(Provided to People's Daily Online/Li Xiaowen)

Pu'er, located in a border area in southwest China, has nine counties, one district and 103 villages and towns under its administration. With a population of 2.56 million and covering an area of 45,000 square kilometers, it is the largest city in Yunnan Province.

Pu'er is known for its advantageous geographic location known as "one city neighboring three countries, and one river running through five cities". Pu'er borders Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar and shares with them a border line of 486 kilometers. Lancang River-Mekong River, reputed as the "Danube of the Oriental", runs through Pu'er, which is home to Simao Port, a national Class A waterway port; Menglian Port, a national Class B waterway port; and 18 border crossings. With establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone, progress of the Lancang River-Mekong River Sub-regional Cooperation, full opening of Kunming-Bangkok Expressway to traffic and the completion of the central line of the Trans-Asian Railway, Pu'er is becoming a golden frontier for China's opening up to Southeast Asia and South Asia.