Qujing () is a prefecture-level city in the east of Yunnan province, China, bordering Guizhou province to the east and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to the southeast; thus, it was called "Key between Yunnan and Guizhou" () and "Throat of Yunnan" () in the past. It is part of the Central Yunnan Metropolitan Region plan () in effect for 2016–49. Its administrative population is 6,047,000 according to a 2015 estimate, of whom, 1,408,500 reside in the metro area, which contains Qilin District, Zhanyi District and Malong District. During the 11th National Five-Year Plan period, the government of Qujing planned to develop the city into the "big city at the origin of the Pearl River" () in the following decades, including increasing the built-up urban area to past and the urban population to surpass 1 million by 2020, the second in Yunnan, after Kunming. Geography and climate Qujing is located in the east of Yunnan province, about east of Kunming, the provincial capital. Like much of the central and eastern parts of the province, it is part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Tempered by the low latitude and moderate elevation, Qujing 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 . During summer, a majority of the days features some rainfall, and daytime temperatures rise to . A great majority of the year's rainfall occurs from June to October. Transport Qujing is linked to Kunming by the National Highway 320. Drive time is about three hours. The transportation system in Qujing is well developed. You can access almost every corner of the city by way of the Kun Qu Freeway. Buses to Kunming depart from Qujing Bus Station every half hour, the trip takes about three hours. The bus station also provides transportation to Dali, Honghezhou and other destinations around Qujing. Taxi and buses are available in Qujing. The base rate of a taxi is RMB 7 for the first . Two train routes, Guizhou to Kunming and Nanning to Kunming, run through eight towns in Qujing each day. It takes one and a half hours to get from Qujing to Kunming by express. After Shanghai–Kunming high-speed railway completed in December 2016, it takes 45 minutes to reach Kunming South High-speed Train Station and an hour to reach Guiyang