Yunnan is a province in China's southwest, bordering Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.

Yunnan is a very mountainous province and holds large reserves of metals like Al, Pb, Cu and Zn. 

 

A local version of Homo Erectus, called Yuanmou Man, lived in the area as early as 1.7 million years ago.

 

The Dian people lived in the present day Kunming region and by the 6th century BC they had domesticated horses.

The Dian were skilled metal workers and left many bronze artifacts to testify their high level of craftsmanship.

The Dian Kingdom was a strong slave state and flourished until conquered by the Han Empire in the 2d century BC.

 

During the 19th century Panthay rebellion of the Hui and other local people, scores of them were killed. After taking back control the Manchu Qing rulers performed a rigorous and brutal ethnic cleansing.

 

Buddhist Lamas attacks on French Catholic missionaries sparked the Tibetan Rebellion in 1905, but the uprising was quickly and harshly crushed. 

 

The communist leaders in Beijing remain very wary of everything related to Tibet, including the parts of Yunnan that border the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

 

Yunnan's  tourist attractions are the capital Kunming, the karst stone forest Shilin, the old town of Lijiang with its Naxi culture and the Songzanlin Monastery in Shangri La.