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Yunnan is situated on a plateau in southwest China
formed with the rising of the Himalayas from the ancient sea. In
the northwest it borders on the eastern section of the Himalayas,
thus it seems to be the last step to Tibet, the "roof of the
world". "Yunnan" in Chinese means "south of the clouds". Various
colors and shapes of the clouds over this plateau give Yunnan its
full name "South of the Colorful Clouds". These beautiful rosy
clouds always appear in the south, which is thought to be an
auspicious sign. Yunnan people, therefore, are proud of living on
this blessed land. Yunnan is called "Yun" or "Dian"
for short, located at latitude between 21°8'32" and 29°15' 8'' N
and longitude between 97°31'39'' and 106°11'47''E. It is a vast
land with towering mountains and plentiful rivers as well as
abundant natural resources. The land area is 394,000 square km,
the eighth largest province in China. The province has a total
population of 41 million people, with 16 prefectures, autonomous
prefectures and cities within its jurisdiction. Yunnan borders on
Guizhou Province and Guangxi Zhang Ethnic Minority Autonomous
Region to the east, Chongqing and Sichuan to the north and Tibet
Autonomous Region to the northwest. To its west is Myanmar and to
its south are Laos and Vietnam. The boundary line of China
stretches 4,060 kms in Yunnan. About 94 per cent of the province
is mountainous area. In short, Yunnan is a mountainous frontier
province with many ethnic groups. As the extension
of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Yunnan has an interesting geological
structure. The Himalayan orogenic movement pushed up the "Roof of
the World" from the ocean floor, forming several north-south
mountain ranges and deep valleys. The Yunling, Nushan and
Gaoligong mountains are narrow and precipitous. The Yangtze,
Lancang and Nujiang rivers flow through the province. Between the
Lancang and Jinsha Rivers (Yangtse River), is the source of the
Yuanjiang River. The rivers roar and peaks tower over the valleys.
The world-famous Nujiang Valley is found here. The valley extends
from northwest to southeast like a fan, which cuts the Yunnan
topography into two sections: the eastern section is the
Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau with an average elevation of 2,000 meters
and many small lakes; the western section is filled with
mountains, rivers and valleys. From peaks to river valleys is
usually a sheer drop, which creates a rugged terrain. The
important water systems in southeast Asia are concentrated here,
including the Jinsha, Nanpan, Lancang (Mekong), Nujiang (Salween),
Yuanjiang (Honghe), Dulong (Irrawaddy) rivers. All of them are
important passages between China and southeast and south Asia.
At the same latitude on the earth, there are the vast expanse of
the scorching Sahara Desert, the tropical Hawaiian Islands and the
Indian Plain. The complex geographical conditions give Yunnan a
very varied climate. The province descends like a ladder from
north to south, a distance of about 900 km as the crow flies. The
highest point in the north is the Kagebo Peak in Deqin County on
the Deqin Plateau, which is about 6,740 meters high; and the
lowest is in the Honghe
River Valley in Hekou County, with an elevation of 76.4 meters.
The terrain descends six meters every kilometer towards the south.
The temperature difference between eight latitude degrees is the
same as that from southern Hainan Island to northeastern Changchun
in China. Therefore, we find not only glaciers and snow-capped
mountains with alpine vegetation at the lowest latitude, but also
sub-tropical basins, blazing hot valleys and lush tropical
vegetation at the highest. It is hard to believe
that ascending one kilometer vertically means a climatic change by
travelling 1,400 to 2,500 kilometers from the south to the north
of China. While the mountain peaks are always covered with ice and
snow; half way up you will enjoy pleasant weather; and at the
bottom of the valley the weather is very hot. On one mountain,you
can enjoy natural scenery and colorful folk customs from alpine to
tropical zones. People like to call Yunnan the
province of "perpetual spring". If you do not come to Yunnan
yourself, however, you will never know what we mean by "four
seasons on one mountain and a changing climate within a small
area". Because of its abundant natural resources, Yunnan enjoys
the reputation of the "kingdom of flora and fauna", "kingdom of
nonferrous metals", "kingdom of medicinal herbs", "natural
garden", "hometown of perfumes" and is a popular area for tourism.
Since remote antiquity, Yunnan has been inhabited. About 500
million years ago, duing the Cambrian Period, the earth
experienced a big explosion, leaving some traces in the Maotian
Mountain in Chengjiang County, central Yunnan. The ancient animal
fossils found in Chengjiang were first announced to the public in
1984 by a paleontologist. This was one of the most amazing
scientific discoveries in paleontology in the 20th century. They
are dated as being between the Australian "animal fossils" and
Canadian "animal fossils". It has been designated as one of the
"three wonders of early evolution on earth" and has been put on
the World Cultural Heritage List. Yunnan is like a
book, with its famous ancient cities of historic and cultural
significance as different chapters, in which thousands of years of
vicissitudes have been recorded. |
