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For many hundreds of years, the Chinese considered
the province of Yunnan a backward and wild place - cut off
from the rest of the country by harsh mountains. Yet, this
did not stop them from attempting an invasion in 339AD.
Sent by a Yangzi Valley prince, the campaign
was ten years in the making, by which point the prince's enemies
on the other side of the mountain passes had blocked his army
from returning.
Unfazed by being cut off from home and his
ruler, the general in charge of the invasion simply made himself
the King of Dian, and set about ruling the large, fertile
plains from his capital near present-day Kunming. His dynasty
lasted two hundred years. Eventually the Dian kingdom fell
and the land was divided between six rancorous princes.
When one of them made the exhausting journey
to the Chinese court, in the eighth century, he told the Tang
Dynasty Emperor that he had come from the lands south of the
rainy weather in Sichuan. It was from this that the emperor
devised the name of Yunnan - "South of the Clouds."
Throughout the centuries that were to pass,
Chinese Kingdoms came and went. Little was thought of the
lands of the 'southwestern barbarians' except to exile the
odd artist or dissident there - who helped the area establish
its own aesthetic feel. Kublai Khan, eventually gave the lands
to his Muslim mercenaries, for their help in extending his
empire, where they settled happily until the Ming Dynasty
launched another invasion in the 14th century.
It was because of this invasion that one
of Kunming's own became the most famous admiral in Chinese
history. Zheng He was a ten-year-old Muslim boy from the shores
of Lake Dianchi when he was taken into slavery and castrated
by the Ming invaders in 1381. He quickly rose through the
ranks of the Emperor's army and was eventually given a fleet
of 64 ships with which he travelled throughout Asia and as
far as the east coast of Africa.
The charts he compiled from
the seven major voyages his fleet undertook became the cornerstone
for Chinese navigation for hundreds of years, opened up important
trade routes and helped develop the country's international
diplomatic relations. A museum in his honour has been opened
up on the banks of Lake Dianchi where, as a boy, he once dreamed
of adventuring across the mighty oceans.
Kunming hotels and resorts at the best rates, from Five Stars resorts such as Green Lake Hotel, to budget accommodation like Jintai Hotel, you are sure to find the accommodation you are looking for.
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The Stone Forest, a rare geological phenomenon located 86km from Kunming, was formed
many millions of years ago by movements of the earth's crust.
This bizarre forest of limestone pillars, some over 30 metres
in height, spreads over an area of some 300 square km, but
only 1.2 square km have been developed with ponds, pavilions,
and small bridges for visitors.
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