High and medium-speed rail services are expected to connect 10 major cities between Kunming in China and Singapore. But negotiations with seven Southeast Asian countries are testing Beijing's "railway diplomacy."

The development of various ethnic communities in Kunming, capital city of China's Southwestern Yunnan province, has tremendously strengthened the unity and harmonious co-existence of ethnic groups. Kunming is home to 52 ethnic groups, including Yi, Hui, Dai, Bai, Miao and so on.