Yuxi

Yuxi is a prefecture-level city in central Yunnan, just south of the provincial capital Kunming, famed above all as the home of the Hongta Group, one of China's largest and most profitable tobacco companies. The tobacco and cigarette industry has long made Yuxi one of Yunnan's wealthiest cities, complemented by iron and steel, agriculture and a growing tourism sector. Its greatest natural treasure is Fuxian Lake, the second-deepest freshwater lake in China, renowned for its crystal-clear water and the endemic kanglang fish. The city is the birthplace of Nie Er, the composer of China's national anthem, commemorated in cultural squares and museums. Nearby Chengjiang, part of Yuxi, holds the Chengjiang Fossil Site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site preserving Cambrian-era life over half a billion years old.