Geographical Location

Simao District (Chinese: 思茅区; pinyin: Sīmáo Qū; formerly known as Cuiyun District) is a district under the jurisdiction of Pu'er Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. It is the seat of Puer Prefecture. Formerly both Simao and the surrounding region of Pu'er prefecture played a major role in the historic tea horse trade between Yunnan, Tibet and India, with Simao acting as the southern terminus or starting point for the transport of tea by mule caravan north to Dali, Lijiang and Lhasa. Tea remains a central crop and product of the region. In 2007, the city of Simao (思茅市) changed its name to Puer city (普洱市). By doing so, it has had an effect the size of the official Pu’er (普洱) tea production area.

Introduction

Pu'er (Chinese: 普洱) is a prefecture-level city in southern Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. The name Pu'er dates back to 1729, but was changed to Simao (Chinese: 思茅) in 1950 after the Communist Revolution. In 2007, the original name of Pu'er was restored. This change had an effect on the size of the official Pu'er tea production area, a major regional product. The urban administrative center of Pu'er is Simao District, which is also the former name of the prefecture-level city itself. A major downturn in the price of tea in 2007 caused severe economic distress in the area. The price of Pu'er has since recovered and Pu'er tea still contributes much to the income of the area.

Administrative Division

Simao District consists of 4 towns, 3 townships: Simao Town(思茅镇),Nanping Town(南屏镇), Yixiang Town (倚象镇), Simaogang Town (思茅港镇), Longtang Yi and Dai Township(龙潭彝族傣族乡), Yunxian Yi Township (云仙彝族乡), Liushun Town Township (六顺乡).

Ethnic Groups

In Simao District, the Bulang (population 272 as of 1990) live near the junction of the Xiaohei River 小黑江 and Lancang River 澜沧江, in the villages of Guanzhai 官寨, Tuanliangzi 团梁子, Mangbang 芒蚌, Mangba 芒坝, etc., in a total of 6 villages (Simao Prefecture Almanac 1993:480).

Simao District in Pu’er Prefecture

Simao 思茅区
District
Location of Simao District (pink) and Pu'er Prefecture (yellow) within Yunnan province of China
SimaoLocation within Yunnan, China
Coordinates: 22°46′51″N 100°58′30″E
Country	China
Province	Yunnan
Prefecture	Pu'er
GB/T 2260 CODE	530802
Township divisions	7
Area
• Total	3,928 km2(1,517 sq mi)
Elevation	1,370.9 m (4,497.7 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	255,500
• Density	65/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard Time(UTC+8)
Postal code	665000
Area code(s)	0879
Website	www.simao.gov.cn