Geographical Location

Jianchuan County (剑川县; pinyin: Jiànchuān Xiàn) is a county in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture located in western Yunnan Province, China.

It is the north gate of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture,the whole city covers an area of 2250 square kilometers and about 126 kilometers away from Dali City and 464 kilometers away from Kunming.

Introduction

Jianchuan County is a small part of Northwest Yunnan Shangri-La Ecotourism Travel Zone and there are 8 counties under its jurisdiction. It has abundant tourism resources：the Three Parallel Rivers(one world natural heritage), Jinhua Old Town, Sanhe Bai ethnic Village, Jinhua Mountain and Grottoes, Jianhu(Sworld) Lake , Qianshi Moutain, Shibao Mountain, Shaxi Old Town,and Laojun Mountain. It inhibited by 18,000 people and over 6 ethnic groups live here, including Bai, Han, Yi, Hui, Lisu, and Naxi, with the population of Bai making up 92% of the total, so Jianchuan County is also called‘the Hometown of Bai People’.Additionally, Patron God is practiced in Dali Area.Now，Bai people have their own spoken language and use Han characters as their writing system.Many Bai people are good at Han language or Mandrin.The Bai residential architectures are unique.The typical styles are“san fang yi zhao bi”and “si he wu tian jing”.（三坊一照壁，四合五天井）. The Bai people woodcarving technique level is very high in Jianchuan. Carves the work not only has the practical value, also has the very high artistic appreciation value.Moreover Bai people regard white as an honorable color and like to wear white clothes.

Administrative Division

There are 5 Towns and 3 Townships under its jurisdiction：Jinhua Town（金华镇）,Diannan Town(甸南镇),Shaxi Town(沙溪镇),Madeng(马登镇),Laojunshan Town(老君山镇),Yangceng(羊岑乡),Misha Township(弥沙乡),Tuxiang Township(象图乡).

Ethnic Groups

It inhibited by 180,000 people and over 6 ethnic groups live here, including  Bai(92%), Han(2%), Yi(1%), Hui(2%), Lisu(1%), and Naxi(2%).

The major festivals around Jianchuan County include the Torch Festival, Corban Festival, Lesser Bairam,and the Third Month Fair.

Jianchuan County in Yunnan