Yuxi

Yuxi (Chinese: 玉溪; pinyin: Yùxī) is a prefecture-level city in the central part of Yunnan province of the People's Republic of China. The administrative center of Yuxi is Hongta District. Yuxi is approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi) south of Kunming.

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 discovered ancient fossils that are now in the possession of the Yuxi museum. There also are three other lakes around the city. They are Xingyun Lake, Qilu Lake, and Yangzong Lake.

Tempered by the low latitude and moderate elevation, Yuxi has a mild subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb), with short, mild, dry winters, and warm, rainy summers. Frost may occur in winter but the days still generally warm up to around 17 °C (63 °F). During summer, a majority of the days features some rainfall, and daytime temperatures rise to 26 °C (79 °F). A great majority of the year's rainfall occurs from June to October.

The city was founded in 960 AD, at 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.

Among the resident population, the Han population is 1,560,279, accounting for 67.73% of the total population; the ethnic minorities population is 743,232, accounting for 32.27% of the total population.

Rao Nanhu is the mayor of Yuxi City.