Mr. Yang disembarked from the aircraft at Kunming Changshui International Airport. He had just received travel visa from the Consulate General of the United States in Chengdu, Sichuan province and came back to Kunming, capital city of Yunnan province. In three months, he will fly to the United State along the newly-opened Kunming-San Francisco air route.

Transportation is the basis of regional economic development, and over the past five years, Yunnan province has completed fixed asset investment of 340 billion yuan towards transportation infrastructure. So far, the province has increased its total highway mileage to 236,000 kilometres.

The Shanghai-Kunming and Kunming-Nanning high-speed railways are expected to go into operation by the end of this year. With Yunnan province marching into the era of high-speed rail, a train trip from Kunming to Beijing will be shortened from the present 34 hours to about ten, to Shanghai, from 33 hours to about nine; and to Guangzhou, from 25 hours to about six.

By 2020, there will be more than 90 air routes connecting Yunnan with other countries and regions. It is also hoped that flights departing for Yunnan will cover all capital cities, as well as key tourist destinations in South and Southeast Asian countries.