Yuxi

The city was founded in 960 AD, a time when Yunnan was not yet part of China. Yuxi was once the core area of Yunnan Province during the pre-Qin period (period before 221 BC). In the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-24 AD), it became a county of Yizhou Shire. The following dynasties witnessed the continuous separations and unifications of the area. It was not until 1997 that Yuxi became a prefecture-level city of the People's Republic of China.

Yuxi is located in the center of Yunnan province, about 90 kilometres (56 mi) south of Kunming, the provincial capital. Like much of the central and eastern parts of the province, it is part of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau. The area is 15,285 km2 (5,902 sq mi) and the population is approximately 2.5 million. Near Yuxi city is Fuxian Lake, the second-deepest freshwater lake in China, where there have been discoveries of ancient fossils that are now in the possession of the Yuxi museum. There are also three other lakes around the city. They are Xingyun Lake, Qilu Lake, and Yangzong Lake.

Yuxi is the home of the Hongta Group, which was named after the Red Pagoda which sits atop a nearby hill. The Pagoda was originally white, but was painted red during the Cultural Revolution. The tobacco is of high quality because there are over 2300 hours of sunlight a year in the region, adequate rainfall in the summer, and excellent soil that produces a plethora of other fruits and vegetables. The region has begun producing wine, which could prove to be quite palatable in the next decade or so. There are substantial mineral deposits of tin and phosphate ores, including the Heavenly Triangle of Huaning, Jiangchuan and Chengjiang. Yuxi is one of the fastest growing small cities in China. In 2001, the city won an Honor Award in Analysis & Planning by the American Society of Landscape Architects. In 2004, UNIDO held a Workshop on Seed Treatment Technology, one of only two in China.