n`mĭng`), city (1994 est. pop. 1,240,000), capital of Yunnan prov., S China, on the northern shore of Dian Chi Lake. It is a major administrative, commercial, and cultural center of S China and leading transportation hub (air, road, rail), with rail connections to Vietnam. It is China's largest producer of copper. Coal is mined, and the city has an iron and steel complex. Other manufactures include phosphorus, chemicals, machinery, textiles, paper, and cement. Kunming has long been noted for its scenic beauty and equable climate. It consists of an old walled city, a modern commercial suburb, and a residential and university section. Although it was often the seat of kings in ancient times, Kunming's modern prosperity dates only from 1910, when the railroad from Hanoi was built. In World War II, Kunming was important as the Chinese terminus of the Burma Road. The city has an astronomical observatory, and its institutions of higher learning include Yunnan Univ. and a medical college. On the outskirts is a famed bronze temple, dating from the Ming dynasty. Kunming was formerly called Yunnanfu.Kunming
or K'un-mingCity (pop., 2003 est.: 1,597,800), 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 century AD and a part of the independent state of Nanzhao, it came under Chinese control with the Mongol invasion of 1253. The city became the provincial capital of Yunnan in 1276 and was visited by Marco Polo. It became a municipality in 1928 and was transformed into a modern city in 1937 during the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45), when Chinese evacuees from the north introduced industrial plants and universities to Kunming.
Kunming, K'un-ming
K’unming
a city in southwestern China and the administrative center of Yünnan Province. Population, 880,000 (1957).
The city is situated on the Yünnan Plateau at an elevation of 1,892 m, on the north shore of Lake Tiench’ih, into which the P’anmungchiang River flows. It is an important transportation junction and the terminus of the Yünnan-Burma Road and of a railroad to Vietnam. Industry is represented by nonferrous metallurgy, machine building, electric power production (heat and electric power plants and hydroelectric stations), textiles, leatherworking, and food processing. The city is known for its traditional crafts—the making of carpets and felt goods. It is the site of the University of Yünnan, a polytechnic institute for ethnic minorities, the southwestern branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Chinese People’s Republic, and a botanical garden. Within the city limits is Lake Ts’uihu (Turquoise Lake), one of K’unming’s major attractions. It is called “the city of eternal spring” because of its mild winters (the temperature averages 9.7°C in January) and warm and sunny summers (the average July temperature is 20.2°C); the annual precipitation totals 1,095 mm. Around the city are sanatoriums and houses of rest for climatotherapy.
The city was founded as Chienling in the first century A.D. Subsequently it was called Yingying, K’unchou, Itan, and Yünnan, acquiring its present name in the 13th century after the Mongol conquest of China. In the mid-17th century it became the administrative center of Yünnan. From 1939 to 1941, during World War II, it served as a transshipment point for cargoes entering China (blockaded by the Japanese) from Europe and the USA through Burma along the Yünnan-Burma Highway. The walls of ancient fortifications and various historical and architectural monuments have been preserved.
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