US ambassador impressed by Yunnan scenery, ethnic culture

In central Yunnan’s Kunming, Burns “had a constructive meeting with Yunnan Governor Wang Yubo and discussed the importance of people-to-people ties and academic exchanges between the U.S. and Yunnan.”

At the Kunming-based Yunnan University, he had a discussion with Executive Vice President Ma Wenhui, Deans, faculty and students. “We’re working to increase the number of American students in China, reconnecting our academic communities and societies pulled apart by the pandemic,” said Burns on social media X.

At the Flying Tigers Museum in Kunming, the ambassador saw the old photos of the young Americans and their leader General Clare Chennault in the 1940s. They were all volunteers who came to help China in its hour of need during World War Two.

The ambassador laid a wreath at the Hump Monument in Kunming in remembrance of the over 1,600 American servicemen, who sacrificed their lives in the dangerous Hump flights over the Himalayas in World War Two.

The monument honors the thousands of Americans and Chinese who manned the dangerous WWII air supply route over the Himalayas from India to Yunnan -- China’s lifeline in the war. “My wife’s great Uncle George P. Baylies was one of the many who served in this campaign,” Burns noted.

In the Xizhou village of west Yunnan’s Dali prefecture, Nicholas Burns visited a morning market of the minority Bai community, and he also learned about traditional woodblock printing, and how Americans Brian and Jeanee Linden are promoting people-to-people ties between China and the US.

The ambassador stopped at the Three-Pagoda scenic area in Dali, with its official name being the Chongsheng Buddhist Temple. First built up in the 9th century, it’s once the royal temple of the Kingdom of Dali.

In northwest Yunnan’s Lijiang, Burns looked into the Naxi ethnic culture, ancient towns, and the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

At Tiger Leaping Gorge in Shangri-La, the ambassador was impressed by the natural wonder of Yunnan and the hospitality of locals in northwest Yunnan’s Diqing Tibetan autonomous prefecture.

Sources: Social media X; Editing by Wang Shixue