Kunming’s Streets
March 26, 2009
Residential buildings stand against a cloudy morning sky in Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Construction workers walk among partially demolished buildings to a construction site in central Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
A public health notice in Kunming, Yunnan, China, depicts an airplane representing the AIDS virus running into a skyscraper which is protected by a condom.
Crowds of people reach to grab discount coupons and jewelry in a merchant’s giveaway in the central shopping district of Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
A newspaper seller sits inside a newsstand kiosk reading a newspaper in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
A handwritten message meaning something like Too little, too late remains in protest on the side of a building marked for demolition in central Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
Workers salvage rebar and other reusable materials from the site of former houses in an old neighborhood in Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Shoppers walk among the stalls in a large outdoor market in central Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
A man walks past a closed shop in an old neighborhood marked for demolition in Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Commuters wait for a public bus in downtown Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
Pedestrians walk past unfinished high-rise apartment buildings at night in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
A man talks on a cell phone while riding in a taxi in central Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
A bicyclist rides past partially-demolished old-style buildings in central Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
Workers’ shoes, an empty food bowl, and a well-used map sit on a table in a partially-demolished old neighborhood in central Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
People walk past the doorway of a cheap hotel in an alleyway in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
Military police (People’s Armed Police) look over a crowd waiting to buy train tickets at the Kunming Railway Station for the Spring Festival peak travel period in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
Statues of lions and dinosaurs stand in the middle of a temporary carnival in Grand View Park in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
A man walks past a cell phone advertisement in the central shopping area of Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
Brides and grooms stand outside of a wedding reception in central Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
A parking garage attendant stands outside of the entryway in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
The city of Kunming, capital of China's most culturally and ecologically diverse province, occupies a conflicted space in the rapidly urbanizing country. Pulled by the need to modernize and compete in the global marketplace and the need to maintain and protect its cultural legacy, the city finds itself at war with itself. Development is necessary to remain an economic powerhouse in the region, assuring continued prosperity for the future. But, as is seen elsewhere in China and the developed world, industrial and technological modernization is almost necessarily at odds with an agenda of protection for the environment. And while environmental concerns might fall to the push of modernization elsewhere, Yunnan's two largest economic drivers, tourism and agriculture, depend on a pristine environment. The government has erected China's first environmental police force in the region, in fact. Meanwhile, though, the city chugs along with construction and demolition, shopping and transportation. The city has come resemble most others in China in that respect, but there's an underlying awareness that the city's toll on the environment--those beautiful cloud-filled blue-sky days, the surrounding tree-covered hills and mountains, the water that runs through the city--must be addressed.