The results are in for the annual ranking of China's top universities by 21st Century HR Report (21世纪人才报) and once again Yunnan's top universities lag behind much of the rest of the country.

For the third year in a row, Beijing's Peking University topped the list, followed by Tsinghua University in Beijing and Fudan University in Shanghai. The top five were rounded out by Zhejiang University in Hangzhou and Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Yunnan, China's ninth-largest province in terms of population, only had two universities make the top 100 this year. Yunnan University slipped two places from its 2009 ranking to number 64 this year and Kunming University of Science and Technology barely made it in at the 100 spot.

Compared to its neighbors in southwest China, Yunnan fared better than Guizhou and Guangxi, who had one university each, with Guizhou University placing 89th and Guangxi University 95th.

Sichuan and Chongqing had much stronger showings, with Sichuan University ranking 12th and Chongqing University 31st. Sichuan was represented by an additional three universities in the top 100 and Chongqing's Southwest University ranked 50th.

The comparatively high quality of university graduates in both Chengdu and Chongqing is one of the main reasons that the two cities have eclipsed the rest of southwest Chinese cities in the race for domestic and foreign investment.

Yunnan University Party Secretary Liu Shaohuai (刘绍怀) told local media that slight ranking fluctuations were a normal phenomenon.

Liu said that one organization's rankings shouldn't be the basis for assessing an academic institution, adding that Yunnan University would do everything it can to be in the top 50 within a decade.

Southwest China rail network to be upgraded
Rail lines linking Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Chongqing will be upgraded "at an early date" according to Yan Hexiang, deputy director of the Ministry of Railways' development planning department.

The ministry plans on adding more than 50,000 kilometers of new rail lines to China's less-developed west by 2020. Lines slated for improvement include the Kunming-Nanning, Chengdu-Guiyang, and Chongqing-Guiyang lines. China's west consists of more than 70 percent of the country's land area and is home to 370 million people.

Myanmar to build rail link to Yunnan
Myanmar will build a railroad connecting the border town of Muse with Yunnan's Jieguo, located near Ruili, according to Chinese media reports. The rail line is expected to boost the already flourishing trade between Myanmar and Yunnan, which is currently conducted with cars and trucks.

Since 1998, Myanmar has established five border trade areas with China, including Muse, Lwejei, Laizar, Chinshwehaw and Kambaiti. The country is planning on adding a sixth in the Kokang region, where in August of this year the Myanmar army overran an ethnic Chinese militia, sending thousands of refugees into Yunnan.

The border trade area at Muse primarily sends agricultural products, seafood, timber and gems into Yunnan, with steel, construction materials, computers, farm machinery and other finished products flowing in from China.

Carbon credits helping Yunnan build wind power infrastructure
Yunnan is using the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to rapidly build up its wind power network with foreign investment, according to an AFP report. The CDM allows industrialized nations to fulfill some greenhouse gas reduction requirements by investing in clean energy technologies in developing nations.

The Zhemoshan wind farm in Dali – located at an altitude of 3,000 meters – is the highest wind farm in China. Carbon credits produced by the project, which has been funded by a US$45 million loan from the French Development Agency, will be purchased by Dutch bank Rabobank, according to a representative from Sinohydro, the Chinese company which manages the farm.

It is hoped that the Dali wind farm and others in Yunnan will make up for the winter dropoff in hydroelectric power generation by the province's extensive network of dams.

China has gone from little installed wind generation capacity five years ago to 12.2 gigawatts of installed capacity last year, making it the world's fourth-largest wind power producer, behind only the US, Germany and Spain.

Kunming to roll out free public bicycles
The Kunming municipal government has announced a plan to provide bicycles for free use by the public, according to a Dushi Shibao report. The report said the plan has been received by the public with approval, tempered with a skepticism that the bikes will all be stolen.

Dali posts record holiday numbers
During this year's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival 'Golden Week' holiday, Dali set new records for holiday visitors and tourist revenue, according to a Kunming Information Hub report.

Approximately 590,000 domestic and international tourists visited Dali in the first eight days of October, an increase of 44.9 percent over the same holidays one year ago. Revenue from tourism was 355 million yuan (US$52 million).

In addition to the traditional draws of Dali's old town and Three Pagodas, tourist visits to nearby Eryuan (洱源), Heqing (鹤庆) and Bingchuan (宾川) also reached new highs. Tourists driving their own vehicles – primarily from Kunming as well as Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangxi – accounted for more than 90,000 of the visitors to the Dali area over the holiday, the report said.

Yunnan banana joins Millennium Seed Bank
The Yunnan banana, aka Musa itinerans aka bajiao (芭蕉), has been added to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank at the Royal Botanical Gardens in the UK. The bajiao seeds were provided to the seed bank by the Kunming Institute of Botany.

The addition of bajiao seeds from Yunnan also marked the 10 percent mark for the seed bank, which now has seeds of 24,200 species in its possession, with a goal of ultimately collecting seeds of 242,000 species. The seed bank is aiming to mitigate the possibility of extinction for the world's flowering plants, 70 percent of which are under threat.

The bajiao plant, which exists in an area spanning from Yunnan into Southeast Asia and India, is threatened by the increased clearing of jungle for agriculture. Despite not being a major crop for human consumption, it can be used to breed disease-resistant hybrid banana varieties. It is also a staple for the endangered Asian elephant and other animals in the region.

The bajiao seeds have been dried and are now being stored at -20 degrees Celsius in a US$131 million facility, located in Sussex. The seed bank estimates that as many as one quarter of the world's flowering plant species may be on the brink of extinction by the middle of this century.

Construction on the rail line connecting Dali with Lijiang has been completed and will be running in time for the National Day holiday during the first week of October, according to a YunnanNet report. Construction on the rail line began in 2004.

The 164 kilometer rail line passes through some serious mountain country, with more than half of the trip made up of bridges or tunnels. Bridges account for 22 kilometers of the journey, with 78 kilometers passing through tunnels.

The Dali-Lijiang (大丽) line will begin at Dali East Station, traveling along the eastern shore of Erhai Lake with stops at Shangguan (上关), Xiyi (西邑) and Heqing (鹤庆) before arriving in Lijiang. At present, information about departure times and trip duration is unavailable.

Lijiang is one of China's most popular tourist destinations – in the first half of this year it was visited by 3.44 million tourists. The opening of a new rail connection with Dali and Kunming should translate to even more travelers visiting the city, which features attractions including its old town (a UNESCO World Heritage site), Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the nearby Tiger Leaping Gorge.

The extension of the Kunming-Dali rail line to Lijiang brings a proposed Kunming-Lhasa rail line one step closer to reality. The line will next be extended to Shangri-la and then to Lhasa.

The Kunming-Lhasa rail link would make Yunnan's capital the third provincial capital in western China with a direct rail link to Tibet after Xining in Qinghai and Chengdu in Sichuan, which will begin construction on a Chengdu-Lhasa rail line this month.

Pu'er tea starting to catch on in the West?
Roughly a year after the bottom dropped out of the out-of-control pu'er tea market, this specialty tea is starting to get more attention overseas, particularly in the West, where Silicon Valley's tea-obsessed techies are tweeting and blogging about its virtues while frighteningly skinny Victoria Beckham is touting its weight-loss properties.

Time has published an article in which it compares the city of Pu'er (previously known as Simao) in Yunnan to other places around the world whose names have become synonymous with foods or beverages such as France's Champagne, Mexico's Tequila and Italy's Parma. The big question is whether Western palates can learn to love pu'er's earthy bouquet – we're not betting on it.

Stone Forest tickets to increase to 260 yuan
It appears all but certain that tickets for Kunming's only UNESCO World Heritage site, the Stone Forest will rise in price from their current 200 yuan to 260 yuan (US$38). In recent hearings held by the Stone Forest Scenic District Management Bureau, 95 percent of representatives were in favor of the 30 percent price hike, according to local media reports.

At 260 yuan per person, Stone Forest tickets would be one of the most expensive tickets among China's World Heritage sites, more than Fujian's Wuyi Mountain (250 yuan), Yellow Mountain in Anhui, Sichuan's Jiuzhaigou (220 yuan) and Zhangjiajie in Hunan (245 yuan).

Kunming bus passengers ask for help with pickpockets
Kunming public bus system is a cheap, convenient way to get around the city, but city buses are also popular places for pickpockets to practice their trade. Kunming bus passengers have suggested to local bus operators that they broadcast short video clips about how to prevent becoming another theft statistic, according to a Kunming Information Hub report.

Passengers also shared their strategies for minimizing the risk of pickpockets, including:

• Keeping an eye on people who move after the bus starts moving
• Moving to less crowded parts of the bus, should they exist
• Staying aware of one's pockets and bag

According to the Kunming Public Security Bureau, pickpockets tend to operate between 9 and 11 am and 5 and 8 pm. Bus routes with the highest rates of pickpocket activity include 107, 26, 61, 90, 118, 2, 10, 161, 31, K1 and 84.

Railway officials have detained a man for stabbing two people to death and injuring another on the 2640 train from Kunming to Chengdu after a dispute over the man's alleged "loud humming", according to a Xinhua report.

The arrested man, who police said is surnamed Yan, allegedly got into an argument around 10:35 am on Saturday with three other male passengers, over Yan's loud humming while listening to his portable CD player.

The other passengers, surnamed Luo, Ren and Wu, dragged Yan down to the floor of their train car and began to beat him. Yan then pulled out a folding knife and retaliated, stabbing all three of his attackers.

Luo died onboard the train and Ren died afterward in a hospital. Wu is hospitalized in stable condition.

Employees aboard the train said they heard passengers scream that someone had been killed. By the time they had made it to the scene of the fight, it was allegedly already over.

Police are still investigating the case and have not said if Yan will be charged with any crimes.

China's second-largest dam project is back in the spotlight after a report published by the National Audit Office criticized the dam's developer for lack of oversight, overspending and poor allocation of funds, according to a China Daily report.

This is not the first time the Xiluodu Hydropower Station (溪洛渡电站), developed by the China Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, has come under government scrutiny. Xiluodu is located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River between Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, where the waters are known as the Jinsha River.

In 2005, China's State Environmental Protection Agency halted work on the Xiluodu project until the company – which had previously built the world's largest dam downstream at the Three Gorges – completed and submitted an environmental impact assessment.

On Monday, the National Audit Office's report accused the hydropower company of adding nearly US$250 million to the project's total cost by altering the dam's original design and finish work ahead of schedule. Company management has also been accused by auditors in Beijing of collecting 10 million yuan in illegal gains via a lack of control of the project's budget and bidding process.

"They have exaggerated the problems a little. We have explained to the auditors before that we have run the project according to a long-term plan," Hong Wenhao, construction director of the Xiluodu dam project, told China Daily.

Dam projects in southwest China such as Xiluodu have come under increasing criticism in recent years for reasons including environmental impact, displacement of local villagers and the potential link to increased seismic activity in the region.

The Xiluodu project, which began construction in November of 2007, is expected to begin accumulating water in 2013.

One year ago today at 2:35 in the afternoon, people in high buildings in Kunming couldn't help but notice that something wasn't right – the world had suddenly gone wobbly.

As with any noticeable tremor, the first thoughts of many turned to the epicenter – where in Yunnan was it? One year earlier the town of Pu'er had been hit hard by a 6.4 magnitude quake that killed several, injured hundreds and left thousands homeless.

Once the word began to spread that the epicenter was in Wenchuan, 90 kilometers (55 miles) west-northwest of Chengdu – one province away in Sichuan – the substantial magnitude of the quake started to become clear. The fact that the quake was centered in the heart of a province of 100 million people suggested a potentially massive death toll, which is exactly what happened.

A collective sigh of relief was breathed as it became clear that Chengdu and its 12 million inhabitants had for the most part dodged a bullet. But when government officials announced that the magnitude was 7.8 – a number which would later be revised to 8.0 – all thoughts turned to the certain devastation in the countryside.

The images and accounts of the aftermath of the Wenchuan quake are etched in millions of minds. The rush to save those still trapped beneath the rubble gave way to resignation and the stench of death. Small cities became ghost towns. Quake lakes remained as somber monuments to nature's destructive whims.

A three-day national mourning period was declared. Individuals, companies and corporations chipped in what they could for the relief effort. China rallied around its cousins in the southwest in a show of unity that hadn't been seen since the Yangtze floods of 1998.

In the end, nothing could change the hard facts. Nearly 90,000 people were dead or missing. Almost 400,000 had suffered injuries. Several million were homeless. Basic infrastructure was in shambles.

Now, one year on, it is a time for remembrance - and questions: How can the millions still living in temporary housing move on to a semblance of what they had before the quake? How can schoolchildren, who suffered disproportionately from the quake, be better protected should a quake hit the area again? What role, if any, did extensive damming in the region play? What can China and the rest of the world learn from a tragedy of this magnitude?

Editor's note: GoKunming's sister site in Chengdu, GoChengdoo has more details about news and events related to the still-ongoing quake recovery plus commemoration of the tragic events of one year ago.

Image: Julien Rideller, via GoChengdoo