See Also: Kunming(encyclopedia)
Kunming(tourism)
Kunming doctors(health)
Kunming airports(tourism)
Kunming car rental(tourism)
Kunming flights(tourism)
Kunming travel guide(tourism)
Kunming travel agent(tourism)
Kunming travel agency(tourism)
Kunming hotels list(tourism)

Kunming (sh)




or K'un-ming

City (pop., 1999 est.: 1,350,640), capital of Yunnan province, southern China.

Situated on the northern shore of Lake Dian, it has long been a commercial centre at the junction of major trade routes. Originally known as Tuodong in the 8th-9th centuries AD and a part of the independent state of Nanzhao, it came under Chinese control with the Mongol invasion of 1253; it became the provincial capital of Yunnan in 1276 and was visited by Marco Polo. It became a municipality in 1935 and was transformed into a modern city in 1937 during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-45), when Chinese evacuees from the north brought industrial plants and universities to Kunming.