Geographical Location

The area of Tengchong 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 Gaoligong Mountain, 3,780.2 m (12,402 ft) above sea level and the lowest point, 930 m (3,050 ft) above sea level, is in the Suqingjiang valley. The elevation of the city seat is 1,640 m (5,380 ft).The crustal movement in the city is active and earthquakes are frequent. The volcanoes on Dayingshan, Shitoushan, the Greater Heikongshan, the Lesser Heikong Mountains erupted repeatedly. The city 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.

Introduction

Tengchong (simplified Chinese: 腾冲市; traditional Chinese: 騰沖市; pinyin: Téngchōng Xiàn) is a county-level city of Baoshan City, western Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. According to the fifth census data, the county has a total population of 593925 people. It is well known for its volcanic activity. The city is named after the town of Tengchong which serves as its political center, previoulsy known as Tengyue(Chinese: 腾越镇; pinyin: Téngyuè zhèn) in Chinese. English language sources of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries use names such as Tingyueh, Teng Yueh, Momein, and Momien, these last two from the name for the place in the Shan language.

It borders with Burma in the northwest for 151 km (94 mi). By road, it is 650 km (400 mi) west of the provincial capital, Kunming, and 170 km (110 mi) westward from Baoshan's urban area.Tengchong marks the southwestern terminus of the Heihe-Tengchong Line.

Administrative Division

Tengchong county’s jurisdiction is over 5 towns, 13 townships: Tengyue Town(腾越镇） ，Gudong Town(固东镇），Diantan Town(滇滩镇），Heshun Town(和顺镇），Houqiao Town(猴桥镇），Jietou Township(界头乡），Qushi Township(曲石乡），Mingguang Township(明光乡），Mazhan Township(马站乡），Daju Township(打苴乡），Zhonghe Township(中和乡），Qingshui Township(清水乡）， Mangbang Township(芒棒乡），Wuhe Township(五合乡），Xinhua Township(新华乡），Puchuan Township(蒲川乡），Tuantian Township(团田乡），Hehua Dai and Wa Township(荷花傣族佤族乡）.

Ethnic Groups

Tengchong is home to around 46 thousand people who belong to ethnic minorities such as the Lisu, Dai, Wa, Achang, Hui and other groups, distributed over 18 towns and 94 villages in Tengchong County. Members of minority groups account for 7% of the total population of the county are and scattered over 40% of its total living area. Among them, there are 17,580 Lisu people who mainly live in towns and villages like Houqiao, Mingguang, Diantan, and Zhonghe, then there are the Dai people who live in towns and villages like Hehua, Wuhe, Tuantian, Puchuan, etc., with a population of 15,196. There are also 3,336 Wa people, who mostly live in Hehua and Qingshui township. There are 1,663 Achang people live in Xinhua and Puchuan Township. In towns and villages like Tengyue and Mangbang, Hui people live, with a population of 8,733.

The dominant ethnic group in Tengchong County are the Han, in other words, Tengchong is a Han dominated Frontier County. Although they account for only 7% of the total population, the minorities in Tengchong stand out with their rich history, culture and folk customs. These minorities have two distinctive common features: the first one is that most minorities in Tengchong are cross-border minorities. For example, Lisu, Dai, Wa, Achang and so can be found in Myanmar, these cross-border minorities would interact in daily life, many of them even have relatives on the other sides. The second feature is their area of residence. Most commonly, minority groups like Lisu and Achang can be found living in cold mountainous areas and upper level areas, whereas the Dai and Hui live in valley areas and flatlands. This kind of distribution structure can be found in other places as well, as generally speaking, Lisu, Achang and Wa are typical ethnic groups of the mountainous region, whereas the Dai are valley people and the Hui are much more commercialized.

Springs and Jade

Tengchong is a town surrounded by volcanoes. Starting from Baoshan city, and climbing over the Gaoligong Mountain, the China to India highway, built half a century ago, leads you to Tengchong Basin. In the distance you can see dozens of volcanoes, large and small, with dense trees growing around them. Located on the border of the Europe-Asia continental plate, Tengchong has witnessed many activities of the earth's crust. Since 1500, there have been over 70 earthquakes in the area measuring 5 and over on the Richter scale. The Daying Mountain volcano has erupted many times. Ma'an Mountain consists of three volcanoes, some of which have formed lakes. Tengchong has the best well-preserved volcano groups from the Cenozoic Era in China.

Over 80 vapor springs and hot springs are scattered around the volcanoes, making this the second largest vapor field in China. The famous Yihong Hot Lake is one of the biggest hot spring lakes in China, covering a total area of10 square kilometers. The most magnificent Dagunguo (boiling pan) Hot Spring, 6.12 meters in diameter and 1.5 meters deep, has a water temperature of 96.6 degrees centigrade, and resembles a pan of boiling water, sending steam high into the sky. The Hamazui Fountain, with a water temperature of 95.5 degrees centigrade, looks like two frogs spraying out hot spring water. Pearl Spring is a pool of water with hundreds of spray holes in the bottom sending out pearl-like strings of hot bubbling water.

Other spectacular sights include Huaitaijing, Gumingquan, Xiaogunguo and Yanjingquan springs and waterfalls. Hot springs in the adjacent Longling County are also popular with visitors because of their medicinal effects on the human body.

Tengchong County has been an important connecting link between southwest China and both India and Myanmar since ancient times. Business is brisk here. The Heshun Township is the well-known hometown of many overseas Chinese. In1944, an anti-Japanese-invasion war broke out here. A martyry was built near the county town where the soldier who died in the war were buried. Tengchong is famous for producing traditional Chinese herbal medicines, Xuan paper (high quality paper for traditional Chinese painting) and rattan work, which are famous throughout Southeast Asia. The jade processing industry has been centered here in Tengchong for over 500 years. Local people work jadeite into bracelets, ear-rings and many other decorations. The local Duanjia, Wangjia, Qiluo and Zhengkun jade works (jade works named after the makers) are all well known at home and abroad.

Tengchong County in Yunnan Province

Location of Tengchong (pink) in Baoshan City (yellow) and Yunnan
Tengchong Location of the seat in Yunnan
Coordinates: 25°01′N 98°29′ECoordinates: 25°01′N 98°29′E
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 [1]
• Total	620,000
• Density	110/km2 (270/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	679100
Area code(s)	0875
Website	http://www.tengchong.gov.cn/
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