As ancient stories told, far back in the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Che (Emperor Wu of the Dynasty) heard that there had been a road linked with Sindhu (Old India) in the southwest. Tm road could be found only when colorful cloud would appear in the sky. One day, Emperor Wu saw the colorful cloud in the southwest sky. He found the cloud so beautiful and asked his men to find out where the cloud would end. Finally, the cloud was found ending in Yizhou (Kunming) where scenery wm picturesque and lives were harmonious and peaceful. Emperor Wu’s men found the ancient road to Sindhu and started exchanges with India. Yunnan is called “Yun”(云) or “Dian”（滇） for short and is also renowned as the place of “South of Colorful Clouds”. Location southwest of China and geographically the center of Asia. Area 394, 000 km2. Population 47 million (1/3 of which is the minority population). Administrative division: Kunming as the Provincial capital, Yunnan is divided into 16 prefectures/cities, under which are 129 counties.
Yunnan possesses magnificent snow mountains and glaciers in the north, vast tropical rainforests and rare animals and plants m the south, marvelous spectacle Three Parallel Rivers’in the west and spectacular and magic karst landform m the east. It has long been known as “Kingdom of Plants”, “Home of Spices”, “Natural Garden” and “Treasure-house of Medical Herbs”. Yunnan has won fame both at home and abroad for its ancient hominid site, dinosaur fossils and modern historic monuments. In Yunnan, tropical, subtropical, temperate and polar plant communities are distributed. There are mountains and rivers such as Gaoligong Mountains, Nujiang River, Yunling Mountains, Biluo Snow Mountain and Lancang River. As well as such geological wonders as stone forests, soil forests, volcanic clusters, karst caves and geothermal springs. 25 minorities such as Dai, Dong, Yi and Hani live in the vast territory of Yunnan. All these elements show endless charm of beautiful Yunnan
Situated in the joint of Chinese cultural circle, Indian cultural circle and Southeast Asian cultural circle, Yunnan is a significant node in the culture network of peoples of Asia and is the most precious co-existence treasury of human cultural heritages. Localism, marginality and tolerance of cultures of different ethnic groups has given birth to diversified cultures and nurtured world-known Nanzhao Culture. Pattra-leaf Culture and Dongba Culture. Yunnan has very unique ethnic culture. There are totally 56 nationalities in China and Yunnan has 25 aboriginal minorities which use different languages and characters. Regional characteristics are reflected from costumes, catering, buildings, folk customs, festivals and other aspects. Colorful ethnic customs, long history and splendid culture have shown the beautiful image of Yunnan as the “grand view park of ethnic cultures”.
The development of Yunnan has huge room and potential to explore. With the implementation of major national development strategies and series of important policies. Yunnan will gradually develop itself from a remote region into a powerhouse of China facing South Asia and Southeast Asia. Yunnan has been committed in strengthening exchange and cooperation with neighboring countries and participating the building of Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor and China-Indochina Peninsula International Economic Corridor, so as to enhance Yunnan-India and Yunnan-Myanmar cooperation, and to improve the cooperation mechanism with northern Vietnam and northern Laos. In addition, Yunnan is integrated itself into the’Belt and Road”Initiative, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and a deepened cooperation with Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan.
Yunnan is experiencing rapid economic and social development. In 2015, both its GDP and fixed-asset investment reached RMB one trillion yuan. In 2016, the GDP registered a growth of 8.5% and the fixed-asset investment increased by 16%. During the period of the “12th Five-Year Plan”, the total volume of foreign trade of Yunnan reached RMB 727.6 billion yuan. It attracted more than RMB 2,000 billion yuan of paid-in investment from other provinces and an actual use of USD 12 billion of foreign investment, 4.9 and 3.1 times respectively as much as those during the period of the “11th Five-Year Plan”. During the “13th Five-Year Plan”, Yunnan will adhere to the five development concepts of innovation, harmony, green, opening-up and sharing’, to carry out a supply side structural reform, transform the growth mode and re-adjust its economic structure, so as to consolidate the foundation for a leaping development and maintain a stable and healthy developmentc