The end of the year is a special time in which editors and writers around the world recycle content from the previous twelve months and repackage it as new content. We at GoKunming are not above this practice, so here's our look at the people and events that shaped 2008 in Kunming and Yunnan.

January
The year began with the Yunnan government shelving its plans to dam Tiger Leaping Gorge, while not necessarily sparing the Jinsha River – the headwaters of the Yangtze – from several new hydropower projects. Kunming banned the use of car horns and the city seemed to be getting a little less horn-heavy for about two weeks. A few days later the city – which is adding an average of 560 automobiles per day to its streets – issued its 900,000th license plate.

Pretty much all of southern China except for Kunming was at the mercy of a winter storm that paralyzed domestic travel and left thousands of travelers stranded in Kunming. Shangri-la (Zhongdian) was hit by heavy snowfalls that destroyed much of the area's livestock and crops plus telecommunications and power networks.

February
Yunnan was hit by a rash of sulfuric acid spills in late January and mid-February with more than 70 tons of the toxic chemical spilling near rivers and most likely entering local water supplies.

Kunming Municipal Party Secretary Qiu He was making waves a few months into his new post, ordering local newspapers to publish the names, titles, responsibilities and phone numbers of local officials in early February and firing a Chenggong investment official who fell asleep during a meeting.

Hong Kong director Stanley Tong signed an agreement with Dianchi National Tourist Resort to build a 3 billion yuan (US$418 million) television and film base that would become 'China's Hollywood'.

Yunnan's first international highway opened, connecting it with Vietnam's Lao Cai province.

March
Construction of the 'turtleback' flyover at Xiao Ximen commenced, throwing Kunming traffic into chaos. Work on the flyover – which is mockingly referred to as 'the newly added slope' (新加坡), or 'Singapore' in Chinese - was finished four months later.

Tens of thousands of bottles of counterfeit beer were found in Kunming's Majie area. The beers are expected to be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the amount of fake booze being sold around the city.

China played Australia's Socceroos in a World Cup qualifying match in Kunming that ended in a 0:0 draw. The match looked like a sure victory for China when it was awarded a late penalty kick, only for kicker Shao Jiayi to kick a slow roller into Oz goalie Mark Schwarzer's waiting hands. Team China went on to fail to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

April
The old standby F visa option disappeared for foreigners living in China as visa restrictions tightened in the runup to the Beijing Olympics, while protestors vented nationalist anger at Kunming's Carrefour outlets.

May
The International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences World Congress, originally scheduled to be held in Kunming in July, was canceled - apparently due to Olympic-related security concerns.

On May 12, an earthquake measuring 8.0 in magnitude centered in Wenchuan devastated much of Sichuan province and killed at least 69,000 people. Yunnan did what it could to help its neighbor to the north by treating victims from the disaster zone, taking children into its schools and raising money for the relief effort.

The Yunnan white-handed gibbon was declared extinct.

June
Free plastic bags at retail outlets were banned in China.

The Olympic torch passed through Kunming. The torch was originally scheduled to pass through areas including Beijing Lu, Wenlin Jie and Yuantong Jie, but its route was altered at the last minute, keeping it out of the view of most Kunming residents. The torch continued through Yunnan to the cities of Lijiang and Shangri-la before heading to earthquake-battered Sichuan.

The third hydropower station on the Lancang River – as the upper reaches of the Mekong River in Yunnan are known – went online.

July
Yunnan announced a total ban on the production, sale and use of plastic bags across the province, beginning on January 1, 2009.

Jackie Chan announced that he would open a 'Jackie Chan Peace Garden' outside Kunming in the city of Anning. Meanwhile, Kunming was in the middle of planting 800,000 trees throughout the city.

Two people were killed and 14 injured in double bus bombings that took place on public buses on Renmin Xi Lu. A militant Islamic group took credit for the bombings, a claim which was refuted by local police. The bombings were not declared solved until the suspected bomber blew himself up while trying to plant a bomb in Salvador's Coffee House almost half a year later.

August
After an unprecedented buildup, China hosted the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and several other cities, winning 51 gold medals, more than second-place US (36) and third-place Russian Federation (23).

Kunming unveiled its 12-year development plan, detailing how the city intends to handle a major influx in residents and an increasingly important role in regional trade and transport.

September
It was announced that Yangzonghai Lake, one of the largest lakes in Yunnan, was suffering from heavy arsenic pollution, with the bulk of the blame placed upon Yunnan Chengjiang Jinye Industrial and Trade Company, which allegedly found it easier to pay the relatively low fines for not treating wastewater than to purchase and install the equipment necessary for cleaning wastewater. Shortly afterward, Yunnan established a special court for handling crimes against the environment.

October
A government study of HIV/AIDS infections in Yunnan revealed that that women and gay men had emerged as the fastest-growing demographics for new infections, replacing intravenous drug users. It was also noted that new infections were moving away from ethnic minorities in rural areas to Han Chinese in urban centers throughout the province.

A group of fossilized crustaceans from 525 million years ago found near Chengjiang were said to display the first example of collective behavior among animals.

Citing difficulties with the local business environment, Hong Kong-listed property giant Shui On Land pulled out of its Yunnan development projects.

November
Starbucks announced that it would market Yunnan coffee via its hundreds of mainland outlets.

Kunming Airlines announced that it would launch operations in January 2009, the first step in its quest to become a dominant regional airline.

A delegation of Yunnan officials and businesspeople visiting India asked the Indian government to establish a consulate in Kunming to facilitate the visa application process for Yunnan residents wishing to take advantage of the direct flights between Kunming and the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.

The famed Shaolin Temple announced that it would take over management of four Kunming temples for 20 years, during which time it would receive all of the temples' revenue. Shaolin Temple's abbot was accused of being a 'CEO monk'.

December
A man stabbed three women and took a nurse hostage at the Carrefour on Longquan Lu, before being lured to a door where some rice noodles had been placed for him and getting shot in the head by a police sniper, ending the five-hour standoff.

Ground was broken on the 'South Asian Gate', a 72-story, 316-meter tall building that will be completed in four to five years and will be the tallest man-made structure in Yunnan province. It is expected to serve as a hub for business between China, Southeast Asia and South Asia.

A bomb exploded in popular foreign-owned cafe and restaurant Salvador's Coffee House, killing the man who was wearing a backpack with an ammonium nitrate bomb in it near the rear bathroom. Nobody else was hurt. Police concluded that the man, 30-year-old Li Yan of Xuanwei, had also been behind the unsolved bombing of two buses in Kunming in July.

Direct flights opened between Kunming and Taipei.

The GoKunming team thanks everyone who visited the site in 2008 and wishes all of its readers a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009.

First came the great winter storm of 2008, then the devastating Wenchuan earthquake, whose official death toll now stands at nearly 70,000. Now China is coping with its third major natural disaster of the year as heavy rains and floods batter the country's south.

Continuing heavy rains in Yunnan and across southern China since June 6 have led to 57 deaths and 1.27 million people fleeing their homes, with more rain expected throughout the region over the coming days. According to Xinhua reports more than 17 million people have been affected by the flooding with more than 10.6 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) in damage incurred so far.

The rains have led to the swelling of rivers in China's south, with key manufacturing province Guangdong experiencing its worst flooding in 50 years. On Monday, Guangdong's provincial flood control bureau ordered local governments in Guangzhou and eight other cities to reinforce river embankments and make evacuation preparations.

Although damage in Yunnan has been relatively light compared to Guangdong and other lower-lying areas including Jiangxi, Guizhou and Hunan provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, rains here are a major concern as many of the flooding rivers – including Guangdong's Pearl River – have their headwaters in Yunnan.

China's National Meteorological Center is forecasting more rains in southern parts of the country - including Yunnan - over the next few days.

Image: Xinhua

Tuesday more than 20,000 travelers finally left the Kunming train station after spending hours and some even days waiting for their trains to leave for other cities in China, according to Kunming media reports. The travelers had begun to accumulate at the train station over the 27th and 28th as dozens of train lines were delayed by the winter storm that has battered central and southern China.

The Kunming Ministry of Railways has decided to restart selling tickets today for seats on train K472 leaving for Beijing West Station tomorrow.

The ministry announced that it has also decided to temporarily stop ticket sales for trains leaving Kunming on February 3 for Beijing (Train T62), Beijing West Station (K472), Shanghai (K80 and K182), Shanghai South Station (L496), Wuchang (K110), Nanjing West Station (K156), Zhengzhou (K338), Chongqing (K160 and K168) and Neijiang (L748).

Queries about train ticket sales, delays and cancellations can be directed to a special hotline recently set up to deal with the havoc caused by the winter storm: (0871) 6122122.

Image: railcn.net

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

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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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.