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(2010-07-09)
Ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome to KM, a beautiful city of eternal spring. My name is Tom, and I am pleased to be your tour guide. An old Chinese saying goes like this: friends should come from afar, isn’t this delightful? So I am very delighted to have this chance to serve you, to show you the most beautiful of KM and YN, to feed you the most delicious local food, to introduce to you the most precious local specialties. In one word, I’ll try my best to help you have a happy and gainful tour here.
Now, you must want to know some general info about this city. Situated at the center of YN-GZH Plateau, KM has a history of over 2400 years and now serves as the capital of YN Province. It features pleasant climate all the year round and various natural sceneries as well as places of historical interest.
A poem portraits KM like this:
The weather is like April constantly,
Flowers blossom for four seasons.
Hence its name ‘city of eternal spring’. It’s neither hot in summer nor cold in winter. The average temperature in summer is about 23℃ while that in winter is about 9℃, and the average temperature year round is approximately 15℃. There are two distinct seasons here: the dry season and the rainy season. The rainy season is from May to Oct. when the humid air from the Indian Ocean brings rich rainfall. The other months are the dry season with very few rains.
So ladies and gentlemen, now you must have a question in your mind: why is the climate like this? The geographical location of KM is about at the same latitude with Guilin, Xiamen and Taipei. But these places are much hotter in summer and colder in winter. The reason mainly lies in the topography and landscape of KM. The city is located on the plateau area with an altitude of over 1800 m. So it’s not very hot in summer. In winter, the high mountains to the north of KM block the cold air from Siberia. Therefore, the affect of the cold air to the weather of KM is not as strong as other areas in China. Consequently, KM enjoys a pleasant climate all the year round.
KM’s history goes back over 2000 years to the Waring States Period of ancient China. In BC 279, a general of Chu Kingdom in the area of today’s Hunan and Hubei provinces came here with his troops and settled down near Dianchi Lake which is a large lake adjoining the southwest edge of today’s KM city. In AD 109, during the reign of emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, the city of "Kunzhou" was established to the southeast of present day Kunming. Towards the end of the Yuan Dynasty, which was about 600 years ago, this area became known as KM County. In 1832, a traditional city with high wall was erected, which became Kunming municipality in 1928.
In the book Guide to China the author says that if your time is limited while visiting China and you could only afford to travel around one place, the best choice is YN Province, because it is the most ethnically diverse province in China with various landscapes. It’s absolutely true. 26 ethnic groups inhabit different areas of YN Province. During the long course of history, each ethnic group has developed their own unique culture and diverse customs. In different ethnic communities we can see different architectures, costumes, and taste local foods of various flavor, of which the most famous one is Across Bridge Rice Noodle whose name originated from an ancient legend. Most of the ethnic groups are good at singing and dancing and they also have their own traditional festivals, such as the Torch Festival of the Yi people, the Splashing Water Festival of the Dai people. Their marital customs are also different, among which the most amazing one is that of Muosuo people who is a branch of Naxi ethnic group and lives in Shangri-la. They actually don’t get married all their life. I’ll explain to you the details during our tour later.
Now we’ve arrived at our hotel. Please gather your belongings and follow me.
