Kunming, which is situated in central Yunnan and north of the Dianchi Basin, is skirted on three sides by mountains, with one side opening onto the Dianchi Lake. The city is nicknamed "City of Spring" due to the fact that it is covered all the year round with the rich verdure of trees and plants. Endowed with a pleasant climate, the city's 15,000 square kilometers of land is adorned with more than 400 kinds of flowers.
Kunming is world-famous for its abundance of camellias, orchids, azaleas and Primula malacoides , which can be found in the Kunming Botanical Garden, where 4,000 varieties of tropical and subtropical plants grow profusely. Kunming is also a renowned historical and cultural city in southwest China. In ancient times it was an important gateway to the celebrated Silk Road which conducted to Tibet, Sichuan, Myanmar and India. The city's highland scenery is alluring, its karts landform is bewitching. Its people are known for their varied and exotic habits and customs, and its land is pockmarked with historical artifacts, places of cultural interest, and gardens landscaped with a picturesque taste. Among the major scenic spots of Kunming are the Dianchi Lake, the Cuihu Lake, the Village of Ethnic Culture, the Jindian (Golden Temple) Park, the Western Mountain Forest Reserve, the Stone Forest, the Jiuxiang Scenic Belt, the Yuantong Mountain, the Grand View Pavilion, and the Qiongzhu Temple.
Yunnan is populated by 25 minority nationalities, which makes up almost fifty percent of the total number of 55 in the whole country. With colorful costumes and fascinating dances and songs, the 25 ethnic minority groups inhabiting in Yunnan carry on their own ways of living, their own cultures. And the traditional ceremonies and festivals are indivisible parts of their cultures. In observing and participating in the festivals and traditional ceremonies of the minority nationalities, tourists can understand many folkways and customs. You can understand religious beliefs, fairy tales and legends, dances and songs, recreation and amusement, and cultural psychology. Their festivals and ceremonies also reflect their different life styles, productive habits, ideological concept and social structures constituted under different periods of history, different areas and different cultural background.
