Kunming is often called "the pearl of the south of the colorful clouds." But if you really ask what Kunming is, I am afraid it can be explained in just a few words. Some people think it is too far from the inland and is biased; but some people say that this bias is actually very important - especially when you look at the recent movement in northern Myanmar, it seems that Kunming has become a little heavier. This feeling is like a beam in an old house. It is usually not conspicuous, and it only knows its hardness when there is wind and rain.

Speaking of which, Kunming's fate has always been twisted with "changes". In the last century, the national military region was greatly adjusted, and Kunming's hat was worn and removed. People have argued for many years whether that kind of power and position is retained or whether it should be strengthened. If you walk on the streets of Kunming and chat with the elderly, they may be a little proud and will even put a few words of emotion in their mouths: "Our here is a place where military strategists must fight for." In fact, behind it is the complexity of Yunnan itself, which is different from the whole country.

The location of the city is really extraordinary. Kunming is on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Once you walk south, you get out of the pass and down the slope, you will be Southeast Asia. When I was a child, I always felt that this place was a bit complicated, with all kinds of people and all kinds of flavors. Later, when I understood something, I realized that this was a kind of mix, and even the air was filled with the power of walking outward and connecting outward. The railway was built to the border, and the highway was well connected. The freight train was buzzing in the middle of the night - do you think this was not adding bricks to the overall situation?

There are also financial matters, not very decent, and there are still many troubles. Young people like to run out, but many businessmen have also identified Kunming and think that "as long as you can get online with the outside world, you will have a profit." There are many foreign trade companies and logistics warehouses; there are always people who can see exotic goods in the market, "This is from Myanmar, this is from Laos." These seemingly trivial details are actually a small move for the entire Southwest chess.

But don’t just look at money. Things on the frontier are sometimes harder to figure out than the economy. There are several countries adjacent to Yunnan, and the news flows across the border and cannot be stopped like water. One winter, my relatives were doing business, and suddenly there was chaos there and the goods could not be transferred in. Everyone was in a hurry. The situation in northern Myanmar can not only affect the market meat price, but also affect the nerves in the city. Border defense is not a paper talk. The nation, belief, and language are intertwined in groups. It is hard to say that you fully understand it in a place like Kunming, even if you are born and raised.

To be honest, national affairs are not that simple here. Yunnan is multi-ethnic, with strange and close people, and sometimes misunderstandings or an old grudge. Kunming, because it is relatively "middle" and is not so extreme, can bring people of all colors together. In a small restaurant in the city, the owner's wife may be the Yi nationality, the uncle in the kitchen is the Miao nationality, and the students at the front desk are Dai or Han nationality. Everyone is familiar with the trivial troubles. Many people are used to "we are together". This kind of atmosphere will become more precious once something goes wrong outside.

It is difficult for outsiders to explain the topic of military region clearly. Some people think that the Kunming Military Region has been adjusted to reduce the burden and optimize it, which makes sense. But in recent years, when there is a dispute in northern Myanmar, everyone has begun to worry: What if the border needs the strength to suppress one day, can Kunming still withstand it? On the one hand, it is to stabilize the overall situation, and on the other hand, the front line is in a panic. The decision-making level probably was worried about the consideration in the middle.

War is not too far away from us, nor is it too close. Some nights I walk on the small roads in the suburbs, and the weather is cold and I occasionally hear veterans chatting in the tavern: "At that time, training and emergency gatherings, the wind can explode at all." Sometimes I think, after the soldiers in Kunming dispersed, who will leave those stories at the dining table? Perhaps only the wind knows.

Everyone has talked a lot about the saying "Belt and Road" over the years. Kunming is called a "bridgehead" and "portal", which sounds nice or quite nice. But if you think about it carefully, every title means responsibility. It’s not that everything will be fine when a road is built to the border, but you have to deal with more messy things. Trade, investment, and culture are really specific, and the "people" matters are the most difficult to deal with. People in Kunming are used to seeing outsiders, and they are used to seeing mixed matches, and sometimes they are too calm. But in the long run, this is a kind of resilience, a background color that can travel through wind and rain.

Some people may worry that if the situation changes too much, will the city be marginalized? After all, the pace of reform is getting faster and faster. In the reallocation of resources and the division of interests, it is difficult to have a decision that is absolutely correct. But when you walk from Kunming Old Street to the new city, you can feel a hidden tension - the city is still working hard, even if the clouds roll in the sky, even if the wind and clouds are surging outside.

We often say that guarding the frontier is not a slogan. Whether Kunming can continue to increase its investment and shoulder the burden of the southwest bridge depends more on whether it can defend those invisible details: national harmony, economic connectivity, and the bottom line of security. In the future, it is no longer something we can decide on how decision makers think. The only thing that can be confirmed is that the fate of this city will be rewritten by people coming and going.

In the night, Kunming's lights spread to all directions, as if they were unwilling to stop. Sometimes when you think about it, maybe the wind and rain and those adjustments are the proof that a city is truly “alive”. The situation on the border, the intricacies of the nation, and the changes in the economy will continue. No one knows where the next historical storm will bring Kunming.

Is Kunming really like a trump card that only comes out at critical moments? Or, its weight is accumulated bit by bit on those seemingly ordinary days? No one can give the exact answer. I only know that every generation has left a little of their own breath here - perhaps this is the most real value of Kunming.