Background

Location & Geography
Yunnan Province is a continuation of the Tibetan Plateau, and occupies an area of 394,000 square kilometres, similar in size to the US State of California. With the Himalayas dominating the north, and the equatorial tropics warming the southern areas, Yunnan’s features are diverse and spectacular.

Yunnan shares its western border with Myanmar, its southern border with Laos and Vietnam and its eastern border with Guangxi Autonomous Zone. The province can be divided into two geographically different regions by the Ai-lao Mountains: a limestone plateau to the east and a mountainous area with several peaks above 5,000 metres to the west. The highest point is the 6,740-metre Kagebo Peak on the Yunnan-Tibet border.

Yunnan’s torrential rivers are too swift for navigation. The elevation of the eastern plateau varies from 2,130 metres at its western end to 1,370 metres on the Kweichow border, where intermountain basins and broad fertile valleys facilitate intensive farming.

More than 40 freshwater lakes, the highest number in Southwest China, lie in geological faults on the plateau. Larger lakes include Dianchi, Erhai, Fuxian, Yangzonghai and Lagu. About 30% of the land area is forested, and is home to a large variety of flora and fauna.

Nature
Few provinces in China provide such a diversified and fascinating mix of natural beauty than Yunnan. The province contains snow-capped mountains, glaciers, lakes, ravines with raging rivers, hot springs, highlands, temperate forests and tropical jungles, thus supporting an unusually full spectrum of species and vegetation types.

Yunnan’s forests make up nearly 10 million hectares to cover 30% of the land. During the summer, the Tibet Plateau acts as a barrier to monsoon winds, trapping moisture in the province. This gives the alpine flora in particular a lushness rarely found.

Yunnan not only has more plant species of tropical, subtropical, temperate, and frozen zones than any other province in the country, but also has many ancient, endemic plants, as well as species introduced from foreign countries. Among the 30,000 species of plants in China, 18,000 can be found in Yunnan.

The fauna is nearly as diverse. Yunnan accounts for less than 4% of China’s land, yet contains about half of its bird and mammal species including over 3,000 rare birds and animals such as the black snub-nosed monkey, the southeast Asian gaur, tigers and the Asian elephant.

Xishuangbana prefecture is especially abundant in flora and fauna, making the province a naturalists dream, and where many wildlife reserves have been established. Asian elephants, oxen, peacocks and monkeys can all be viewed on specially arranged tours, while the Menglun Botantical gardens has a wide variety of tropical and sub-tropical flora.

Climate
Yunnan has a varied and diverse climate reflecting temperate, tropical and frigid zones found in the province, and can change substantially during a journey of just a few miles. The capital Kunming enjoys pleasant spring-like weather for most of the year, except during the coldest months. The elevated eastern plateau experiences warm summers and mild winters, while in the mountainous west, the valley floors and lower slopes enjoy warm humid weather.

A temperate zone predominates between 2,000-3,000 metres, and ice and snow envelope the high summits. The monsoon winds from the Pacific and Indian Oceans provide adequate rainfall, with most of the precipitation occurring from May to October.