Tengchong

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Location of Tengchong County (pink) in Baoshan (yellow)
God restoration in Heshun near Tengchong

Tengchong ( Chinese  騰衝 市  /  腾冲 市 , Pinyin Téngchōng Shì ) is a county-level city that is formally directly subordinate to the provincial level of the Yunnan provincial government, but is administered by the prefecture -level city of Baoshan ( 保山 市 ) in the Chinese province of Yunnan and by the District administration in the large municipality of Tengyue ( 騰越 鎮  /  腾越 镇 , Téngyuè Zhèn ) is governed.

The circle lies at 1,655 m above sea ​​level and is one of the endpoints of the Heihe-Tengchong line , which begins in Heihe (in Heilongjiang Province ). It has an area of ​​5,845 km² and around 620,000 inhabitants (2004).

Administrative structure

Tengchong County consists of five large parishes, twelve parishes, and one nationality parish. These are:

Ethnic breakdown of the population of Tengchong (2000)

In the 2000 census, Tengchong had 593,925 residents.

Name of the people Residents proportion of
Han 551.754 92.9%
Lisu 12,792 2.15%
Dai 12,698 2.14%
Hui 6,607 1.11%
Bai 2,814 0.47%
Va 2,390 0.4%
Achang 1,801 0.3%
Jingpo 1,617 0.27%
Yi 611 0.1%
Others 841 0.14%

Historical overview

Tengchong is known in China for its past as a long-distance trading center and an important station on the southern Silk Road ( 南絲 路  /  南丝 路 , Nán Sīlù ) to nearby Burma and India. In the 19th century, the importance of the place was reflected, among other things, by the fact that the British government was represented by a consulate in Tengchong , as the trade between Tengchong and the then British Burma was of great importance.

During World War II, Tengchong was an area of activity for the flights of the Flying Tigers ( 飛虎隊  /  飞虎队 , Fēihǔduì ), an American squadron that led the aerial battle against the Japanese during the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia.

The old town Tengchongs , "Tengyue" ( 騰越  /  腾越 , Tengyue ) was in the Second World War, during fighting between the Japanese occupiers and local resistance forces in the Second Sino-Japanese War almost completely destroyed. In recent years, parts of the old town have been reconstructed in the traditional architectural style.

economy

In addition to the traditionally dominant agriculture in Tengchong County , industry and services play a comparatively small but increasingly important role. In Tengyue itself there are only a few businesses of more than local importance, including a pharmaceutical factory and a factory for the Tengchong rice noodles , the so-called ersi ( 餌絲  /  饵丝 , ěrsī ) , which are popular in the province .

Handling jade from Myanmar is an important part of the service sector. The place describes itself as the most important jade city in China ( 中國 第一 翡翠城  /  中国 第一 翡翠城  - "China's Jade City No. 1"). The range of jade of any quality and processing is correspondingly extensive. The trade and processing of gemstones such as rubies and sapphires from Myanmar is also important.

Tourism in Tengchong is developing very positively . The district has an abundance of sights that are increasingly being marketed nationwide and becoming more and more popular. With a successful balanced emphasis on the ecological and historical aspect, which is rarely found in China, the district's tourist resources have been developed to a high standard: The Tengchong district is committed to ecotourism and values ​​the preservation of the natural and historical environment.

Tourism and transport

The flagship of ecotourism is the Gaoligong Shan ( 高黎貢山  /  高黎贡山 , Gāolígòng Shān Zaiwa Gauri Gvong) mountain range in the district, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In this remote foothills of the Himalayas there is a unique flora with many plants that are only endemic here .

Gaoligongshan

Some other natural features of the district are the nationwide unique volcano park ( 火山 公園  /  火山 公园 , Huǒshān Gōngyuán ), in which one can climb the peaks of a series of dormant volcanoes, the Beihai wetland ( 北海 濕 地  /  北海 湿 地 , Běihǎi Shīdì ) as well as the 40 meter high Dishuihe waterfall in the middle of the urban area of Tengchong .

Many guests from the region and from all over China are attracted to the tastefully designed thermal baths with sulfur springs and geysers in Rehai ( 騰衝 熱 海 溫泉  /  腾冲 热 海 温泉 , Téngchōng Rèhǎi Wēnquán ), a few kilometers outside Tengchong .

Geyser at Rehai

Another well-known attraction is the historic village of Heshun ( 和順 古鎮  /  和顺 古镇 , Hèshùn Gǔzhèn ), an open-air museum in a charming landscape, where guests can visit a number of manorial houses of former long-distance merchant dynasties, ancestral altars and temples. In Heshun, there is the largest private village library in China in the building of the Old Library ( 和順 圖書館  /  和顺 图书馆 , Hèshùn Túshūguǎn ) and the house of Mao Zedong's philosophy teacher , Ai Siqi ( 艾思奇 故居 , Ài Sīqí Gùjū ).

A number of ethnic minorities such as Hui , Achang , Dai, and Lisu live in the Tengchong County area . In Tengchong you can often see members of the minorities going about their everyday business in traditional costumes. There are often performances of traditional dances and minority ceremonies in the city.

Since the opening of the Tuofeng Airport regional airport ( 騰衝 駝峰 機場  /  腾冲 驼峰 机场 ) in April 2009, Tengchong's transport links to the rest of China have improved enormously. The county seat can now be reached the fastest by plane via the airport of the provincial capital Kunming with direct flights. The flight time is about 50 minutes. Previously, only Dehong-Mangshi Airports ( 德宏 芒市 機場  /  德宏 芒市 机场 ) in the urban district of Mang in Dehong Autonomous District and Yunduan Airport ( 保山 雲 瑞 機場  /  保山 云端 机场 ) in Baoshan were the closest airports. The travel time by bus to Tengchong from Dehong-Mangshi Airport is approximately three hours and from Baoshan Airport it is approximately four hours. The newly built Tengchong airport is expected to be served by other Chinese airports (including Beijing , Chengdu , Guangzhou and Shanghai ) and internationally (e.g. Yangon / Rangoon in Myanmar) in the near future .

Tengchong does not currently have a railway connection ; however, the establishment of a railway line to western Yunnan is being discussed. You can also travel to Tengchong by bus from the provincial capital, Kunming. The travel time is 12 hours. There are day and night connections on the route.

Specialties

In the province of Yunnan, Tengchong is known for its specialties, especially small dishes for in between. Mostly made from grain snacks like Ersi ( 餌絲  /  饵丝 ) Juanfen ( 卷 粉 ), Xidoufen Baba ( 細 豆粉 粑粑  /  细 豆粉 粑粑 ), Cafen ( 擦粉 ) and Kaobaba ( 烤 粑粑 ) are served with a variety of Garnished with ingredients that give the snacks considerable spiciness. Popular ingredients are, for example, coriander, onions, chilli oil, chilli powder, Sichuan pepper oil, poppy seed oil, sesame oil, roasted coriander stinks (soaked in oil), roasted peanuts, etc.

Other typical specialties and bases for dishes of the diverse local cuisine are, for example, Jizong , a tree mushroom, and Zongbao , a bitter-tasting conifer fruit . The local specialty silk hen is often used for meat dishes ( 烏雞  /  乌鸡 , wūjī ).

In general, hearty, spicy and sour dishes predominate in local cuisine. Some dishes with a bitter taste are also popular, while sweet dishes are rare. Vinegar and various oils are used in abundance.

Local dishes are usually refined with a variety of local spices, some of which are only available locally. One example is opium poppy seeds , which because of their relationship to heroin production outside of Tengchong County cannot be owned unroasted and are also hardly to be found. In Tengchong, however, the seeds are a common ingredient in food.

Drug trafficking

Due to its border location with Myanmar , a producer of heroin and opiates, the district is a major transit area for drug trafficking. The number of drug addicts in Tengchong is also above average.

Passport and identity checks by the Chinese border police therefore take place on all major thoroughfares, some of them far from the border.

literature

Web links

Coordinates: 25 ° 2 '  N , 98 ° 29'  E