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127-481: Most teas, although described as fermented, are actually oxidised by enzymes present in the tea plant. Pu'er is instead fermented microbially by molds, bacteria and yeasts present on the harvested leaves of the tea plant, and thus is truly fermented. There are two main styles of pu'er production: a traditional, longer production process known as shēng ( raw ) pu'er; and a modern, accelerated production process known as shóu ( ripe ) pu'er. Pu'er traditionally begins with

254-677: A treaty port opening to foreign trade in 1908 and became a commercial center soon after. A university was set up in 1922. In the 1930s the first highways connected to Kunming were built, linking Kunming with Chongqing in Sichuan and Guiyang in Guizhou to the east. The local warlord General Tang Jiyao established the Wujiaba Aerodrome in 1922; an additional 23 airports would be established in Yunnan from 1922 to 1929. Kunming

381-415: A " nèi fēi " ( 内 飞 ) or additional adornments, such as colored ribbons, are placed on or in the midst of the leaves and inverted into a cloth bag or wrapped in cloth. The pouch of tea is gathered inside the cloth bag and wrung into a ball, with the extra cloth tied or coiled around itself. This coil or knot is what produces the dimpled indentation at the reverse side of a tea cake when pressed. Depending on

508-497: A canal. The river receives sewage and wastewater from surrounding pipes. The center is an area of importance to Kunming's Hui population, with Shuncheng Street, one of the last old streets in the center of the city, previously forming a Muslim quarter. Until shortly before 2005, this street was full of wind-dried beef and mutton carcasses, pitta bread and raisin sellers, and huge woks of roasting coffee beans being stirred with shovels. Under Kunming's rapid modernisation, however,

635-633: A decade. Wet pile fermented pu'er has higher levels of caffeine and much higher levels of gallic acid than traditionally aged raw pu'er; traditionally aged pu'er has higher levels of the antioxidant and carcinogen-trapping epigallocatechin gallate as well as (+)- catechin , (–)-epicatechin , (–)- epigallocatechin , gallocatechin gallate , and epicatechin gallate than wet pile fermented pu'er. Wet pile fermented pu'er has much lower total levels for all catechins than traditional pu'er and other teas except for black tea , which also has low total catechins. Aside from vintage year, pu'er tea can be classified in

762-515: A dried tea that would be classified today as green tea and quite similar to modern Japanese sencha . For consumption, dried tea leaves were either decocted with water and other herbs, or ground into a powder to be taken straight, or suspended in a liquid in the manner of matcha . With the increase of tea's use in Chinese herbology, production methods changed, where the processed green tea leaves were not immediately dried after steaming. Rather

889-697: A green space rate of 21.7 percent. The city's smoke control area is 115 square kilometres (44 square miles) and noise control area 87 square kilometres (34 square miles). Kunming is a significant horticultural center in China, providing products such as grain, wheat, horsebeans, corn, potato and fruit such as peaches, apples, oranges, grapes and chestnuts. Kunming is world-famous for its flowers and flower-growing exports. More than 400 types of flowers are commonly grown in Kunming. The camellia , Yulan magnolia , azalea , fairy primrose , lily and orchid are known as

1016-548: A group of mountains in Xishuangbanna , Yunnan, renowned for their climates and environments, which not only provide excellent growing conditions for pu'er, but also produce unique taste profiles (akin to terroir in wine ) in the produced pu'er tea. Over the course of history, the designated mountains for the tea mountains have either been changed or listed differently. In the Qing dynasty government records for Pu'er (普洱府志),

1143-401: A long history among ethnic groups in southwest China. These crude teas were of various origins and were meant to be low cost. The Bulang and Dai people of Yunnan Province have produced pu'er tea at Jingmai Mountain since at least the 10th century. Traditionally, the tea trees would be planted in the forest understory after some larger trees were removed. On the border of these old tea forests,

1270-457: A partition forest would be planted to protect against the spread of pests and diseases, with cultivated land for crops and vegetables at lower altitudes. Darkened tea, or hēichá , is still the major beverage for the ethnic groups in the southwestern borders and, until the early 1990s, was the third major tea category produced by China mainly for this market segment. Because of the cultural significance of pu'er tea, its unique cultivation process, and

1397-511: A potentially harmful effect through consumption of pu'er tea. This notion has recently been refuted through a systematic chromosome analysis of the species attributed to many East Asian fermentations, including those that involve pu'er, where the authors have reclassified the organisms involved as Aspergillus luchuensis . It is apparent that this species does not have the gene sequence for coding ochratoxin and thus pu'er tea should be considered safe for human consumption. "Ripened" Shu Cha (熟茶) tea

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1524-588: A rather different chemical makeup of the resulting brewed liquor. The fermented dark tea, hēichá (黑茶), is one of the six classes of tea in China, and pǔ'ěr is classified as a dark tea (defined as fermented), something which is resented by some who argue for a separate category for pǔ'ěr tea. As of 2008, only the large-leaf variety from Yunnan can be called a pǔ'ěr . Pu'er is typically made through two steps. First, all leaves must be roughly processed into maocha to stop oxidation. From there it may be further processed by fermentation, or directly packaged. Summarising

1651-573: A raw product called "rough" ( máo ) chá (毛茶, lit. fuzzy/furry tea) and can be sold in this form or pressed into a number of shapes and sold as " shēng chá (生茶, lit. raw tea). Both of these forms then undergo the complex process of gradual fermentation and maturation with time. The wòduī (渥堆) fermentation process developed in 1973 by the Kunming Tea Factory created a new type of pu'er tea. This process involves an accelerated fermentation into shóu (or shú ) chá (熟茶, lit. ripe tea) that

1778-581: A role it fulfills to this day. When the city of Nanning fell to the Japanese during the Battle of South Guangxi , China's sea-access was cut off. However, the Chinese victory at the Battle of Kunlun Pass kept the Burma Road open. When the Japanese began occupying French Indochina in 1940, the Burma Road that linked Kunming and the outside-world with unoccupied China grew increasingly vital as much of

1905-422: A source of confusion. Only tea such as pu'er, that has undergone microbial processing, can correctly be called a fermented tea. Pu'er undergoes what is known as a solid-state fermentation where water activity is low to negligible. Both endo-oxidation (enzymes derived from the tea-leaves themselves) and exo-oxidation (microbial catalysed) of tea polyphenols occurs. The microbes are also responsible for metabolising

2032-413: A subcategory of black tea due to the dark red color of its leaves and liquor. However, pǔ'ěr in both its ripened and aged forms has undergone secondary oxidization and fermentation caused both by organisms growing in the tea and free-radical oxidation, thus making it a unique type of tea. This divergence in production style not only makes the flavor and texture of pu'er tea different but also results in

2159-595: A tea is wild is a challenging task, made more difficult through the inconsistent and unclear terminology and labeling in Chinese. Terms like yěshēng ( 野 生 ; literally "wild" or "uncultivated"), qiáomù ( 乔 木 ; literally "tall tree"), yěshēng qiáomù ( 野 生 乔 木 ; literally "uncultivated trees"), and gǔshù are found on the labels of cakes of both wild and "wild arbor" variety, and on blended cakes, which contain leaves from tea plants of various cultivations. These inconsistent and often misleading labels can easily confuse uninitiated tea buyers regardless of their grasp of

2286-471: A total area of 21,600 square kilometres (8,340 square miles). Its widest stretch from the east to the west amounts to 140 kilometres (87 miles) and its largest expansion from the north to the south amounts to 220 kilometres (137 miles). Situated in a fertile lake basin on the northern shore of the Lake Dian and surrounded by mountains to the north, west, and east, Kunming has always played a pivotal role in

2413-527: A variety of ways: by shape, processing method, region, cultivation, grade, and season. Pu'er is compressed into a variety of shapes. Other lesser seen forms include: stacked "melon pagodas ", pillars , calabashes , yuanbao , and small tea bricks (2–5 cm in width). Pu'er is also compressed into the hollow centers of bamboo stems or packed and bound into a ball inside the peel of various citrus fruits ( Xiaoqinggan ) or sold as nuggets ( Suiyinzi 碎银子 or fossilized tea 茶化石) or bundles made from tea at

2540-548: Is 5,542,314, accounting for 86.16%; the population of all ethnic minorities add up to 889,898, accounting for 13.84%. Some of the 26 nationalities in the province live in Kunming, and the average life expectancy of the city's population is 76 years old. The city center has three major squares and six major streets: Jinma Biji Square, Nanping Square and Dongfeng Square are the main squares, while Nanping Street, Zhengyi Road, Renmin Road, Dongfeng Road, Jinbi Road, and Qingnian Road are

2667-475: Is a microbially fermented tea obtained through the action of molds, bacteria and yeasts on the harvested leaves of the tea plant. It is thus truly a fermented tea, whereas teas known in the west as black teas (known in China as Red teas) have only undergone large-scale oxidation through naturally occurring tea plant enzymes. Mislabelling the oxidation process as fermentation and thus naming black teas, such as Assam, Darjeeling or Keemun, as fermented teas has long been

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2794-694: Is also home to the Golden Temple , China's largest bronze temple dating from the Ming dynasty. Kunming is a major economic center in Western China. The city's economic importance derives from its geographical position, as it shares a border with various Southeast Asian countries, serving them as a transportation hub in Southwest China, linking by rail to Vietnam and Laos , and by road to Myanmar and Thailand . This positioning also makes

2921-837: Is at the northern edge of Dian Lake , surrounded by temples and lakes and karst topography . Kunming consists of an old, previously walled city, a modern commercial district, residential zones, and university areas. The city is also one of the major centers for scientific research and education in Southwestern China . As of 2024, it was listed among the top 100 cities in the world by scientific research output . The city has an astronomical observatory , and its institutions of higher learning include Yunnan University , Kunming University of Science and Technology , Yunnan University of Finance and Economics , Kunming Medical University , Yunnan Normal University , Yunnan Agricultural University and Southwest Forestry University . Kunming

3048-553: Is covered with blossoms and lush vegetation all-year round. The period from May to October is the monsoon season and the rest of the year is dry. The city has an annual mean temperature of 15.52 °C (59.9 °F), rainfall of 979 millimetres (38.5 in) (nearly three-fifths occurring from June to August) and a frost-free period of 230 days. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 30% in July to 69% in February and March,

3175-518: Is determined by the type of cultivar of the tea bush, the quality of the plucked tea leaves, and the manner and quality of the production processing they undergo. After processing, a tea may be blended with other teas or mixed with flavourants to alter the flavor of the final tea. When producing black, pu'erh and oolong teas there is an additional purpose of processing: to encourage oxidization, which further develops flavour and aroma compounds. The history of tea processing corresponds intimately with

3302-423: Is dried with hot air after the pan-frying stage to completely kill enzyme activity, leaves used in the production of pu'er are not air-dried after pan-roasting, which leaves a small amount of enzymes which contribute a minor amount of oxidation to the leaves during sun-drying. The bruising of the tea is also important in helping this minimal oxidation to occur, and both of these steps are significant in contributing to

3429-403: Is key in producing ripened pu'er of high quality. Poor control in fermentation/oxidation process can result in bad ripened pu'er, characterized by badly decomposed leaves and an aroma and texture reminiscent of compost . The ripening process typically takes between 45 and 60 days on average. The wò duī process was first developed in 1973 by Menghai Tea Factory and Kunming Tea Factory to imitate

3556-689: Is known as the "City of Eternal Spring". The weather has seldom reached high temperatures in summer, only exceeding 30 °C (86 °F) on a handful of occasions. However, freak snowfalls occur in occasional winters. Controlled by a subtropical highland climate ( Köppen Cwb ), the monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 8.9 °C (48.0 °F) in January to 20.3 °C (68.5 °F) in June, with daily high temperatures reaching their lowest point and peak in December and May, respectively. The city

3683-541: Is made with small green tangerines stuffed with tea. Flower-infused pu'er is made in the form of tea balls (龙珠) or tea cakes. Pu'er is produced in almost every county and prefecture in the province. Proper pu'er is sometimes considered to be limited to that produced in Pu'er City . The best known pu'er areas are the Six Great Tea Mountains ( Chinese : 六 大 茶 山 ; pinyin : liù dà chá shān ),

3810-456: Is often at the mercy of the middlemen or vendor. Many pu'er aficionados seek out and maintain relationships with vendors who they feel they can trust to help mitigate the issue of finding the "truth" of the leaves. Even in the best of circumstances, when a journal, factory information, and trustworthy vendor all align to assure a tea's genuinely wild leaf, fakes teas are common and make the issue even more complicated. Because collectors often doubt

3937-419: Is often distinguished by its floral (花香), grassy (草香), fresh (清香), herbal (药香), fruity (水果), or honey (蜜香) aroma. Some pu'er are flavour-infused. Sticky rice pu'er ( nuomixiang , 糯米香) is infused with leaves of Strobilanthes tonkinensis , native to Mengla , which gives it a young rice flavour. Bamboo-roasted pu'er is encased in bamboo tubes and undergoes a smoking process. Tangerine pu'er ( xiaoqinggan , 小青柑)

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4064-459: Is only one factor in assessing a pu'er tea, and pu'er from any region of Yunnan can be as prized as any from the Six Great Tea Mountains if it meets other criteria, such as being wild growth, hand-processed tea. While Yunnan produces the majority of pu'er, other regions of China, including Hunan and Guangdong , have also produced the tea. The Guangyun Gong cake, for example, although the early productions were composed of pure Yunnan máochá , after

4191-413: Is optional to wilt/wither the leaves after picking and it depends on the tea processor, as drying occurs at various stages of processing. If so, the leaves would be spread out in the sun, weather permitting, or a ventilated space to wilt and remove some of the water content. On overcast or rainy days, the leaves will be wilted by light heating, a slight difference in processing that will affect the quality of

4318-508: Is part of the larger karst-based landscape of the area. Located at an elevation of 1,890 metres (6,200 feet) on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau with low latitude and high elevation, Kunming has one of the mildest climates in China, characterized by short, cool dry winters with mild days and crisp nights, and long, balmy and humid summers. With its perpetual spring-like weather which provides the ideal climate for plants and flowers, Kunming

4445-478: Is pressed maocha that has been specially processed to imitate aged "raw" Sheng Cha tea. Although it is also known in English as cooked pu'er, the process does not actually employ cooking to imitate the aging process. The term may be due to inaccurate translation, as shóu (熟) means both "fully cooked" and "fully ripened". The process used to convert máochá into ripened pu'er manipulates conditions to approximate

4572-484: Is similar to green tea. Two subtle differences worth noting are that pǔ'ěr is not produced from the small-leaf Chinese varietal but the broad-leaf varietal mostly found in the southern Chinese provinces and India. The second is that pǔ'ěr leaves are picked as one bud and 3-4 leaves whilst green tea is picked as one bud and 1-2 leaves. This means that older leaves contribute to the qualities of pǔ'ěr tea. Ripened or aged raw pǔ'ěr has occasionally been mistakenly categorized as

4699-496: Is situated in the middle of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau . Kunming is the fourth most populous city in Western China , after Chongqing , Chengdu , and Xi'an , and the third most populous city in Southwestern China after Chongqing and Chengdu. As of the 2020 census, Kunming had a total population of 8,460,088 inhabitants, of whom 5,604,310 lived in its built-up (or metro) area made of all urban districts except Jinning . It

4826-409: Is somewhat similar to composting , albeit tightly controlled, and still used in the production of Liu'an tea (安徽六安籃茶) and was more recently introduced for the production of the ripe type Pu-erh tea . The production of tea in brick forms and their storage also resulted in another type of post-fermented tea, which was produced by aging. The long transport and storage times of the day unwittingly allowed

4953-707: Is the joint of the Xiao River and the Jinsha River in Dongchuan District , with an elevation of 695 metres (2,280 feet). Its downtown area is 1,891 metres (6,204 feet) above sea level . About 96 km (60 mi) southeast of the city centre is the Stone Forest in Shilin County , a karst formation developed as a tourist attraction consisting of rock caves, arches, and pavilions. It

5080-569: Is the large leaf type of Chinese tea found in the mountains of southern and western Yunnan (in contrast to the small leaf type of tea used for typical green, oolong, black, and yellow teas found in the other parts of China). Máochá can be sold directly to market as loose leaf tea, compressed to produce "raw" shēngchá , naturally aged and matured for several years before being compressed to also produce "raw" shēngchá or undergo wòduī ripening for several months prior to being compressed to produce "ripe" shóuchá . While unaged and unprocessed, Máochá pǔ'ěr

5207-412: Is the method in which the leaves from the tea plant Camellia sinensis are transformed into the dried leaves for brewing tea . The categories of tea are distinguished by the processing they undergo. In its most general form, tea processing involves different manners and degrees of oxidation of the leaves, stopping the oxidation, forming the tea and drying it. The innate flavor of the dried tea leaves

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5334-481: Is then pressed into numerous shapes and sold as a more matured "raw" Sheng Cha. To produce pu'er, many additional steps are needed prior to the actual pressing of the tea. First, a specific quantity of dry máochá or ripened tea leaves pertaining to the final weight of the bingcha is weighed out. The dry tea is then lightly steamed in perforated cans to soften and make it more tacky. This will allow it to hold together and not crumble during compression. A ticket, called

5461-491: Is then stored loose or pressed into various shapes. The fermentation process was adopted at the Menghai Tea Factory shortly after and technically developed there. The legitimacy of shóu chá is disputed by some traditionalists when compared to the traditionally longer-aged teas, such as shēng chá. Pu’er can be stored and permitted to age and to mature, like wine, in non-airtight containers before consumption. This

5588-573: Is why it has long been standard practice to label all types of pu’er with the year and region of production. Pu'er is the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 普洱 . Pu-erh is a variant of the Wade-Giles romanization (properly p‘u-êrh ) of the same name. In Hong Kong, the same Chinese characters are read as Bo-lei, and this is therefore a common alternative English term for this tea. The tea got its name from

5715-472: The 1999 World Horticultural Exposition . It was primarily during 1997 and 1998 that much of the city's roads, bridges and high rises were built. The World Horticultural Expo was widely regarded as a public relations success for Kunming. Today the after-effects of the Expo are apparent in more than just the physical improvements to the city—it was the Expo that made the outside world take notice of Kunming, which

5842-529: The ASEAN Regional Forum , China, Bangladesh and Myanmar (Burma) agreed to construct a highway from Kunming to Chittagong through Mandalay for trade and development. On 1 March 2014, 29 people were killed, and more than 130 were injured at Kunming Railway Station in a terrorist attack . Kunming is located in east-central Yunnan province. It is located between north latitude 24°23' and 26°22' N, and east longitude 102°10' and 103°40' E, with

5969-533: The Battle of Chongqing and Chengdu , Kunming was not out of the reach of Japanese air raids, and faced attacks by IJAAF and IJNAF bombers; military assets and infrastructure were under regular attack, while the RoCAF 18th Fighter Squadron and units of the Air Force Academy at Wujiaba were tasked with aerial defense of Kunming. The city of Kunming was prepared as an alternate National Redoubt in case

6096-563: The Chinese language . As well, the lack of specific information about tea leaf sources in the printed wrappers and identifiers that come with the pu'er cake makes identification of the tea a difficult task. Pu'er journals and similar annual guides such as The Profound World of Chi Tse , Pu-erh Yearbook , and Pu-erh Teapot Magazine contain credible sources for leaf information. Tea factories are generally honest about their leaf sources, but someone without access to tea factory or other information

6223-624: The Lake Dian area later. "Kunming" has acted as a place name since the Three Kingdoms period, but the reference was not clear because this ethnicity occupied a large region. In the Yuan dynasty , the central government set up "Kunming County" in modern Kunming; the name "Kunming" has continued to this day. A 2009 research paper proposes that the name "Kunming" of Kunming Yi is a cognate word of " Khmer " and " Khmu " that originally meant "people". Kunming long profited from its position on

6350-635: The Song dynasty document Treatise on Tea , where the delicate buds used for producing white tea, the difficulty in producing it, its taste, and its rarity were lauded. The production method of white tea was described by Ming dynasty author Tian Yiheng (田艺蘅) in "Zhuquan Xiaopin" (煮泉小品) (produced in the 33rd year of the Jiajing Emperor ) regarding Fuding white tea (福鼎白茶). In this work, he stated that tea buds that have undergone fixation by panning over flames (as with green tea) are second to white tea that

6477-560: The West Pagoda is along a narrow lane on the right. In the tiny surrounding courtyard, sociable idlers while away sunny afternoons playing cards and sipping tea in the peaceful, ramshackle surroundings. The East Pagoda is a more cosmetic, slightly tilted duplicate standing in an ornamental garden a few minutes' walk east on Shulin Jie. The temples associated with both pagodas are closed to the public. Tea processing Tea processing

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6604-631: The communications of southwestern China . Lake Dian, known as "the Pearl of the Plateau", is the largest lake in Yunnan and the sixth largest fresh water lake in China. It has an area of approximately 340 square kilometres (130 square miles). Kunming's highest point is Mazong Ridge of the Jiaozi Snow Mountain in Luquan with an elevation of 4,247 metres (13,934 feet), and its lowest point

6731-480: The economic reforms of the mid-1980s, Kunming has enjoyed increased tourism and foreign investment . Several Thai Chinese banks have offices in Kunming, for example, Kasikorn Bank and Krung Thai Bank . Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand has visited Kunming many times to study Chinese culture and promote friendly relations. In the 1980s and 1990s, the city center was rebuilt, with Swiss help, in its current 'modern' style to impress visitors attending

6858-540: The 13th-century Venetian traveler Marco Polo . The area was first dubbed Kunming during the decline of the Yuan Dynasty. In the 14th century, Kunming was retaken from Mongolian control when the Ming dynasty defeated the Yuan dynasty . The Ming later built a wall surrounding present-day Kunming. 300 years later, Ming General Wu Sangui defected to Manchu invaders and held the city until his death in 1678, long after

6985-582: The 2010 establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area. The FTA made Kunming a trade and financial center for Southeast Asia. In addition to physical improvements to enhance Kunming's trade with Southeast Asia, the central and provincial governments have made financial preparations to assist the city's emergence. At the end of 2004, the central government approved Kunming to be one of the 18 mainland cities in which foreign banks could conduct business in renminbi . In July 2006, talks at

7112-621: The Himalayas from British bases in India to port-of-entry Kunming. The Office of Strategic Services ' Service Unit Detachment 101 (predecessor to the 1st Special Forces Group ) was also headquartered in Kunming. Its mission was to divert and disrupt Japanese combat operations in Burma. Kunming, the northern terminus of all three of the Burma Road, the Ledo Road , and The Hump supply-line,

7239-712: The West, especially from the French Empire . In the late 1800s, the French started to build the Kunming-Haiphong railway between Kunming and Haiphong in what was then French Indochina . In the 1890s, an uprising against working conditions on the Kunming–Haiphong rail line saw many laborers executed after France shipped in weapons to suppress the revolt. The meter-gauge rail line, only completed by around 1911,

7366-589: The ancient tea-trading town of Pu'er (普洱), which is today's Ning'er Town (宁洱镇) in Ning'er County , Pu'er prefecture-level city of Yunnan . Pu'er County had its name changed to Simao, after Simao Town, the new county seat in 1950 following the Communist victory. The County of Simao became a prefecture level City and had its name changed to Pu'er in 2007. Although the urban center of the modern Pu'er City remained in Simao,

7493-471: The area, the Chinese government in 1962 selected a new group of six great tea mountains that were named based on the more important tea-producing mountains at the time, including Youle mountain from the original six. Many other areas of Yunnan also produce pu'er tea. Yunnan prefectures that are major producers of pu'er include Lincang , Dehong , Simao , Xishuangbanna , and Wenshan . Other notable tea mountains famous in Yunnan include among others: Region

7620-481: The battered but regrouped Chinese Air Force in which Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault took command of cadet training duties in the summer of 1938. The Chinese Air Force command established the 41st Pursuit Squadron based in Kunming, also known as the French Volunteer Group squadron in June 1938, and with them they brought Dewoitine D.510 fighters, with the intention of securing the sale of

7747-469: The caravan route through to Southeast Asia , India and Tibet . Early townships on the southern edge of Lake Dian (outside the contemporary city perimeter) can be dated back to 279 BC, although they have been long lost to history. Early settlements in the area around Lake Dian date back to Neolithic times. The Dian Kingdom , whose original language likely belonged to the Tibeto-Burman languages ,

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7874-431: The carbohydrates and amino acids present in the tea leaves. Although the microbes responsible have proved highly variable from region to region and even factory to factory, the key organism found and responsible for almost all pu'er fermentation has been identified in numerous studies as Aspergillus niger , with some highlighting the possibility of ochratoxins produced by the metabolism of some strains of A.niger having

8001-754: The center of wet piles ( Laotoucha 老头茶). Pu'er teas are often collectively classified in Western tea markets as post-fermentation, and in Eastern markets as black teas, but there is general confusion due to improper use of the terms "oxidation" and "fermentation". Typically black tea is termed "fully fermented", which is incorrect as the process used to create black tea is oxidation and does not involve microbial activity. Black teas are fully oxidized, green teas are unoxidized, and Oolong teas are partially oxidized to varying degrees. All pu'er teas undergo some oxidation during sun drying and then become either: According to

8128-641: The city an important commercial center of trade in the region. The city also acts as a gateway to Southeast Asia and South Asia , the Kunming Changshui International Airport is one of the top 40- busiest airports in the world. As of 2024, the city is also home to six consulates from ASEAN countries. The headquarters of many of Yunnan's biggest corporations are based in the city, such as Hongta Group , Yunnan Copper Group , Hongyun Group, Yunnan Power Grid Co, and Fudian Bank. Kunming also houses some manufacturing, chiefly

8255-420: The city back into Qing hands. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was the seat of the superior prefecture of Yunnan . In 1832, the beginnings of a real city were acknowledged within the city walls and there were significant structures within their confines. The founding of the city can therefore be said to have been a predominantly 19th century affair. It was also in this century that the city grew to become

8382-458: The city came under the control of the Yuan dynasty during its invasion of the southwest in 1252–1253. During the reign of provincial governor Ajall Shams al-Din Omar , a "Chinese Style" city named Zhongjing was founded where modern Kunming is today. Shams al-Din ordered the construction of a Buddhist temple, a Confucian temple, and two mosques in the city. The Confucian temple, doubling as a school,

8509-510: The city center, each a solid thirteen stories of whitewashed brick crowned with four iron cockerels. The West Pagoda was built between 824 and 859, during the Tang dynasty ; its original counterpart, the East Pagoda, was built at the same time, but was destroyed by an earthquake in 1833 and rebuilt in the same Tang style in 1882. South down Dongsi Road, past another mosque , the entrance to

8636-428: The city receives 2,198 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extreme temperatures in the city have ranged from −7.8 to 32.9 °C (18 to 91 °F) on 29 December 1983 and 25 May 2014 respectively. Mineral resources include phosphorus, salt, magnesium, titanium, coal, quartz sand, clay, silica, copper. Phosphorus and salt mines are the most plentiful. Kunyang Phosphorus Mine is one of the three major phosphorus mines in

8763-588: The city, with Kunming's huge Bird and Flower Market convening daily in the streets connecting it with the northerly, parallel Guanghua Street. The market offers many plants such as orchids that have been collected and farmed across the province. In the small grounds of a now vanished Confucian temple off the western end of Changchun Road, there is an avenue of pines, an ancient pond and pavilion, and beds of bamboo, azaleas and potted palms. Jinbi Road runs south of Dongfeng Road. Both of them connect to Beijing Road. Two large Chinese pagodas rise south of Jinbi Road and

8890-495: The construction of large iron and steel and chemical complexes, along with Chongqing , Chengdu and Guiyang in the southwest . A Minorities' Institute was set up in the 1950s to promote mutual understanding and access to university education among Yunnan's multiethnic population. The city consolidated its position as a supply depot during the Vietnam War and subsequent border clashes . Until Mao Zedong's death, in much of

9017-708: The country. Rock salt reserves are 1.222 billion tonnes (1.203  billion long tons ; 1.347 billion short tons ) and mirabilite reserves are 1.908 billion tonnes (1.878 billion long tons; 2.103 billion short tons). Dongchuan is a major copper production base. Proven reserves of Coal bed gas is about 500 billion cubic metres (18,000  billion cubic feet ), equal to 720 million tonnes (710 million long tons ; 790 million short tons ) of standard coal. Geothermal resources are widely distributed. Kunming has 2,585 hectares (6,390 acres ) of lawns, trees and flowers, averaging 4.96 square metres (53.4 square feet) per capita and

9144-541: The early 1600s, tea producers in the Wuyi Mountains began kneading the sun-withered tea leaves to macerate them, then allowed them to dry under the sun, thus reaching full oxidation and producing Gongfu black tea (工夫紅茶). When there was insufficient sun and temperatures were low, the withered leaves would be processed indoors in warmed rooms and allowed to fully oxidize, then smoked dry over pine fires thus producing lapsang souchong . According to oral traditions of

9271-525: The east bank of the Panlong River outside of the old city walls at the intersection of Beijing Road and Dongfeng Road, where in the mornings there are crowds doing taijiquan and playing badminton . Weekend amateur theatre is also performed in the square. The Panlong River has had an artificial flow ever since the construction of the Songhua Dam, and the river has been developed into effectively

9398-605: The end of 1938, many more of China's military forces and civilians retreated to cities outside the reach of the Japanese military ground forces a year prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe in 1939, including the relocation of the Chinese Air Force Academy from Jianqiao Airbase to Kunming's Wujiaba Airbase , where the airfield was vastly expanded, becoming the new training hub for

9525-473: The end of the Tang dynasty (618–907   CE) green, yellow, and post-fermented tea was commonly used in China and moved from purely being used in herbology to becoming a beverage drunk for pleasure. The Tang dynasty was also the period when oolong tea was first developed in the Fujian province. It was originally produced in thin brick form, known then under the name Beiyuan tea (北苑茶). The importance of

9652-575: The essential support and materials were imported through Burma . After the attack on Pearl Harbor , and the start of the Pacific War in December 1941, Kunming acted as an Allied military command center, which grouped the Chinese, American, British and French forces together for operations in Southeast Asia. Kunming became the northern and easternmost terminus of the vital war-supply line into China known as " The Hump ' , which stretched over

9779-488: The flavor and color of aged raw pu'er, and was an adaptation of wet storage techniques used by merchants to artificially simulate ageing of their teas. Mass production of ripened pu'er began in 1975. It can be consumed without further aging, or it can be stored further to "air out" some of the less savory flavors and aromas acquired during fermentation. The tea is sold both in flattened and loose form. Some tea collectors believe "ripened" Shou Cha should not be aged for more than

9906-806: The headquarters for the US Army Forces China-Burma-India. Wujiaba Airport served as the home of the First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force , nicknamed the Flying Tigers . Kunming was also a transport terminus for the Burma Road . Kunming is at an altitude of 1,900 metres (6,234 feet) above sea level and a latitude just north of the Tropic of Cancer , and

10033-455: The leaves along with camphor flavor elements are taken as signifiers of wild tea. Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China . The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II , Kunming was a Chinese military center and the location of

10160-408: The main streets. While Beijing Road is arguably the main street of the city as a whole, it runs to the east of the city center. Jingxing Street, Guanghua Street, Zhengyi Road, Nanping Street, Qingnian Road, and Renmin Road are the main commercial areas in Kunming; the most popular pedestrian streets are Nanping Street, Zhengyi Road, and Jingxing Street. Kunming's modern city center is Nanping Square on

10287-632: The major market and transport centre for the region. Many of the city's inhabitants were displaced as a result of the 1833 Kunming earthquake . The rebel leader Du Wenxiu , the Muslim Han Sultan of Dali , attacked and besieged the city several times between 1858 and 1868. A great part of the city's wealth did not survive the 1856 Panthay Rebellion , when most of the Buddhist sites in the capital were badly damaged, converted to mosques or razed. Decades later, Kunming began to be influenced by

10414-751: The name of an ancient ethnic group named Kunming Yi or Kunming Barbarian ( 昆明夷 ), which was a branch of the Di - Qiang people. The Kunming Yi lived in the neighbouring region of Erhai Lake during the Western Han dynasty. The Han dynasty incorporated the territory of the Dian Kingdom and set up a commandery called Yizhou in 109 BC; the Han dynasty also incorporated the Kunming Yi into Yizhou Commandery soon after. Therefore, Kunming Yi expanded east to

10541-442: The new street, Qingnian Lu, after them. The existence of the walls still echoes today at place names like the district of Xiaoximen ( 小西门 ; 'Lesser West Gate') and Beimen Jie ( 北门街 ; 'North Gate Street'). There are also less obvious connections to the wall, such as Qingnian Lu ( 青年路 ; 'Youth Road'), in the location of Kunming's east wall. After 1949, Kunming developed rapidly into an industrial metropolis with

10668-649: The northeast was a well-established trade trail to Yibin in Sichuan province on the Yangtze River . But these trails were all extremely difficult, passable only by mule trains or pack-carrying porters. Kunming reverted to county status in 1912, under the name Kunming, and became a municipality in 1935. The opening of the Kunming area began in earnest with the completion in 1906–1910 of the Kunming-Haiphong Railway to Haiphong in north Vietnam (part of French Indochina ). Kunming became

10795-564: The oldest historically designated mountains were said to be named after six commemorative items left in the mountains by Zhuge Liang , and using the Chinese characters of the native languages (Hani and Tai) of the region. These mountains are all located northeast of the Lancang River ( Mekong ) in relatively close proximity to one another. The mountains' names, in the Standard Chinese character pronunciation are: Southwest of

10922-550: The past resulted in the creation of yellow tea when the tea leaves were over-steamed for fixation or were not quickly spread out, doused with water and cooled. Although green tea was the most popular in Lu Yu's time, he personally considered yellow tea to be superior to green. Even when the leaves were quickly cooled, if they are left in piles (渥堆) for too long before processing, the leaves will begin to undergo microbial fermentation to produce post-fermented tea . This technique

11049-425: The piled máochá ensures even fermentation. The bacterial and fungal cultures found in the fermenting piles were found to vary widely from factory to factory throughout Yunnan, consisting of multiple strains of Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., yeasts , and a wide range of other microflora. Control over the multiple variables in the ripening process, particularly humidity and the growth of Aspergillus spp.,

11176-589: The planes to the Chinese Air Force; the French participated in some combat engagements against Japanese raids, including dogfights against Mitsubishi A5M fighters with Chinese Hawk III fighters over Nanchang , but after several setbacks, including a fighter pilot KIA , the group was disbanded in October 1938. Although the Empire of Japan was focusing on ending the Chinese war of resistance at

11303-466: The processing of copper, as well as various chemicals, machinery, textiles, paper and cement. Kunming has a nearly 2,400-year history, but its modern prosperity dates only to 1910, when the railway from Hanoi was built. The city has continued to develop rapidly under China's modernization efforts. Kunming was designated a special tourism center and, as such, has experienced a proliferation of high-rises and luxury hotels . The name "Kunming" evolved from

11430-546: The production process, four main types of pu'er are commonly available on the market: Ripe pu'er is often described by its multiple layers of aroma: duiwei (堆味) or fermented flavour, cangwei (仓味) or storage flavour, xingwei (腥味) or fish flavour and meiwei (霉味) moldy flavour. The storage locations (Yunnan, Canton or Hong Kong) and storing conditions (wet versus dry storage) will result in distinct flavours. The aromas can be annotated as camphora (樟香), ginseng (参香), jujube (枣香), costus (木香), minty (荷香) or very aged (陈香). Raw pu'er

11557-543: The pu'er style made outside of Yunnan is often branded as "dark tea" in light of this standard. In addition to China, border regions touching Yunnan in Vietnam , Laos , and Burma are also known to produce pu'er tea, though little of this makes its way to the Chinese or international markets. The method of cultivation can have as much of an effect on the final product as region or grade. There are three widely used methods of cultivation for pu'er: Determining whether or not

11684-467: The range of Japanese bombers. In addition, a number of universities and institutes of higher education were evacuated there. The increased trade and expertise quickly established Kunming as an industrial and manufacturing base for the wartime government in Chongqing . As the battles of Shanghai, Taiyuan and Nanjing were lost by the end of 1937, and with Wuhan falling into Japanese occupation by

11811-404: The raw product without the artificial accelerated fermentation process. Pu'er tea processing , although straightforward, is complicated by the fact that the tea itself falls into two distinct categories: the "raw" shēngchá and the "ripe" shóuchá. All types of pu'er tea are created from máochá ( 毛 茶 ), a mostly unoxidized green tea processed from Camellia sinensis var. assamica , which

11938-520: The region, the discovery of Lapsang Souchong processing was due to military troops passing through a Wuyishan tea factory during the last years of the Ming dynasty, causing delays to tea leaf processing thus resulting in a completely oxidized leaf that the producer salvaged by drying over a fire built from pine branches. By the Qing dynasty , both Lapsang Souchong and Gongfu black tea were well recognized in China and noted in "Records on Yiwu mountain" (武夷山志) by

12065-469: The reliability of written information, some believe certain physical aspects of the leaf can point to its cultivation. For example, drinkers cite the evidence of a truly wild old tree in a menthol effect (" camphor " in tea specialist terminology) supposedly caused by the Camphor laurel trees that grow amongst wild tea trees in Yunnan's tea forests. As well, the presence of thick veins and sawtooth-edged on

12192-590: The rest of China had fallen under Manchu rule. During the beginning of Qing rule, the entirety of Yunnan and Guizhou were ruled from Kunming and Wu. During the Revolt of the Three Feudatories , the seat of Wu's newly declared Zhou dynasty was moved to Hengzhou in Hunan . Later in 1678, when Wu died, his grandson Wu Shifan resisted the Qing for two more months before committing suicide, reverting control of

12319-494: The rest of the country Kunming was still generally thought as a remote frontier settlement. Accordingly, the government utilized Kunming as a place where to exile people who had fallen politically out of favor, especially during the Cultural Revolution . In 1957, Kunming's rail link to Haiphong and Hanoi was re-opened (after being cut during World War II). It was cut again in 1979 and re-opened again in 1996. Since

12446-551: The result of the aging process by prolonged bacterial and fungal fermentation in a warm humid environment under controlled conditions, a technique called wò duī ( 渥 堆 , "wet piling" in English ), which involves piling, dampening, and turning the tea leaves in a manner much akin to composting . Studies have shown that the soil suitable for planting Pu'er tea trees is slightly acidic soil with loose soil, deep soil layer, good drainage and ventilation. The piling, wetting, and mixing of

12573-435: The resulting maocha and pu'er. The leaves are then dry-roasted using a large wok in a process called "killing the green" ( 殺 青 ; pinyin : shā qīng ), which arrests most enzyme activity in the leaf and prevents full oxidation. After pan-roasting, the leaves are rolled, rubbed, and shaped into strands through several steps to lightly bruise the tea and then left to dry in the sun. Unlike green tea produced in China which

12700-465: The river there are also nine lesser known tea mountains, which are isolated by the river. They are: For various reasons, around the end of the Qing dynasty and at the beginning of the ROC period (the early twentieth century), tea production in these mountains dropped drastically, either due to large forest fires, overharvesting, prohibitive imperial taxes, or general neglect. To revitalize tea production in

12827-432: The role that tea played in Chinese society and the preferred methods of its consumption in ancient Chinese society. The domestication of tea and the development of its processing method likely began in the area around what is now Southwest China, Indo-Burma, and Tibet. Variations of these processing techniques are still used in modern tea processing albeit being far more mechanized. Ancient Chinese society first encountered

12954-400: The scholar Dong Tiangong (董天工). Although each type of tea has a different taste, smell, and visual appearance, tea processing for all tea types consists of a very similar set of methods with only minor variations. Without careful moisture and temperature control during its manufacture and life thereafter, fungi will grow on tea. This form of fungus causes real fermentation that will contaminate

13081-449: The shape of the pu'er being produced, a cotton bag may or may not be used. For instance, brick or square teas often are not compressed using bags. Pressing can be done by: Pressed pu'er is removed from the cloth bag and placed on latticed shelves, where they are allowed to air dry, which may take several weeks or months, depending on the wetness of the pressed cakes. The pu'er cakes are then individually wrapped by hand, and packed. Pu'er

13208-533: The six famous flowers of the city. The camellia was confirmed by the Municipality of Kunming as its city flower in 1983. The Kunming city government plans to create an environmental trial court to deal with environment-related lawsuits. It is to be part of the city's intermediate people's court and will have jurisdiction over appeals by companies that have been found guilty of violating environmental laws in cities throughout Yunnan. The population of Han

13335-409: The steamed tea leaves were first pulverized into a paste form, with the paste then formed in molds and slowly dried into brick tea , a technique well described by Lu Yu in his work The Classic of Tea . Tender leaves and leaf buds were generally not used, as older mature tea leaves were preferred for tea production. Some tea bricks were also produced from mature whole leaves, which typically required

13462-507: The steps: Both sheng and ripe pu'er can be shaped into cakes or bricks and aged with time. The intent of the máochá stage ( 青 毛 茶 or 毛 茶 ; literally, "light green rough tea" or "rough tea" respectively) is to dry the leaves and keep them from spoiling. It involves minimal processing and there is no fermentation involved. The first step in making raw or ripened pu'er is picking appropriate tender leaves. Plucked leaves are handled gingerly to prevent bruising and unwanted oxidation. It

13589-419: The street has been demolished to make way for apartments and shopping centers. Rising behind a supermarket one block north off Zhengyi Road, Nancheng Qingzhen Si is the city's new mosque, its green dome and chevron-patterned minaret visible from afar and built on the site of an earlier Qing edifice. Running west off Zhengyi Road just past the mosque, Jingxing Street leads into one of the more bizarre corners of

13716-410: The tea bricks to undergo prolonged exposure to the elements and to various microflora, which resulted in the aging, oxidation, and fermentation of green brick teas. A brick of green tea that had been stored and aged into post-fermented tea was charred over charcoal to rid it of the layer of detritus, dust, and shiny multicoloured growths before being broken down into a powder, cooked, and then consumed. By

13843-506: The tea plant in what is now south-eastern China and processed it as an additional medicinal herb for use in Chinese herbology . The processing technique used to process fresh tea leaves was to immediately steam the fresh tea leaves and dry them for preservation, which is the most ancient Chinese form of tea leaf processing known to date. This processing method was perfected near the end of the Han dynasty (206   BCE – 220   CE) and produced

13970-581: The temporary capital in Chongqing fell, with an elaborate system of caves to serve as offices, barracks and factories, but it was never utilised. Kunming was to have served again in this role during the ensuing Chinese Civil War , but the Nationalist garrison there switched sides and joined the Communists. Instead, Taiwan would become the last redoubt and home of the Republic of China government,

14097-596: The unbroken history of growing tea at Jingmai Mountain, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023. There had been no standardized processing for the darkening of hēichá until the postwar years in the 1950s, when there was a sudden surge in demand in Hong Kong, perhaps because of the concentration of refugees from the mainland. In the 1970s the improved process was taken back to Yunnan for further development, which has resulted in

14224-421: The unique characteristics of pu'er tea. Once dry, máochá can be sent directly to the factory to be pressed into raw pu'er, or to undergo further processing to make fermented or ripened pu'er. Sometimes Mao Cha is sold directly as loose-leaf "raw" Sheng Cha or it can be matured in loose-leaf form, requiring only two to three years due to the faster rate of natural fermentation in an uncompressed state. This tea

14351-414: The use of a cooked rice slurry (米湯) to bind the tea brick together. The preference of producing tea in brick form possibly stems from the fact that it can be more easily transported and stored. The use of steam in fixation (殺青) of tea leaf enzymes is an important step in processing tea, with the leaves quickly cooled down and then undergoing further processing. The less tightly controlled methods of it in

14478-447: The various production styles variously referred to as wòduī today. This new process produced a finished product in a matter of months that many thought tasted similar to teas aged naturally for 10–15 years and so this period saw a demand-driven boom in the production of hēichá by the artificial ripening method. In recent decades, demand has come full circle and it has become more common again for hēichá , including pu'er, to be sold as

14605-404: The west bank of the Panlong River , at the intersection of Nanping Street and Zhengyi Street. This area is where Kunming's southern city wall once stood. Rapidly being modernized, this area is a crowded and dense shopping precinct packed with clothing and electronics stores. Surrounding the area are plenty of new high-rises. The area formerly considered the city center is Dongfeng Square, located on

14732-477: The whole Pu'er region is now sometimes considered the appellation for pu'er proper. Pu'er (and all tea) terminology varies from language to language. For example, pu-er is known in Chinese as a type of 'dark tea' (heicha) while in Spanish it is considered ‘té rojo’ (red tea) and, conversely, what in Chinese is called 'red tea' (hongcha) is known in Spanish as 'té negro' (black tea). Fermented tea leaves have had

14859-484: The withering process for producing oolong tea was described by poet Huang Furen (皇甫冉) in his poem "送陸鴻漸棲霞寺采茶", which indicated that the processing of tea leaves is not a simple task, requiring the scaling of steep cliffs to pick the choicest leaves and the withering of the leaves under the sun and warm winds ("采茶非采菉，遠遠上層崖。布葉春風暖，盈筐白日斜..."). White tea (白茶) was also developed in the Fujian province with its first mentions in

14986-478: The ‘60s the cakes featured a blend of Yunnan and Guangdong máochá , and the most recent production of these cakes contains mostly from the latter. In late 2008, the Chinese government approved a standard declaring pu'er tea as a "product with geographical indications", which would restrict the naming of tea as pu'er to tea produced within specific regions of the Yunnan province. The standard has been disputed, particularly by producers from Guangdong . Fermented tea in

15113-732: Was also established near the area. Dian was subjugated by the Chinese Han dynasty under the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in 109 BC. The Han dynasty incorporated the territory of the Dian Kingdom into their Yizhou Commandery , but left the King of Dian as the local ruler. The Han dynasty (205 BC–AD 220), seeking control over the Southern Silk Road running to Burma and India, brought small parts of Yunnan into China's orbit, but subsequent dynasties could do little to tame what

15240-637: Was designed by the French so that they could tap into Yunnan's mineral resources for their colonies in Indochina. Kunming was a communications center during this time and a junction of two major trading routes, one westward via Dali and Tengchong County into Myanmar , the other southward through Mengzi County to the Red River in Indochina . Eastward, a difficult mountain route led to Guiyang in Guizhou province and thence to Hunan province. To

15367-533: Was increasingly targeted by the IJAAF. When the Burma Road was lost to the Japanese, the Hump became China's primary lifeline to the outside world. The 1st American Volunteer Group, known as the " Flying Tigers ", was based in Kunming and tasked with defense of The Hump supply-line against Japanese aerial interceptions. Industry became important in Kunming during World War II . The large state-owned Central Machine Works

15494-540: Was relatively unknown at the time. In July 2005, the second Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit was held in Kunming, with government leaders from China, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam participating. There, China agreed to lend its neighbors more than $ 1 billion for a series of projects. China promoted GMS cooperation as a first step toward building an eventual China- ASEAN Free Trade Area . Infrastructure improvements were underway to improve links between Kunming and Southeast Asia in time for

15621-496: Was simply allowed to dry under the sun, since it's more natural in taste and lacks flavours imparted by the smoke and flames. ("芽茶以火作者为次，生晒者为上, 亦更近自然，且断烟火气耳") The technique for producing black tea was first developed during the late Ming dynasty in Wuyishan, Fujian , either resulting from the over-oxidation of tea-leaves during the manufacture of oolong tea or indirectly from the methods of manufacturing green and white teas. In

15748-472: Was the first of its kind in Yunnan, attracting students from minority groups across the province. Coupled with his promotion of Confucian ceremonies and customs, Shams al-Din has been largely credited with the sinicization of the region. The city grew as a trading center between the southwest and the rest of China. It is considered by scholars to have been the city of Yachi Fu (鸭池府) where people had used cowries as cash and ate their meat raw, as described by

15875-575: Was then a remote and wild borderland until the 13th century. During the Sui dynasty (581–618), two military expeditions were launched against the area, and it was renamed Kunzhou in Chinese sources. Founded in 765, Kunming was known to the Chinese as Tuodong ( 拓東 ) city in the Kingdom of Nanzhao (737–902) during the 8th and 9th centuries. Tuodong later became part of the successor Kingdom of Dali (937–1253). The possession of Tuodong changed hands when

16002-420: Was transferred there from Hunan , while the manufacture of electrical products, copper, cement, steel, paper, and textiles expanded. Until 1952, Kunming was a walled city. The city government in 1952 ordered hundreds of young people to tear down the wall and use its bricks to make a new road running north–south. To show its appreciation for the young people that demolished the east wall, the city government named

16129-597: Was transformed into a modern city as a result of fighting of the Second Sino-Japanese War/World War II in 1937 with the outbreak of the Battles of Shanghai , Nanking and Taiyuan , forcing a great movement of refugees from the north and eastern coastal regions of China, bringing much commerce and industry into the southwest of China, including Kunming. They carried dismantled industrial plants with them, which were then re-erected beyond

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