Yesterday at the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Industry Development Conference in Chuxiong it was announced that 11 mainland and Hong Kong companies will invest more than 90 billion yuan (US$13.1 billion) in Yunnan's tourism industry.

The group of eleven is led by HK-listed Shui On Land (瑞安房地产), best known for being developers of the Xintiandi and Corporate Avenue project in Shanghai. Total investment by Shui On Land in Yunnan this year is expected to reach 48 billion, more than the other 10 companies combined.

In December 2007, Shui On signed a cooperation agreement with the provincial government – today it is working on four major projects in Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Diqing.

Smart Hero Group (骏豪集团), another Hong Kong developer, will invest more than 25 billion yuan in the city of Chengjiang, 70 kilometers southeast of Kunming. The project, located at the Sun Mountain International Ecological Tourism and Leisure Holdiday Area, will commence construction in September. Smart Hero has existing tourism and hospitality projects in the cities of Xiamen, Sanya and Chongqing.

Smart Hero's investment in Chengjiang is indicative of a larger trend in Yunnan – in addition to established tourist cities such as Kunming, Lijiang, Dali and Shangri-la, smaller cities and lesser-known areas in Yunnan are beginning to attract larger amounts of investment. Other examples include Pu'er and Yangzonghai.

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Tags: Chengjiang, Chuxiong, Dali, Diqing, Lijiang, Shangri-la, Shui On Land, Smart Hero Group, tourism, travel, Xintiandi

Northwest Yunnan's Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture – closed to international tourists since the beginning of the recent riots in Lhasa – has reopened to foreign travelers after nearly a month of being off-limits, according to a Xinhua report citing Cering Norbu, the prefecture's deputy secretary general.

Diqing contains popular tourist destinations including Shangri-la (previously known as Zhongdian) and Deqin. More than 3.8 million tourists visited the prefecture in 2007, including 400,000 international travelers.

Tags: Cering Norbu, Deqin, Diqing, Lhasa riots, Shangri-la, travel, Zhongdian

Hong Kong-listed Shui On Land announced that it will invest 5 billion yuan (US$695.8 million) in a tourism-focused development project based in the travel hotspot of Shangri-la, located in northwest Yunnan's Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

According to Chinese financial media reports, Shui On has signed an agreement with the Diqing government to develop a plot of land with a total area of 17.73 million square meters – 9.96 million square meters of which it is designating 'protected areas' – into a 'holiday and leisure area'.

The development project, which currently has a planned building area of 760,000 square meters, will be surrounded by a ring of 3.49 million square meters of undeveloped land as a buffer between it and the outside world.

Shui On, known best for its high-end office, residential and commercial projects in Shanghai, Hangzhou and other mainland cities, has been making steady inroads into the Yunnan market.

In September of 2007, the company co-signed an agreement with the Yunnan government in which the two parties vowed to work together to develop Yunnan's bountiful tourism resources. The developer has already signed agreements for major developments on Dianchi's north shore in Kunming as well as in Dali's Haidong New District. In addition to Shangri-la, Shui On has also expressed interest in development projects in Lijiang.

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Tags: Dali, Dianchi Lake, Diqing, Hangzhou, Lijiang, real estate, Shanghai, Shangri-la, Shui On Land, travel

Diqing prefecture in northwest Yunnan has continued to be hit by heavy snowfalls, with the town of Shangri-la (Zhongdian) receiving 35 centimeters of snow since January 19. The winter storm has shut down much of the area and is causing serious damage to the area's economy and infrastructure.

Transportation and tourism have been affected, with the airport at Shangri-la and tourist spots in the area temporarily closed. The highway linking the city of Shangri-la and Kunming is still operational, but numerous roads throughout Diqing have been shut down by the blizzard.

According to initial government estimates cited in Kunming media reports about 100,000 people have been hit by the winter storm, which is estimated at having caused 75 million yuan in damage to the area.

More than 50 million yuan of the damage was agricultural, with more than 20,000 tons of grain destroyed and 4,600 head of livestock dead. Diqing's power and communications networks have also been hit hard by the blizzard with 12 power transmission lines out of operation and more than 500 power line poles down.

Image: Clzg.cn

Tags: Diqing, Shangri-la, winter storm

The Kunming Daily is reporting that the winter weather wreaking havoc upon the transportation networks in central and southern China has left nearly 8,000 Chinese New Year travelers held up in Kunming, just days into a holiday season that was expected to see 22 million travelers pass through Chinese airports and 179 million travelers riding the country's trains.

Kunming Wujiaba International Airport was reporting 21 delayed flights and more than 2,000 travelers stuck in limbo on Sunday due to inclement weather at airports in Changsha, Tianjin, Sanya, Wenzhou, Hefei, Nanjing, Qingdao and other airports stretching from the Bohai Bay down to the South China Sea, according to Kunming media reports. Kunming Airport is reportedly scrambling to make food and lodging arrangements for the stranded travelers.

Rail travel in and out of Kunming has also been affected by the extreme weather, with the city's railway station announcing that in the coming few days, train departures and arrivals could be delayed by the resurgence of winter in much of the country. A hotline has been set up to deal with Kunming-related rail travel queries: (0871) 6122122.

Road transport in and around Yunnan province has also been affected. Buses between Kunming and Diqing prefecture - located near the Yunnan-Tibet border - have been delayed indefinitely as snow continues to fall upon Diqing. Passenger bus service leading from Yunnan northeastward toward Guizhou has also been suspended due to extreme weather in the province, which neighbors Yunnan.

Virtually all of China is feeling the impact of the winter weather upon the central and southern regions as many connecting flights located in affected areas have been delayed. Major trunk rail lines and highways in other less-affected areas are also feeling the strain of the bad weather far away – on Sunday Guangzhou's rail station was reporting more than 100,000 stranded travelers, with that number expected to increase.

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Tags: Chinese New Year, Diqing, trains, travel, winter storm

After more than 50 hours of heavy snow, the weather in Diqing Prefecture began to clear yesterday and the snow along the roadside of Shangri-la has begun to melt. Since the opening of the two main roads to Deqin County on Saturday, most of the more than 100 trapped tourists who were scattered throughout different scenic spots since last week have been transferred to the town with the help of the local government. Deqin is located in northwest Diqing, near the border with Tibet.

The heavy snow that covered the greater part of Diqing began falling last Wednesday, with more than 50 centimeters covering roads and everything else, leading to a transportation shutdown. Mudslides and other problems have plagued National Highway 214 and much of the region has been without electricity. So far no casualties have been reported in the area and electricity has been restored to most of the region, according to government reports.

The Deqin and Dewei segments of National Highway 214 have been restored to one-way operation and the local government is busy repairing and restoring much of the road and surrounding roads.

At the moment, the Deqin government is focusing on restoring access to the road linking Deqin to the Meili Snow Mountain Xidang Village scenic area. The blocked road has left a team of mountain climbers from Shanghai trapped since last week.

Tags: Deqin, Diqing, Shangri-la, winter storm

The recent mild weather in Kunming and elsewhere in Yunnan will be short-lived, according to the Yunnan Meteorological Station, which is predicting a drop of 10 to 15 degrees Celsius and wet weather for most of the province, beginning in the latter half of this week.

The collision of a cold front from the north with the warm, wet air over much of Yunnan in recent days is expected to cause a 10-degree drop in temperatures in northern areas of the province today, including Qujing and Zhaotong. Cities in central Yunnan including Kunming and Yuxi are expected to take an approximately 10-degree temperature hit on Wednesday.

Accompanying the temperature drops will be another round of precipitation, with some snow expected in Diqing and Zhaotong.

Tags: Diqing, Qujing, weather, Yuxi, Zhaotong

Shudu Lake in Pudacuo National Park

This past National Day Golden Week holiday marked a significant first for Chinese travelers - it was the first time that tourists could visit a national park in mainland China. After an initial trial period, the inauguration in June of China's first national park - Pudacuo National Park in Yunnan's Shangri-la County - is a major first for Chinese conservation efforts and a prelude to China's ambitious plan for many more national parks to come in the near future.

Nestled deep in the mountains of northwest Yunnan at an elevation ranging from 3,500 to 4,000 meters, Pudacuo (普达措) is an integral part of the Three Parallel Rivers Scenic Area, recognized as much for its dramatic topological contours and rich biodiversity, as for its stunning natural beauty.

The name "Pudacuo" comes from the local Tibetan word for the divine assistance that ensures boat passengers a safe journey across the many lakes dotting the area. Foremost among the lakes in the park are the Bita and Shudu lakes, though the extended wetlands area extends far beyond to encompass forested mountains, grasslands in river valleys and a great abundance of rare plants and animals.

Owing to the complexity of Pudacuo's ecosystem, its biological diversity, and the beauty of its natural scenery, ecological conservation in the area has become an urgent priority. Starting in 2006, the Yunnan Provincial Government's Research Office, the Southwest Forestry University and the government of the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture attained the support of The Nature Conservancy to launch a national park initiative starting with the Bita and Shudu Lake high elevation wetlands area as the first site. Under this ambitious plan, all parties involved including local government and protection agencies, tourist enterprises and local agro-pastoralists have been actively engaged in the design of Pudacuo National Park.

By 2007 The role of The Nature Conservancy's China Program in facilitating the Chinese government's interest in this new conservation model was formally recognized by the EU-China Biodiversity Program with a generous grant of US$1.6 million to support the Conservancy's conservation efforts for Meili Snow Mountain and Laojun Mountain.

Although the Pudacuo region comprises only 0.7 percent of China's land area, it contains more than 20 percent of the country's plant species, about one-third of its mammal and bird species and almost 100 endangered species. Protecting the area as China's first national park is a major step toward developing a national park system that will preserve China's most fragile and important ecosystems. "Pudacuo National Park is significant," said Jerry Chen, Project Manager of The Nature Conservancy's Yunnan Program, "more land is protected through this new model than could have been done before."


However, many questions have plagued policy-makers as to how to implement effective protection and rational usage policies in high elevation lake areas that take the traditional ethnic culture of its inhabitants fully into account. To provide answers to some of these questions, The Nature Conservancy has provided support to these local agencies, undertaking a long-term study to propose methods for establishing conservation development in these national parks. The Conservancy has been working closely with these local stakeholders to ensure that conservation plans achieve the protection of Pudacuo's abundant biological resources while encouraging local people to partake in environmental education and share in the positive economic benefits that can result from a prudently planned national park design.

It is the hope of all involved that through the consistent efforts of the many local governing agencies and research bodies in addition to the support of the Nature Conservancy, Pudacuo will become a model - both by preserving the pristine state of its biologically diverse wetlands areas and surrounding old-growth forests, and as the first among many new national parks to come in China.

Thanks to The Nature Conservancy for providing us with information about Pudacuo National Park. If your organization has news about its operations in Yunnan province that you would like to share with GoKunming readers, please get in touch with us via our contact form.

Tags: Bita Lake, Diqing, environment, National Day, Pudacuo National Park, Shudu Lake, The Nature Conservancy, Three Parallel Rivers Scenic Area