Xishuangbanna (or
Sipsongpanna, ) is an
autonomous prefecture in
Yunnan Province,
China. The capital city is
Jinghong, the largest settlement in the area and one that straddles the
Lancang River.
Name
The native name
Sípsɔ́ng literally means "twelve".
Pǎnnǎ literally means "thousand rice fields (千亩)". So
Sípsɔ́ŋpǎnnǎ="twelve thousand rice fields".
Administrative subdivisions
Xishuangbanna governs one
county-level city and two
counties.
Geography
The prefecture has an area of 19,700 km². Xishuangbanna is the home of the
Dai people. The region sits at a lower altitude than most of Yunnan, and has a
tropical climate. It is fast becoming a sought after tourist destination.
Biodiversity
Passiflora xishuangbannaensis
Xishuangbanna harbors much of the
biodiversity of Yunnan Province, which harbors much of the biodiversity of China. Its tropical climate and its remoteness until recent times accounts for this. In addition to an abundance of plants, Xishuangbanna is home to the last few
Asian elephants still in China; the species roamed over a large part of the country even as late as a few hundred years ago. The elephants are protected in a reserve, but the plant diversity is threatened by, and has for five decades been threatened by, the proliferation of
rubber plantations which completely destroy the
rainforest and replace it with a
monoculture of trees originally from
Brazil.
Passiflora xishuangbannaensis'' is a recently discovered
passionflower species that is
endemic to Xishuangbanna.
Demographics
With censuses in the year 2000 Xishuangbanna had 993,397 inhabitants with a population density of 50.43 inhabitants per km².
Ethnic groups
The
Blang village of Manpo.
Ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna, 2000 census
Culture
The
Six famous tea mountains region (六大茶山;
pinyin: Liù Dà Chá Shān; literally, "Six major tea mountain") located in the prefecture produce some of the most highly regarded
Pu-erh tea in the 20th century.
Xishuangbanna is rich in nature, historical and cultural resources, noted for its folklore, rain forests, rare plants and wildlife. Its major tourist attractions include Menglun Tropical Botanical Garden, Manfeilong Pagodas (Tanuozhuanglong), Jingzhen Pavilion, Wild Elephant Gully, Dai people's village at Ganlanba.
The well-known traditional festival is the ethnic Dai's
Water-Splashing Festival. It lasts for three days from April 13 to 15. Besides the water festival event it also consists of some other events such as
Dragon boat races, firing of indigenous missiles, flying Kongming Lamps.
Transport
Since the opening of the
Xishuangbanna Gasa Airport (formerly "Jinghong International Airport") in 1990, traveling to Xishuangbanna by air has become more popular and convenient and there are daily flights connecting Xishuangbanna with
Kunming City. The area also has air connections with
Dali,
Chengdu and
Bangkok. The Xishuangbanna Airport is 6 km south of
Jinghong City.
There are also bus routes to places all over
Yunnan and neighboring provinces.
See also
