Geographical Location

Xiangyun County (祥云县; pinyin: Xiángyún Xiàn) is a county in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture located in western Yunnan Province, China. The whole city covers an area of 2425 square kilometers and about 52 kilometers away from Dali City and 282 kilometers away from Kunming.

Introduction

The legend of the “southern source of the clouds”

The name of Yunnan province is usually translated by “South of the Clouds”. A legend linked to the village of Yunnanyi itself and that dates back to the Han dynasty (200 BC – 220 AD) tells us otherwise.Two thousand years ago, the emperor Han Wudi (汉武帝) wanted to know where clouds formed. He sent a group of his best men to the south of the empire. When they arrived in the village of Yunnanyi, they saw clouds forming over the Longxinghe mountain range. To them, the clouds (彩云) came into existence in the south (南现) and Yunnanyi was named the “southern source of the clouds” (云南之源).

In the west of beautiful Yunnan province, there is a place rich in fruits named Xiangyun. It has a long history and splendid culture. As the earliest place named “Yunnan”　(the place to the south of the colorful cloud), Yunnanyi in Xiangyun is the former site of “Yunnan County” of the West Han Dynasty and “Yunnan Prefecture” of the Wei and Jin Dynasties. In the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Yizhan (remount or post stations) were set up here, so it is named “Yunnan Yi”. Due to its significant geographic location, Yunnanyi used to be contested in warfare because it can connect Dali, Chengdu, Kunming, South and West Yunnan,so the transportation in Xiangyun is very convenient, only 50 kilometers away from Dali Airport. It is one of the earliest opening-up regions in Yunnan province.Xiangyun County has 2425 square kilometers land area and 471,600 population. It is rich in tourism resources, has good development prospects.The major scenic spots:Ynannanyi Ancient Town,Erhai Ercheng Town,Qinghua Cave,Qinghai Lake, Shuimu Mountain,Erhai Acroplis,Tinghua Cave,,Tianhua Mountain,and Tianfeng Mountain.There is no hot summer and cold winter in this place.You can visit here any time you want.

Administrative Division

There are 8 Towns and 2 Townships under its jurisdiction：Xiangcheng Town(祥城镇),ShalongTown(沙龙镇),Yunnanyi Town(云南驿镇),Xiazhuang Town(下庄镇),Pupeng Town(普淜镇),Liuchang Town(刘厂镇),Hedian Town(禾甸镇),Midian Town(米甸镇),Luming Township(鹿鸣乡),Dongshan Yi Ethnic Township(东山彝族乡).

Ethnic Groups

It inhibited by 471,600 people and over 6 ethnic groups live here, including  Bai(9.3%),Han(82.97%),Yi(7.2%),Hui(0.11%),Lisu(0.24%),Miao(0.18%).

The major festivals around Binchuan County include the Torch Festival,Dumb God Day,Song Festival in Tianfeng Mountain,AA Festival.