Siberian black-headed gulls at Kunming's Green Lake Park. Niu Yixin / Asia News Photo

Winter in Beijing is unbearably cold for me, as I come from the "City of Eternal Spring".

Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province, is celebrated for having spring-season weather all year.

Memories of my hometown always warm my heart and soul in these chilly days in the capital. I recall the brilliant sunshine, blooming flowers, exquisite ethnic food and thousands of Siberian black-headed gulls traveling more than 8,000 kilometers to this place every year to enjoy a warmer winter.

The comfortable climate (about 18 C throughout the year), at least 26 diverse ethnic cultures, and a flexible and enjoyable lifestyle are hallmarks of the city.

Consequently, its natural and cultural splendors attract a constant flow of tourists from home and abroad.

As Yunnan borders Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, the provincial capital serves as China's gateway to Southeast Asia.

Its international airport receives 18.94 million passengers annually. And the new airport, slated to begin operations at the end of 2011, is intended to reach all of Southeast Asia and increase throughput to 38 million by 2020.

The Lancang River - known as the Mekong River outside China - that flows across Yunnan province and through Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam has supported the creation of a sub-regional transport system. This includes highways, shipping channels and railways that radiate from Kunming and enormously enhance political, economic and cultural communication in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.

This provides locals with more chances to experience multifaceted cultural fusions.

You can find amazing authentic Thai and Burmese food on Sanheying Street, which teems with women clad in the ethnic attire of neighboring countries.

Two grandiose 17-story towers named Southeastern Asian Shopping on Haigeng Street sell a wide selection of commodities, including precious jade jewelry, and point toward the city's economic future.

Kunming not only attracts throngs of overseas tourists but also a large number of foreign residents.

Since a Frenchman opened the French Caf on Wenlin Street in 1999, foreign businesses have flourished in the area around Yunnan University campus and Green Lake Park.

American Kris Ariel and his foreign partners, who run Salvador's Coffee House, have brought in original American lattes and Italian cappuccino, which have been strongly recommended by Lonely Planet travel writers. Ariel says the city is now like home, and he'll come back to visit no matter where he relocates to.

The owner of Speaking Bar on Jianshe Road, a Briton who calls himself Summer, has introduced to the area hot European music and Western nightclub culture.

My highschool English teacher, Dina from Canada, moved to Kunming in 2001. She now wears a Thai skirt, and enjoys local coffee for breakfast and "bridge-crossing rice noodles" for lunch. And she adores the sunny splendor of Kunming so much that she fluently speaks the local dialect.

(China Daily 02/24/2011 page19)