, photographer @山人)

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It is around such a large lake

Mild climate, abundant water resources and fertile land

Very suitable for human reproduction

Although for a long time

This place is thousands of miles away from the heartland of the Central Plains.

But that's why

Giving this land a unique mission

It also created its 2000-year-long legend.

02

The front line of civilization

As early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties

Copper and tin minerals in Yunnan

They continuously imported into the Central Plains

But until the Warring States Period, when Qin and Chu were fighting for supremacy

The Chu general Zhuang Qiao led his army up the Yangtze River

All the way to Dianchi Lake area

The Historical Writings of the Central Plains Dynasties

The earliest record of this land

(Quoted from "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of the Southwestern Barbarians")

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"…From the lake to Dianchi Lake, the area is 300 li, and the surrounding land is flat and fertile for thousands of li…"

However, this Chu army

Before he could return to the capital

The return journey was cut off by the Qin army.

In desperation, they followed local customs.

Establishment of the "Dian Kingdom"

(The seal of the King of Dian, granted by Emperor Wu of Han, proves that the Kingdom of Dian did exist, but the record of "Zhuang Qiao King of Dian" still needs to be verified. Photographer @何俊云)

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Although afterwards

The mysterious Dian Kingdom has no written historical records left

Bronze was used unprecedentedly

Recorded the social conditions at that time

From animals, people, buildings

to war, hunting, sacrifice

(A gilded bronze buckle ornament of two people dancing in a circle from the Western Han Dynasty. The figures are wearing long trousers and have a unique shape. It was unearthed from the Shizhaishan ancient tomb complex. Photographer: @苏李欢)

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Its exquisite casting skills

Unbelievable

This is a 2000-year-old

The Bronze Civilization Born in the "Borderland"

In these vivid scenes

There are "Dian people" who wear chuí jì (vertebral topknot)

The "Kunming people" with double braids

Even foreigners with high noses and deep eyes

(The above quotes Wang Ningsheng's [reference 5] opinion; the following pictures ① war scene, ② hunting scene, ③ human sacrifice bronze drum scene, the shell storage cover, are all cultural relics from the Western Han Dynasty, unearthed from the Shizhaishan ancient tombs, photographer @段炳旭)

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It can be seen that at that time

This land in the southwest

It has become a cross-cultural

The front line of collision and fusion

This fusion

Will accompany the history of the Chinese nation

Born and raised together

Time

Tang Dynasty

The Cuan clan around Dianchi Lake

Annexed by Nanzhao

The Ambitious King of Nanzhao

I saw the superior terrain here.

As the saying goes

"The mountains and rivers can serve as a defense, and the rivers and land can support the people"

(The above is quoted from the inscription on the Nanzhao Dehua Stele; please view the following picture in horizontal format, Xishan, Dianchi Lake and Kunming Basin, photographer @陈肖)

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So on the north bank of Dianchi Lake

A new city rises from the ground

Start from here

It can reach Chengdu in the north and Vietnam in the south.

Closer ties to the east than Dali

It was the outpost of Nanzhao's "expansion eastward"

Historically known as "Tuodong City"

(Routes of ancient post roads around Kunming. Note: the names of ancient roads and places vary in different eras. Map by @郑伯蓉&陈志浩&王申雯/Planet Research Institute)

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Although the original Tuodong City

It is just a narrow earthen city with a circumference of 3 kilometers.

But as the Nanzhao Kingdom conquered the east and west

Large number of immigrants from the Tang Dynasty

Migrate here

So here

You can see the unique local

Guanyin Worship

(Today’s Yuantong Temple was once the Guanyin Temple “Buddala Temple” during the Nanzhao period. It was later rebuilt and renovated many times. Photographer: @李贞泰)

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There are also some that are exactly the same as those in the Central Plains.

Pagoda

(The East Temple Pagoda was first built in the Juezhao Temple during the Nanzhao period [some say it was the Changle Temple], and has the same structure as the Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an. The temple is now destroyed. Photographer @郑益; Another note: Tuodong City was renamed Shanchan City in the late Nanzhao Kingdom and continued until the Dali Kingdom period)

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Although afterwards

The legendary Nanzhao and Dali were destroyed one after another

But as the entire Yunnan province was incorporated into

The Central Dynasty

Kunming has also become

Yuan Dynasty

Yunnan Province New

Political, economic and cultural center

Since then

The influence of the Central Dynasty was more profound

Islam came with the Mongol armies

Begin to take root

Zen Buddhism introduced from the Central Plains

The incense is endless

(Xishan Huating Temple, built in the Yuan Dynasty, photographer @王瑞)

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The rise of Confucianism

The first Confucius Temple was built in the area

For a time

"The Three Religions Converge" and "The Controversy of Various Schools of Thought"

(Confucian Temple, originally located at the foot of Wuhua Mountain in the Yuan Dynasty, moved to its current location during the Qing Dynasty, photographer @山人)

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More importantly

The central dynasty had sufficient human and material resources

And more advanced water conservancy technology

Sufficient to support people to develop

Larger-scale urban development

once Upon a time

There are as many as 35 rivers flowing into Dianchi Lake.

But there is only one outflow river.

In addition, the concentrated rainfall and silted rivers

Often, there is a lack of irrigation water during the dry season, and the fields dry up.

Floods and flooding during the rainy season

(Water system around Dianchi Lake, map by @Gong Xiangjie & Wang Shenwen/Planet Research Institute)

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So the then Governor of Yunnan

Under the leadership of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din

People are building a reservoir upstream of Dianchi Lake

To intercept floods and regulate water resources

(Sayyid Ajjal was the first Prime Minister of Yunnan Province, equivalent to the current governor; the picture below shows the Songhuaba Reservoir, the original site of the Guchangba Reservoir in the Yuan Dynasty. The current dam is a modern reconstruction. The photographer is @代保忠)

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Dredging the river, building dams and gates in the middle reaches

To divert flood water and irrigate farmland

(Panlong River, the river with the largest flow into Dianchi Lake, photographer @李昌华)

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In the downstream, the estuary is widened and the riverbed is lowered

To drain the water from Dianchi Lake

(Haikou, the only outlet of Dianchi Lake, photographer @陈肖)

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A huge project

The water level of Dianchi Lake dropped rapidly

Lake area compared to the Tang and Song dynasties

Shrinking by nearly 100 square kilometers

Where the water recedes

Then thousands of hectares of fertile land will be left behind

and numerous lakes and ponds

(Cuihu Lake, once part of Dianchi Lake in ancient times, photographer @刘刚)

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With more land

Kunming's agriculture and trade are becoming more prosperous

The city is also thriving

According to legend, the famous traveler Marco Polo

I also feel that there are many businesses here.

Called "The Magnificent City"

(The Loyalty and Love Pavilion was built to commemorate Sayyid Ajjal. It was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in modern times. Photographer: @李炳航)

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But the city's path to integration

But it’s not all

Ming Dynasty

Under the policy of garrisoning and settling borders

More than 3 million Han Chinese immigrants

Migrated to Yunnan

The scale of cultural integration

It also ushered in its heyday

Kunming at this time

Different sects of Buddhism come together

Various pagodas and temples are blooming everywhere

(In front of Miaozhan Temple in Guandu Ancient Town, the twin towers and the Vajra Tower built in the same period, photographer @Lu Wen)

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Taoism was also very popular

Palaces and temples can be seen everywhere

(Sanqing Pavilion, a Taoist temple built on the cliff of Xishan Mountain, photographer @何盛)

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As the size of cities expands

The classic pattern of the Central Plains city gradually emerged

Tall and strong brick walls

The city gates guard all sides

Road latitude and longitude

The central axis runs from north to south

Exquisite memorial archways are scattered throughout the city.

And the ancient legend that has been passed down for thousands of years

Interplay

(Golden Horse and Jade Rooster Archway. Due to the fertile land, Kunming has been blessed by the Golden Horse God and the Jade Rooster God since the Western Han Dynasty. Photographer: @李炳航)

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To the late Qing Dynasty

This southwestern border town is already

A "metropolis" that is "comparable to Chu and Shu"

(The above is quoted from Daoguang Yunnan Chronicles, the following pictures are ① Golden Palace Bell Tower, ② The interior of the Golden Palace, which was first built in the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt by Wu Sangui in the Qing Dynasty with 250 tons of pure copper, photographer @早彦铭)

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So far

Over 2000 years of history

Kunming

It has always been in the southwest and central regions.

The frontline of cultural integration

This fusion

The "barbarian land" that shattered the tribe

Gradually rose to become a magnificent border town

Also for the vast Chinese civilization

Adds a unique color

(Today, the registered population of ethnic minorities in Kunming still accounts for 16%. The picture below shows the "Ashima" stone peak in Shilin. "Ashima" is a classic legend of the Yi people in Yunnan and one of China's intangible cultural heritages. Photographer @万诱引力)

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However

With the decline of the feudal dynasty

Foreign powers invaded and the country opened its doors

This southwestern border town has to bear the responsibility

As the historical mission of the rear area

03

The rear of the nation

So here

Born successively

Yunnan's first modern factory

The first railway in the southwest

And the country's first hydroelectric power station

(Please watch in horizontal mode. The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway was first built in 1910. Photographer: Rao Ying)

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at the same time

In order to quickly train officers and expand the new army

Founded by the Qing government in Kunming

Yunnan Army Academy

In the 20 years since its opening

Trained more than 4,000 officers

These include

Zhu De, Ye Jianying and other famous revolutionary generals

(Yunnan Army Military Academy, later renamed Military Academy, photographer @Lu Wen)

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Although the Qing government

In the end, it could not escape the fate of destruction

But the spark of the Chinese revolution

Buried in this frontier city

And time and again, when the country was in danger of extinction,

Ignite the potential of a prairie fire

October 30, 1911

(9th day of the 9th month of the lunar calendar)

The Double Ninth Uprising broke out in Kunming

Echoing the Wuchang Uprising

Accelerated the process of the Qing Dynasty's collapse

December 25, 1915

The National Protection Movement broke out in Kunming

Successfully forced Yuan Shikai to abolish the monarchy

(Huguo Building and Huguo Uprising Monument, photographer @施扬)

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December 1, 1945

The December 1st Movement broke out in Kunming

There was a climax of opposition to the civil war across the country

(The December 1 Movement was an anti-civil war strike movement initiated by young students from Southwest Associated University, Yunnan University, Sino-French University and other universities, and later received responses from all over the country. The picture below is the Huize Campus of Yunnan University, and the photographer is @石耀臣)

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Especially during the Anti-Japanese War

Although Yunnan has a population of only about 12 million

But there are still about 370,000 "Yunnan Army" rushing to the front line

This is equivalent to one in six young and middle-aged men.

There is 1 person who kills the enemy

(The above data comes from Kunming's Three Thousand Years of Kunming, published by Kunming Municipal Cultural Industry Office; the following is quoted from the 60th Army Song composed by Xian Xinghai and others)

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"Yunnan is the hometown of the 60th Army, and the 60th Army is the armed force defending China"

However

Under the fierce fire of the Japanese invaders

A large amount of territory in the eastern region still fell.

People had to move to the western hinterland

Kunming once again "takes on the task in times of crisis"

Become one of the important rear bases

Since then

Many industrial enterprises moved to Kunming

Continuously provide the whole country with

Machinery, smelting, chemical industry, textile and other industrial products

It was the second largest city in the rear area of ​​the Anti-Japanese War after Chongqing and Chengdu.

The third largest industrial base

(Kunming Iron and Steel Plant, formerly the China Electric Steel Plant founded in 1939, photographer @谢宜平)

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Many financial companies moved to Kunming

To the end of the Anti-Japanese War

The number of banks has increased fivefold since before the war.

Commercial streets are a place of wealth and bustling traffic

(Nanping Pedestrian Street is still one of the main financial and commercial streets. Photographer: Yu Le)

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Many colleges and universities also moved to Kunming

Although the school building is simple and the conditions are difficult

However, it is a place where many masters gather and talented people emerge

The famous Southwest Associated University

It can be regarded as a legend in the history of Chinese universities.

(Some professors from National Southwest Associated University, map by Wang Shenwen/Planetary Research Institute)

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at the same time

The fall of large tracts of territory in the eastern region

It also makes the southwest region the most

There are only a few remaining external traffic exits

As the saying goes

(The Yunnan-Burma Highway "Road Building Inspiration Song", quoted from Kunming Cultural Industry Office's "Kunming 30,000 Years"; this lyric is widely circulated, but the original source still needs further verification)

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“Try your best to open up the road to life and transport food and weapons to the battlefield.

Kill the Japanese devil and save our country from extinction!"

Starting from Kunming

The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway was built before the war

To prevent the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway from being destroyed,

The Burma Road was built

The Burma Road was then cut off.

Hump ​​Route

Time and again

Under enemy bombing and blockade

Survival in the cracks

(Map of Kunming's main external transportation routes during the Anti-Japanese War, drawn by @Gong Xiangjie & Wang Shenwen/Planet Research Institute)

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However

Behind these rear passages

Isn't it a heavy price?

To prevent the Japanese from controlling Vietnam

Invasion of Yunnan via the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway

People had to demolish parts of the bridge and railroad tracks themselves.

A transportation channel that has been running for more than 30 years

Interrupt

(Chenggong section of Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, photographer @饶颖)

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Nearly 200,000 people slept in the open

The Burma Road was opened by people carrying heavy loads on their shoulders

During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, nearly 500,000 tons of materials were transported

But on the road construction site

But more than 3,000 people sleep forever

The Hump Route through the mountains

The weather along the way is bad and the terrain is complex

When more than 650,000 tons of supplies were sent to the Chinese battlefield

There are more than 500 planes and more than 1,500 people

Disappeared in the mountains

(Kunming Wujiaba Airport, once the terminus of the Hump Route, was closed in 2012. Photographer: He Junyun)

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The difficult war lasted year after year

It was not until 1945 that it was finally declared over.

As factories, enterprises and schools move back

Kunming’s historical mission as the rear area

It also ended

So what is the future of this "border town"?

Will it sink in the torrent of history?

(In 1982, Kunming was listed as one of the first national historical and cultural cities; the picture below is the Memorial Hall of the Victory of the Anti-Japanese War, photographer @马红海)

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04

A new mission

After the founding of New China

Kunming is known as the “City of Spring”

Gradually becoming known

However, for a long time

Extensive urban expansion and industrial development

But it puts a heavy burden on its ecological environment

The Dianchi Lake, which people were once proud of

Not only is the water surface shrinking

Pollution is also becoming increasingly serious

(Showing the changes in the surface area of ​​Dianchi Lake, drawn by @Gong Xiangjie & Wang Shenwen/Planet Research Institute)

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In order to restore the declining ecology of Dianchi Lake

Over the past 30 years

Kunming has mobilized almost the entire city

on the one hand

Many water diversion projects cross mountains and hills

Every year, water from distant rivers

Mobilizing hundreds of millions of cubic meters of clean water

As daily water for cities

And replenish clean water for Dianchi Lake

(Waterfall Park, the inlet where the Niulanjiang-Dianchi water replenishment project flows into the Panlong River, and is also the largest artificial waterfall park in Asia. Photographer: @石耀臣)

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on the other hand

A large number of farmlands, villages, fish ponds, and dams

It was also replaced by lakes, woodlands, and wetlands.

To restore the vitality of Dianchi Lake

(Dounan Wetland Park, photographer @石耀臣)

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As of 2019

The water quality of Dianchi Lake has changed from the previous inferior V

Upgraded to Category IV

Many fish and birds that were once extinct

and lakeside wetland plants, etc.

Reappearance

Looking at the whole city

More than 50% of the land is covered by forests.

(Water Forest in Dianwei Village, photographer @张程皓)

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The former "border town"

Gradually washing away the vicissitudes of time

It not only attracts many tourists

Use your own story to make people rethink

The connection between city and nature

(In recent years, Kunming has been committed to building a big health industry system that covers the entire industry, the entire health process, and the entire life cycle, and strives to build an "international big health city". The picture below is Hongta West Road, photographer @赵伟)

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Not only that

Kunming Today

The winding mountain road goes up and down

(The 48 turns of Daguniu Mountain in Dongchuan, with the Taoist temple Zixia Palace at the top. The lower part of the picture is stretched and deformed due to the panoramic shooting. Photographer: @刘刚)

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Highways extend in all directions

(Hangzhou-Ruili Expressway G56, the two buildings in the back are Wanda Plaza, photographer @饶颖)

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Winding railroad tracks

Crossing the mountains

(The Nanning-Kunming Railway and the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway meet at Shuijingpo, photographer @武嘉旭)

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Brand new high-speed rail

Ready to go

(A high-speed train departing from Kunming South Railway Station, photographer @祝云川)

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Flights to and from Changshui International Airport

More than 350,000 flights per year

Both passenger and cargo throughput

Ranked among the top ten in the country

(The above data comes from the Civil Aviation Administration of China's "2019 Civil Aviation Airport Throughput Ranking". Please watch the picture below in horizontal mode. Kunming Changshui International Airport in the morning light. Photographer: @李兴富)

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Dense modern transportation network

The former "border town"

Closely connected to all directions

Become a transportation hub for traveling north and south

An important window for opening up to the outside world

(Kunming land transportation network diagram, @Gong Xiangjie & Wang Shenwen/Planet Research Institute)

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Its World Horticultural Exposition

95 countries and international organizations participated

It was the first World Expo held in China.

(Kunming World Horticultural Exposition Park, photographed in 1999, photographer @刘建明)

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Its import and export fair

It has been held for 25 consecutive years

Together with the China-South Asia Expo

It is to promote China's cooperation with Southeast Asian and South Asian countries

One of the important platforms for economic and trade cooperation

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Dounan Flower Market, the largest fresh cut flower market in Asia, photographer @何俊云)

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October 2021

It also serves as the host

Hosting the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity

Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15)

Became China's first

The city hosting this major conference

(Kunming Dianchi International Convention and Exhibition Center, the venue of COP15, photographer @马红海)

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And the future

With the full deployment of the Pan-Asia Railway

It will become the southwest of China

With Southeast Asian and South Asian countries

Regional International Center

Become a channel of the “Belt and Road”

A gateway for trade and cultural exchange

This "border town"

Still a long way to go

(Sketch of the location of Kunming Regional International Center, drawn by @Gong Xiangjie & Wang Shenwen/Planetary Research Institute)

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.

.

.

Willow trees sway along the shore of Dianchi Lake

The Daguan Tower was built 330 years ago.

Still standing here quietly

A 180-character couplet hangs on both sides of the main entrance.

Known as "the longest couplet in ancient and modern times"

(Quoted from the long couplet of Daguan Tower)

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“The 500-mile Dianchi Lake is right before your eyes”

“Thousands of years of past events are engraved in my heart”

Through these mottled words

The city's turbulent past

It seems to be still clearly visible

(The Daguan Tower after the snow, the long couplet of the Daguan Tower is hung at the door, photographer @苏剑飞)

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Yes

Kunming is a "border town"

But over thousands of years

But never left the stage of history

(The Golden Horse and Jade Rooster Pavilion still stands in the city, photographer @何盛)

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Yes

Kunming is a "City of Spring"

But its mission

But it is more profound than this praise

(The high-speed train passes through the city and speeds away in the sunset, photographer @wzkdreram)

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in the past

It is the front line of cultural collision

It is also the rear of the national salvation

But the past glory will eventually turn into mediocrity

The legendary story will eventually be hidden in the market

In the future

When the tide of the times surges

It must once again take on a new mission

This is the power of this city.

It is also everyone’s common expectation.

(Kunming City under the Clouds, Photographer @胡澍)

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Creative Team

Written by: Mulan Jianzi

Images: Xie Yuhan, Feng Danyi, Qin Nan

Design: Wang Shenwen

Map: Gong Xiangjie

Proofreading: Lushumao, Fengzi, Wang Kun

Cover Photographer: Shanren

This article is provided by

Publicity Department of Kunming Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China

Kunming Municipal People's Government Research Office

Planetary Research Institute

Co-production

[Acknowledgments] In the creation of this article, we received strong support from the School of Economics of Yunnan University, Kunming Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and Kunming Local Chronicles Office. We would like to express our special thanks.

【References】

[1] Kunming City Gazetteer Local Gazetteer Compilation Committee. Kunming City Gazetteer[M]. People's Publishing House, 2003.

[2] Publicity Department of Kunming Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, Kunming Municipal Cultural Industry Office. Three Thousand Years of Kunming[M]. Yunnan University Press, 2004.

[3] Long Donglin. History of Kunming[M]. Yunnan People's Publishing House, 2017.

[4] Xie Benshu. History of Kunming City[M]. Yunnan University Press, 2009.

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Planetary Research Institute

A group of National Geographic fans, focusing on exploring the extreme world

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