云A 12345

云 plates: Yunnan, and what the letters mean

Facts checked

A plate beginning 云 was registered in Yunnan, a province. The character is Yún, said roughly “yoon”. 云 means 'cloud'; 云南 Yúnnán is 'south of the clouds', that is south of the Yunling mountains. The province's literary abbreviation is 滇 Diān, from Lake Dian and the ancient Dian kingdom.

The letter after it is the office that issued the plate. 云A belongs to Kunming, and 17 further letters are recorded below.

The colour of the plate is a separate fact from the characters: it says what kind of vehicle carries it, and the characters say nothing about it. The colour guide sets out what each of the 7 colours licenses.

Key facts

Plate character 云 Yún “yoon”
PlaceYunnan
Kindprovince
CapitalKunming
City letters18
Why this character云 means 'cloud'; 云南 Yúnnán is 'south of the clouds', that is south of the Yunling mountains. The province's literary abbreviation is 滇 Diān, from Lake Dian and the ancient Dian kingdom.

The city letters

Issuing offices in Yunnan.
Prefix Letter City Note
云A A Kunming The 云A·V block serves Dongchuan District, which had its own letter until 1998.
云B B Dongchuan Discontinued: the prefecture-level city of Dongchuan was absorbed into Kunming on 6 December 1998.
云C C Zhaotong
云D D Qujing
云E E Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture
云F F Yuxi 云FT is the taxi block.
云G G Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture
云H H Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
云J J Pu'er
云K K Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture
云L L Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture
云M M Baoshan
云N N Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture
云O O Yunnan public security Police series; the 云O·V block belongs to the provincial traffic management bureau.
云P P Lijiang
云Q Q Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture
云R R Dêqên (Diqing) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
云S S Lincang

Yunnan plates: questions people ask

What does 云 mean on a Chinese licence plate?
云 (Yún, "yoon") is the abbreviation for Yunnan. 云 means 'cloud'; 云南 Yúnnán is 'south of the clouds', that is south of the Yunling mountains. The province's literary abbreviation is 滇 Diān, from Lake Dian and the ancient Dian kingdom.
Which city is 云A?
Kunming. The letter A goes to the seat of government in almost every province, and the remaining letters were assigned to the other issuing offices.
How many plate letters does Yunnan use?
18 are recorded here, A to S. A retired or reassigned letter keeps its note in the table.

Related

Sources for Yunnan

  1. Wikipedia (Chinese), 中华人民共和国民用机动车号牌 (Civil motor-vehicle registration plates of the People's Republic of China). Read . Carries the complete province-by-province table of issuing-office letters, with the retired and renumbered series footnoted to Chinese news and public-security sources. Used as a finding aid; wording here is our own.
  2. Wikipedia, Vehicle registration plates of China. Read . English list of prefixes; the article flags its own list as incomplete, so it is used here to cross-check the Chinese table rather than as the primary record.