China News Service, Kunming, October 30th. Title: Continuing cultural contexts, prospering industries, and integrating neighbors: Exploring the vivid practice of ethnic unity in Yunnan
China News Network reporters Li Baijia and Cao Ziyun
In late autumn, the south of Caiyun is still lush and warm.
Recently, the 2026 "Build a Strong Community, China is a Family" theme publicity and interview team visited Yunnan, visited historical and cultural relics, went deep into border villages, and entered urban and rural communities, witnessing the exchanges, exchanges and integration of various ethnic groups, and the vigorous vitality of pomegranate seeds embracing one another.
Understand the integrated culture passed down from generation to generation
To the north is Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, in the palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Baisha Town, Yulong County, Lijiang City. Baisha murals that have gone through hundreds of years of wind and rain are spread out. As an important part of the ancient city of Lijiang, a world cultural heritage, the painting of Baisha murals spanned the Ming and Qing dynasties and was created by painters from Naxi, Han, Tibetan, Bai and other ethnic groups.
In the mural, the Peacock King adopts the Tibetan statue style, while the Sixteen Arhats follow the Han painting paradigm. "Painters from different ethnic groups learn from each other in their creations and integrate their respective techniques into one wall. You are part of me, and you are part of me." Zhang Qionglong, director of the Yulong County Cultural Relics Protection and Management Office and director of the Baisha Mural Museum, said that the murals confirm the cultural background of the Chinese nation's diversity, unity, and harmony and symbiosis.
All the way south, you go up to the National Unity Park in Ning'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County, Pu'er City. The 31 stone steps correspond to the local National Unity Day on December 31 every year. They also lead to the national unity oath monument known as "the first monument of national unity in New China".
On New Year's Day in 1951, representatives of 26 ethnic groups in Pu'er Prefecture and representatives of the party, government and military gathered in Ning'er Red Square, slaughtered cattle, drank cursed water, and made a solemn oath to "unite until the end." The stele is engraved with an oath and the signature of the representative in Chinese, Dai and Lahu pinyin. Fang Youfu, a representative of the Hani ethnic group, was one of the pledgers.
"Before his death, my father repeatedly told me to pass on the story of the oath monument and the spirit of national unity." said his son Fang Caibing. Today, he is a voluntary commentator here, going into campuses, communities, and villages, and continues to tell the public about the past of the Oath Monument, conveying the spirit of unity, integration, and symbiosis.
Feel the vivid picture of industrial prosperity
"In the past, it was blocked by waterways and traffic was blocked. It was difficult to transport dragon fruit, papaya and other agricultural products produced in the village, and they were often sold at low prices." Yu'ernan, Party branch secretary of the Longli Village Group of Daluo Village, Daluo Town, Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, recalled that in 2020, the "Thanksgiving Bridge" was completed and opened to traffic, breaking the bottleneck restricting development.
She introduced that after the traffic became smooth, the village led the villagers to vigorously develop rubber, dragon fruit and other special industries, and carried out tourism development throughout the village. Relying on its regional characteristics on the China-Myanmar border, it developed immersive experience projects such as "Visiting the Border for the Motherland" to drive employment and increase income for the villagers.
In 2025, Longli Village will receive 127,500 tourists, with a comprehensive tourism income of 1.8482 million yuan, and the per capita annual income of villagers will reach 28,000 yuan. "The changes have been earth-shaking." Yu'ernan said.
On the bank of the Erhai Lake, golden rice fields stretch out in Gusheng Village, Wanqiao Town, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture. Bai ethnic villager Yang Qingfang told reporters that the bumper harvest benefited from the green and ecological planting model implemented locally.
This planting model uses organic fertilizers to replace chemical fertilizers, and uses technologies such as ecological purification and reuse of farmland tailwater to control fertilizers and reduce pollution. The current promotion area has reached 55,000 acres, with an increase of about 100 kilograms per mu per season.
"In the past, extensive fertilization continued to threaten the ecology of Erhai Lake. Now it can simultaneously ensure stable production and increase income and protect water quality." Villager He Licheng saw that the water was clear, people gathered, and the village became more alive.
Witness the vitality of the nation’s “three friendships”
Lianjiang Community, located in Shuangjiang Street, Ashan Yi Autonomous County, Yuxi City, is a multi-ethnic community established based on the renovation of old residential areas. It is home to people of various ethnic groups including Yi, Han, Hani, and Hui.
"Before the renovation, there were many walls, dense firewood sheds, frequent flooding, and narrow public spaces." Ma Xiaoting, the person in charge of Eshan County, said that now the community has a "Tongxin Pavilion", which is not only a leisure place, but also a discussion point for people to negotiate and collect public opinion; the grid team resolves conflicts in a timely manner, provides meal assistance services for the elderly, and neighbors of all ethnic groups have close exchanges.
In the Yi embroidery room of the community, needles and threads are flying in the hands of several embroiderers. Embroiderer Fang Xiuhua said that sisters of all ethnic groups can learn embroidery here, and the embroidery products can be used for personal use or sold online, increasing their income at home.
In Yincang Community in Dali City, national unity is hidden in the daily life of daily necessities.
Luo Runxian, secretary and director of the community party branch, said that 16 ethnic groups, including the Bai, Han, Hui and Lisu, coexist harmoniously. "You give me a plate of home-cooked food and I give you a piece of food" between neighbors, and warmth is passed on day and night. Occasionally there were frictions, but the multi-disciplinary co-governance mechanism came into effect in a timely manner. Residents took the initiative to report the situation to the team leader and microgrid members, and the community quickly intervened to handle the situation.
From historical and cultural relics to beautiful villages on the border, from ecological pastoral to interconnected communities, Yunnan has united the power of cultural continuity, industrial prosperity, and neighborly integration to promote the consciousness of the Chinese nation's community to take root in the land of Yunling, and bear fruit of unity as full as pomegranate seeds in the south of the colorful clouds.
