Tengchong
Tengchong County
腾冲 | |
|---|---|
| 腾冲县 | |
 A market in central Tengchong. | |
.png) Location of Tengchong County (pink) within Baoshan City (yellow), Yunnan province, and China | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Province | Yunnan |
| Prefecture-level city | Baoshan |
| Area | |
| • Total | 5,845 km2 (2,257 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,667 m (5,469 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 620,000 |
| • Density | 110/km2 (270/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Postal code | 679100 |
| Area code | 0875 |
| Website | http://www.tengchong.gov.cn/ |
| Yunnan Portal | |
Tengchong County (simplified Chinese: 腾冲县; traditional Chinese: 騰沖縣; pinyin: Téngchōng Xiàn) is a county of Baoshan City, western Yunnan province, Southwest China. It is well known for its volcanic activity. The name has also been given in English language sources of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as Tingyueh, Teng Yueh and Momein.
It borders with Burma in the northwest for 151 kilometres (94 mi). By road, it is 650 kilometres (400 mi) west of the provincial capital, Kunming, and 170 kilometres (110 mi) westward from Baoshan's urban area.
Tengchong marks the southwestern terminus of the Heihe-Tengchong Line.
History
Tengchong is one of the earliest developed regions in SW China. In the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 24), it belonged to Yizhoujun Prefecture. In the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties, a contemporary prefecture governed by a local chieftain was set up. In the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), Tengyue Prefecture was instituted. In the following dynasties, different administrative offices were set up. In 1913, Tengchong was made a county. In history, it occupied an important position on the Southwestern Silk Route. The Sichuan cloth and bamboo sticks available at the markets in Bactria (including Afghanistan and parts of India) were brought there from the ancient Bonan Route through Tengchong. From the Ming Dynasty on, large numbers of Tengchong people went abroad to trade and seek a livelihood.The city grew wealthy from trade with Burma and South East Asia due to its proximity to Mandalay across the Burmese border. At one point the British forces in British-occupied Burma established a trading post in the town with hopes of generating wealth through trade with China. During WW2 the area around Tengchong was the scene of fierce battles between the Japanese, invading from occupied Burma, and the combined Chinese forces of nationalists and communists aided by American fighter squadrons. After the Chinese government had relocated to Sichuan from fallen Nanjing there were grave concerns that if Yunnan fell, Japanese access to Sichuan would become relatively easy, forcing a new and cumbersome relocation, hence large forces were deployed to stop the Japanese army.
Geography
The area of Tengchong county is 5,693 square kilometres (2,198 sq mi).
Situated at the southwestern end of the (transversely faulted) Hengduan Mountains, Tengchong topographically assumes the form of a horseshoe with the opening facing the south. The eastern most sources of the Irrawaddy issue from the high mountains in the is the summit of Mount Danaozi of Gaoligongshan Mountain, 3,780.2 m above sea level and the lowest point, 930 m above sea level, is in the Suqingjiang valley. The elevation of the county seat is 1,640 m.
The crustal movement in the county is active and earthquakes are frequent. The volcanoes on Dayingshan, Shitoushan, the Greater Heikongshan, the Lesser Heikongshan Mountains erupted repeatedly. The county seat is surrounded by a group of young volcanoes.
As is the case for most of Yunnan, Tengchong has many different ethnicites living in and around the town. Han, Dai and Lisu are dominant but also Tibetans, Bai, Aini and people with Burmese ancestry are plentiful.
Climate
Tengchong County has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb), with mild temperatures year-round, an annual mean temperature of 14.9 °C (58.8 °F) and rainfall of 1,480 millimetres (58 in). Winter is dry and features abundant sunshine, and the days remain mild, though the lows at night can drop below freezing. The daily mean temperature in January is 7.8 °C (46.0 °F). Summer is extremely humid, with sustained periods of rain that sometimes turns heavy. August, the warmest month, averages 19.8 °C (67.6 °F).
| Climate data for Tengchong County (1971–2000) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 16.4 (61.5) |
18.0 (64.4) |
21.2 (70.2) |
23.0 (73.4) |
24.1 (75.4) |
23.6 (74.5) |
23.2 (73.8) |
24.3 (75.7) |
24.1 (75.4) |
22.6 (72.7) |
19.6 (67.3) |
17.2 (63.0) |
21.4 (70.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0.9 (33.6) |
2.4 (36.3) |
5.4 (41.7) |
9.5 (49.1) |
13.5 (56.3) |
16.9 (62.4) |
17.3 (63.1) |
17.1 (62.8) |
16.1 (61.0) |
12.3 (54.1) |
6.8 (44.2) |
2.4 (36.3) |
10.1 (50.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 15.7 (0.62) |
30.3 (1.19) |
39.8 (1.57) |
75.5 (2.97) |
128.5 (5.06) |
285.9 (11.26) |
278.7 (10.97) |
249.1 (9.81) |
159.9 (6.30) |
144.2 (5.68) |
48.6 (1.91) |
21.8 (0.86) |
1,478 (58.19) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 4.3 | 6.5 | 9.7 | 16.3 | 18.6 | 26.0 | 28.5 | 26.2 | 21.1 | 14.8 | 7.1 | 3.5 | 182.6 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 71 | 67 | 65 | 71 | 78 | 88 | 90 | 88 | 87 | 84 | 79 | 75 | 79 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 243.6 | 210.1 | 221.3 | 191.1 | 174.9 | 93.7 | 73.6 | 111.2 | 130.0 | 175.6 | 212.3 | 243.4 | 2,080.8 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration | |||||||||||||
Economy
Tengchong's industry and handicraft work were fostered during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, nearly 400 years ago. Factories and workshops were set up first by importing equipment from abroad. Earlier products included textile goods, leather, soaps, battery, cigarettes, matches, etc. They found market in West Yunnan and Burma and Southeast Asian countries. Since the founding of the People's Republic, a more complete industrial system was formed, comprising 32 departments like power generating, metallurgy, machinery, paper making, textile industry, matches production, pharmacy, tanning, chemical industry, sugar refining, tea leaves refining, food processing, etc. The major products include refined tin, pig iron, crude lead, timber, plywood, cement, refractory, diatomite filtration promoter, sulphuric acid, caustic soda, hydrochlorite potassium chlorate, calcium phdrogen phosphate, paper, canesugar, refined tea leaves, preserved fruits, edible oil, matches, Chinese medicine, etc. The matches, Chinese medicine, refined tin, refined tea leaves and the "xuanzhi" (a high quality writing paper originally produced in Xuancheng) enjoy high reputation abroad.
In agriculture, Tengchong produces grain and oil crops, tobacco, tea leaves, sugarcane, etc. The production of tobacco has a history of more than 400 years. Tengchong tobacco, cultivated on the volcanic mountain slopes is of excellent quality and therefore used as a blend. The Chuanlong tea leaves and large-sized tea leaves sell particularly well.
Tengchong is known for its jade culture and for its geothermal springs and the Lisu ethnic group. The city has actually grown into the biggest processing and trade center of jadeite in Southeast Asia. While you can find some craftsmen processing jadeite at the huge jadeite market, to get a taste of the local culture, visit the Hehua (Lotus Flower) Township near the city. At the Hehua (Lotus Flower) Township near the city there are craftsmen processing jadeite at the huge jadeite market. Du Maosheng is the chairman of the Tengchong Jewelry and Jade Association.
Natural resources
The county abounds in geothermal energy. There are over 80 steaming fountain hot streams and boiling fountains. Ten of them spout hot water of 90 C and upward. Natural resources are plentiful. There are over 2,000 higher plants. Among the economic and timber forests, there are forests of oil tea, catalpa, common China-fir, Armandi pine, walnut. The percentage of forest cover reaches 34.6% of the county. Ornamental and medicinal plants exist in great quantities. The blossoms of the rhododendrons on Gaoligongshan Mountain are exceptionally large. The Gaoligong Nature Reserve, renowned as a natural botanical garden, has over 1,400 species of higher plants, many rare and precious animals and medicinal plants. The area is the origin of R. giganteum forest at Tagg (a special rhododendron species) and Yunnan camellia.
Mineral resources include iron, tin, lead, zinc, wolfram, uranium, diatomite, rock crystal. Wollastonite, lignite, and others.
Transport
Tengchong is 760 km (470 mi) from Kunming. Bus and flights are both available to and from Kunming. There are daily buses to Dali, Ruili, Manche and Xishuangbanna. Daily flights to Chengdu in Sichuan as well as several daily flights from Beijing (stop-over in Kunming) have begun since the new airport opened.
Airport
Tengchong Tuofeng Airport went into service in early 2009. The airport is located at Tuofeng village, 12 kilometers from Tengchong County. In memory of the Hump Route, an air route which contributed much to the victory in the west Yunnan theater during the war against Japan, Tengchong airport is named Hump Airport. The road to the airport is named the "Flying Tigers Road" in memory of the American pilots who flew the route. The total investment in the airport is to be around RMB430 million ($54.69 million). The major investors of the project are the Yunnan Airports Group, Yunnan Guangfang Group and Tengchong government who will contribute at a proportion 46 percent, 40 percent and 10 percent respectively. The airport itself is located on a mountain plateau surrounded by peaks. Takeoffs and landings offer beautiful views but can be quite unnerving.[2]
Energy generation
Tourism
For 2005, the county received 3.3 million tourists, with the majority of them visitors from within the province.
Various traditional villages around the town have been developed as tourist attractions. The village of Heshun features impressive architecture that was built with wealth from multi-generational trading families who sent children to Burma. A large but seasonal fresh water wetland to the north attracts bird-watchers and nature-lovers, and tourists also visit a commercially developed volcanic park to the south. The recently constructed airport has brought an increase in domestic tourism. Routes to Sichuan and Beijing (over Kunming) have proved popular and the city predicts double the amount of annual visitors over the next 5 years. Several golf courses are in the planning stages and at least 1 is currently open for business, a 54 hole course located 5 kilometers outside of town. Several massive real estate projects are under construction aimed at selling second homes to domestic visitors. A little further from Tengchong you can visit "The Temple in the Sky" located high on a mountain which on perfect days will have a cloud cover located below it.
Local products
The famous local products include jade articles, Chinese medicine, 'xuanzhi" paper, dried rice noodles, tea oil, small hats of split bamboo, preserved vegetables, articles of rattan work, etc.
Conservation Carbon Project
The Conservation Carbon Project was set up by Conservation International, Nature Conservancy and Yunnan Forestry Department to restore forests and create sustainable livelihoods in the county.
See also
- Heihe-Tengchong Line
- Chinese jade
- Gaoligongshan Mountain
- Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas - Unesco World Heritage Site
References
- Beyond the Wall, China Daily 2008-10-06
Further reading
- Three active volcanoes in China and their hazards; Journal of Asian Earth Sciences; Volume 21, Issue 5, February 2003, Pages 515-526