Luxi County - The Home Of Zhefang Rice

Luxi County lies in the west of the Lujiang River in West Yunnan. "Lu-" is the short for the Lujiang (Nujiang, the upper section of the Salween) River and "-xi" means the west. The county has an area of 2,892 square kilometres, the level lands accounting for 15% and mountains 85%. It borders on Burma in the south with a boundary of 68.23 kilometres. It is 792 kilometres away from the provincial seat Kunming which lies in its east. The county town Mangshi, concurrently the prefectural seat of the Dehong Autonomous Prefecture, had a population of 254 thousand people of the Dai, Jingpo, De'ang, Lisu, Achang and Han nationalities.

The topographical features of the county can be summed up in one sentence: The county, with 80 percent of its total area being mountains and 20 percent level lands, has 3 mountains, 2 basins and 1 river. Two of the 3 mountains encircle the county from north to south and the third stretches across in the middle, making up 2 basins. The river refers to the mangshi River, the longest one, flowing from northeast to southwest. The highest point, Qingkou Mountain, is 2,889 metres above sea level and the lowest point, the outlet of the Manxing River, 528 metres above sea level.

In fact, the mountain system in the county belongs to a branch of the Gaoligong Mountain Range that stretches westwards. This branch divides into two subbranches at the boundary between Longling County and Luxi County and then the two subbranches enter the latter. The eastern subbranch consists of Huataoling, Qingkou, Heihe Laopo and Liangshan Mountains. The western subbranch consists of Beiyinshan, Dadianhebei and Laopianpo Mountains. Santaishan Mountain lies across the county in the middle.

Apart form the Longjiang River that flows along the county's boundary with Lianghe County and Longchuan County, and the Irrawaddy River that flows along its boundary with Burma, the hydrographic net consists of over 80 rivers and streams with names, excluding those without. The major ones are the Man shihe, the Xuangan and the Gelang Rivers that flow into the Irrawaddy and the Nujiang respectively. The longest one is the mangshi River, the section within the county being about 90 kilometres long.

The climate belongs to a South Asian tropical monsoon type characterized by a long summer and a short winter, great humidity and heat, long sunny hours, temperature with small annual differences and great daily differences, clear distinction between the dry season and the rainy season, abundant rainfall, etc. The average annual temperature is 19.5 Centigrade. The favorable conditions in great heat can well satisfy the needs of cultivating two or three crops in a year and growing plants with heat affinity. The moisture content is also favorable. The average annual rainfall is 1,653 mm. The rainfall in the rainy season (from May to October) accounts for 89.9% of the annual total. July and August are particularly wet.

Historically, Luxi County was a part of Alias in the West Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 8). It belonged to Yongchang Prefecture in the East Han Dynasty (25-220). It remained under the jurisdiction of Ailao County from the Period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280), up to the Period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589). In the Nanzhao period (649-937) of the Tang Dynasty, it was controlled by the satrap of Yongchang. In the period of Dali Kingdom (937-1253) in the Song Dynasty, it was a part of the Jinchi tribe. In the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), it was under the Jinchi Department of Pacification and Mollification. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it was governed by the mangshi Administrator under the Yunnan Chief Administrator. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it was placed successively under the mangshi Department of Pacification and Mollification, the Zhefang Deputy Chief of Pacification and Mollification and the Mengban Local Chief over a Thousand Households in Yongchang Prefecture. In the 4th year of the Republic (1914), the Man-Zhe-Ban Administrative Commission was set up to govern the three places of mangshi, Zhefang and Mengban In 1932, the Luxi Bureau of Local Administration was set up and existed until 1949 when Luxi County was instituted.

The mineral resources of the county include tin, lead, zinc, iron, sulphur, phosphorus, coal, mercury, marble, etc. Their deposits are yet to be ascertained. The waterpower resources are estimated to be about 240 thousand kw. The mangshi River (especially its upper section), the Guangsha River, the Gelang River and the Wanma River all abound in waterpower resources, for all these rivers have high heads of water. Geothermal energy resources are widely dispersed over the county. Sixteen hot springs have been found, the temperature of the water being about 40C.

Botanical resources are very abundant. There are over 100 species of commercial trees among which T. flousiana Caussen (bald China fir) is listed among the first class plants under the state protection. Listed among the second class plants under the state protection are Ceylon ironwood, arboreal fern, wild tea trees, rhododendron, Chinese pistache, Yunnan camellia, etc. Among the third class plants under the state protection are D. fusca Pierre, nanmu (Phoebe nanmu), T. ciliata Roem., etc. There are over 40 species of bamboo in the county, over 230 species of medicinal plants (ascertained), and many kinds of wild plants, such as the wild rice, wild sugarcane, etc. Dwelling on the mountains are such wild animals and birds as red deer, leopards, boa constrictors, monkey-faced eagles, pangolins, green peacocks, jungle fowl, etc.

The staple agricultural output is cereals, such as rice, wheat, corn, beans, etc. Cash crops consist of sugarcane, tea, rubber, pineapples, "sharen" (Fructus amoni), etc. Luxi rice enjoys equal reputation with Zhefang rice all over China.

The County's industry has developed from a few blacksmiths and small workshops in the early fifties into a preliminary industrial system which includes sugar refining (the major branch), agricultural machines and tools manufacturing, coal mining, rubber processing, building materials, chemical engineering for daily use, power generating, papermaking, printing, canning, tea leaves processing, carpentry, tanning, foodstuff and oil crop processing, etc. The red tea and canned pineapple are exported. The leather gloves sell well as far as in Sweden.

Communications are convenient. The famous Burma Road stretches across the county. mangshi, the county town, is linked with Kunming, the provincial seat, by regular highway and aviation traffic.