Landlocked at the crossroads of China, Southeast Asia and South Asia, Kunming first gained international attention as the terminus of an ambitious French rail project connecting French Indochina with Yunnan.

Back then it might not have been difficult to imagine a pan-Asian rail network centered upon the city, but the turbulence of the 20th Century fragmented the continent, impeding the flow of people and goods across borders.

In recent decades relations among Asian countries have experienced a general thawing and once again, rail transport is bringing Kunming's crossroads status into international focus. But this time around it is high-speed rail rather than the locomotive that will drive Kunming's resurgence as a transport hub.

Within a decade, Kunming will be at the center of a high-speed rail network that extends westward across India and Pakistan to Iran, southward to Singapore on the South China Sea, eastward to Xiamen and Shanghai on the Chinese coast and northward to Chengdu – if Beijing has its way.

After India's decision last year to pull out of the plan to rebuild the Stilwell Road connecting northeast India with Kunming, it may be surprising to learn that Beijing and New Delhi are discussing a Chinese-built high-speed rail line crossing. The Hindu reports:


It appears that the long-planned rail network connecting Kunming with Singapore via cities in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia will also be a high-speed rail network, according to Chinese media.

Since beginning to develop its domestic high-speed rail network, China has begun to market its growing prowess in the industry to other countries. State-owned Chinese companies are already involved in projects in Venezuela and Turkey and Chinese companies plan on bidding for upcoming high-speed rail project tenders in the United States.

China recently announced its intention to build a high-speed rail link between Beijing and London. Chinese officials are predicting the completion of a China-built Eurasian high-speed rail network by as early as 2025.

On the domestic front, a new dedicated high-speed passenger line from Kunming to Shanghai is under construction and expected to be completed by 2015. The new route, which will run through provincial capitals Guiyang, Changsha, Nanchang and Hangzhou, will cut travel time from about 37 hours to around 10 hours.

Plans also exist to upgrade existing tracks between Kunming and Chengdu and build a new direct line to Chongqing that will deliver passengers from Kunming in about three hours instead of the current 19-plus hours.

Finally, construction commenced on a high-speed line from Kunming to Nanning last December. There has been some recent speculation that this line will eventually extend to Xiamen, and even Taiwan via tunnel.

China plans on having 42 high-speed rail lines by 2012, covering 13,000 kilometers, which would make it the world's largest rail network of its kind. The new lines will use China's homegrown high-speed rail system, which is a mix of foreign locomotive and carriage technology and domestically designed switching and control systems that is capable of speeds up to 350 km/hour (217 mph).

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.

Official: America's crisis = Kunming's opportunity
The Reston Hyatt Regency near Washington DC recently hosted the first large-scale job fair specifically targeting Americans for employment in China.

Where in its seven previous incarnations it had focused on recruiting Chinese students in North America to return home to work, this time around, the North America Chinese Scholars International Exchange Center (NAEC) China Career Fair was primarily aimed at connecting young Americans with jobs in China.

There was no shortage of job-hungry American university grads looking to meet with representatives from Chinese companies and local governments. In addition to first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, there were also representatives from provinces including Heilongjiang and Jilin, as well as Yunnan.

"America's crisis is our opportunity," a Kunming official at the job fair named Zeng Lingheng, told Singapore's Straits Times (link is to repost on The Malaysia Insider).

"Kunming is in the middle of upgrading and transforming its industries. We lack experts in many top positions who can take our industries and companies to the next level, to go international," Zeng said.

China International Travel Mart to return to Kunming
From November 19 through November 22, Kunming will once again host the China International Travel Mart, (CITM) China's largest travel industry exhibition. The annual convention is hosted by Kunming in odd years and Shanghai in even years.

In addition to representatives from companies and tourist bureaux around China and Yunnan, CITM is also host to travel agents and representatives from around the world, vying for their shares of the increasingly important China outbound travel market. This year's exhibition, CITM's 11th installment, will be held at the Kunming International Convention & Exhibition Center.

India's national government has decided not to go forward with plans to rebuild the Stilwell Road connecting northeast India's Assam State with Yunnan in China, according to a BBC report.

The decision follows a continuing impasse regarding the long-disputed border shared by China and India. Recent talks between the two countries ended with no resolution of border issues and a promise to talk more in the future.

The Stilwell Road is a former World War II supply route built in 1944 under the supervision of US General 'Vinegar' Joe Stilwell. The 1,700-kilometer (1,000-mile) road once connected Kunming with the city of Ledo in Assam state, with most of the road passing through northern Myanmar's Kachin state.

Several prominent officials in Assam state had been pressing for the reopening of the Stilwell Road in recent years, which they had viewed as being a potential source of economic growth which could stabilize India's occasionally restive northeast.

In 2006, more than 10,000 demonstrators demanded that the government reopen the road. Some analysts have estimated that as much as one-fifth of bilateral trade between China and India could pass through a revived Stilwell Road.

In addition to New Delhi's reluctance to reopen the Stilwell Road, the government of Myanmar has been cool to the idea of an international highway passing through Kachin state, much of which is controlled by the Kachin Independence Army, which has had a ceasefire with Myanmar's ruling junta since 1994.

The Chinese portion of the road, which heads westward from Kunming, has been completed for several years. Progress in Myanmar, where more than half of the road is located, has been slow. In 2007, India became the last of the three countries to start work on the road.

The Indian government's reversal of its decision to rebuild the Stilwell Road suggests that despite recent diplomatic breakthroughs between the two Asian powers, there are concerns bubbling beneath the surface. These concerns are likely to include Indian worries about China diverting the Brahmaputra River, Chinese involvement in the arms trade around Assam and China's stance toward Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing calls 'South Tibet'.

Nazeeb Arif, a native of Assam state and former secretary-general of the Indian Chamber of Commerce who is a major proponent of rebuilding the Stilwell Road, told the BBC that trade with China would be a boon to the region's economy, which lags behind much of the rest of the country:


Although New Delhi's unwillingness to rebuild its portion of the Stilwell Road is a major setback to pan-Asian transport integration, China will likely continue to increase its connectivity with the rest of South Asia, especially Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Earlier this week, the Nepalese government recently approved the launch of direct flights between Kathmandu and Kunming. The thrice-weekly flights will be plied by China Eastern Airlines and will make Kunming the third mainland city after Beijing and Guangzhou to have direct air links with the Nepalese capital.

Hong Kong action director John Woo (吴宇森) has signed on to direct a China-Hollywood joint production about the Flying Tigers, according to a Dushi Shibao report.

The movie, which will begin filming this year, is expected to cost US$100 million, which will make it the most expensive Chinese film made to date, the report said.

A signing ceremony for the film, called "Flying Tiger Heroes" (飞虎群英) in Chinese, was held in Beijing on July 3, with Lion Rock Productions, Fengde Dadi Culture and Media Co Ltd and the Propaganda Bureau of the Standing Committee of the Yunnan provincial government all inking a cooperation agreement for the film.

Woo, director of popular action movies in Hong Kong such as "Hard Boiled" and Hollywood films including "Mission: Impossible 2", said the movie will feature the most spectacular aerial battle scenes ever seen in Chinese cinema. He added that the movie would highlight the spirit of Yunnan culture as well as Chinese heroes from World War II and the US-China friendship that led to the founding of the Flying Tigers.

Woo will have his hands full presenting an accurate account of the Flying Tigers, whose history is often misrepresented or misunderstood in both China and the US. Officially known as the American Volunteer Group, the Yunnan-based Flying Tigers flew missions against Japanese bombers and fighters from December 1941 to July 1942 in southern China and Myanmar, then known as Burma.

"This is an extremely important production," Woo said at the signing ceremony. "Currently, basic preparations for shooting work have already been made and in a month we'll confirm the script. This Yunnan-themed film emphasizes China-US friendship and the contributions of the Flying Tigers and the people of Yunnan during the War of Resistance."

China should push forward the building of a third Eurasian land bridge connecting Shenzhen and Rotterdam, Yunnan Governor Qin Guangrong told the China Daily yesterday.

The 15,000 kilometer proposed transport corridor would pass through 17 countries – in China it would pass through Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan before entering Myanmar and passing through Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey before continuing into Europe.

Qin said the rail and road network would stimulate trade and by providing an alternate route to Europe would also promote China's energy and economic security.

Qin was in Beijing with other Yunnan officials for meetings with the central government to discuss a proposal to help Myanmar build more than 300 kilometers of road and rail to link Yunnan's rail network with South Asia's highway network.

If built, the proposed land bridge would join the two existing transport routes across the Eurasian continent - one spanning 13,000 kilometers from Rotterdam to eastern Russia and the other covering 10,900 kilometers connecting Rotterdam with Lianyungang in eastern China's Jiangsu province.

Qin said that a branch line for the third land bridge extending from Turkey through Syria and Palestine into Egypt would also facilitate the transport of goods manufactured in Guangdong's Pearl River Delta to African markets by cutting 6,000 kilometers off of the Guangdong-Egypt sea journey.

Scholars first raised the idea of a third land bridge two years ago, but no progress has been made - despite only needing to add approximately 1,000 kilometers of new highways and railways to existing transport infrastructure.

The proposed land bridge's main obstacles are disinterested national governments and cumbersome border crossing procedures, analysts said.

Image: China Daily

Since the nineties Yunnan has been an increasingly popular destination for Chinese and foreign backpackers, during which time cities such as Lijiang, Dali and Zhongdian (now Shangri-la) have changed from rustic old towns into increasingly commercialized areas of dubious authenticity and diminishing charm.

It appears likely that this trend is only going to accelerate – this week it was announced that Lijiang will start to strictly enforce its 80 yuan (US$11.70) entry fee for its old town area, while Dali's government announced that the third-largest amusement park in mainland China will be built in the Erhai Lake valley.

"Welcome to Lijiang… pay up!"
Lijiang's Old Town Management Bureau recently announced to media that it will create a virtual wall of checkpoints around the old town to enforce the 80 yuan entry fee – an unpopular fee whose enforcement has become increasingly lax in recent years.

According to government statistics, poor enforcement of the old town entry fee has led to a loss of nearly 100 million yuan in revenue. Last year Lijiang took a total of 180.6 million yuan in old town entry fees, with 140 million yuan of those fees coming from tour groups and 20 million yuan from hotels.

Rigorous enforcement of the relatively high entry fee for the old town is unlikely to hurt agencies managing tour groups but could prove damaging to guesthouses and restaurants that rely more on independent travelers.

Dali to build southwest China's largest amusement park
On Saturday, the Dali Tourism Holiday District Management Committee signed an agreement with Shenzhen-based Jianianhua Investment Company Limited in which the latter will invest 600 to 800 million yuan in a 15 hectare amusement park that will be the largest in southwest China and the third-biggest in China after parks in Beijing and Shanghai.

The amusement park, which is expected to launch operations in two years, will have all the rides and features of Jianianhua's Shijing Shan amusement park in Beijing. Dali is one of three possible candidates in Yunnan for selection as a World Heritage Site later this year.

The Kunming government is opening its doors to 40 economists from around China and the globe with the hope of finding candidates who can help build the city into a trade, transport, finance and culture hub, according to a kunming.cn report.

Taking a cue from the municipal governments of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou – all of which have recently hired staff from overseas – Kunming is in search of candidates with doctorate degrees in economics to work in positions such as deputy county chief, assistants to directors of development zones and deputy directors of selected municipal departments, the report said.

Candidates should be under the age of 40 and preferably have a background in urban planning, international trade or finance. Although Chinese media is promoting this as a global talent search, one of the conditions for applicants is that they hold Chinese citizenship.

Successful applicants will work a trial period of one to two years before being assigned their posts.

The invitation to economists from beyond China's borders suggests that the city government is in need of fresh perspectives and ideas as it attempts to build Kunming into China's gateway to Southeast Asia and India.

Interested candidates must apply before May 20, interested parties can receive application forms by emailing gkzp@km.gov.cn.