The full name of Honghe is the Honghe Autonomous Prefecture of Hani and Yi Nationalities. It gets the name because the Honghe River (Red River) flows from the west to the east across the prefecture. Honghe is located in the south of Yunnan province. It’s nearly 300 kilometers to the north of Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan province. It borders on Vietnam in the south with a borderline of more than 800 kilometers. There are 9 ethnic minorities in the prefecture. Among them, the Hani Nationality is one of the characteristic ethnic minorities. The Yi nationality has the smallest population in the prefecture.
Honghe Prefecture is one of the places with abundant tourist resources in Yunnan province. Tropical rainforest, karst formations, plateau, lakes, gorges, “clouds sea”phenomenon and tiers of terraced fields form its unique tourist attractions. It is like a fairyland and a wonder in South China. The terraced fields are encompassed by mist and cloud. They look like the ladders to the paradise. Honghe is a magical and beautiful gem inset in the southern frontier of China.
Although the Honghe prefecture is located in the southern frontier of China, it has been deeply influenced by the culture of the Central Plains since ancient times. A lot of famous human and historic landscapes have formed here. In addition, these landscapes have a rich connotation and special style. They blend perfectly with the culture of the Central Plains together. All these landscapes offer the best scenery in Yunnan.
Area Code: 0873
Postal Code: 661400
Area: 32,931 square kilometers
Nationality: Han, Li, Hani, Miao, Dai, Zhuang, Yao, Hui.
The Capital Town of Honghe: Mengzi
The town of Mengzi is located in the east of the Honghe Autonomous Prefecture of the Yi nationality and southeast of Yunnan Province, covering a total area of 2228 square kilometers. There are 19 nationalities in this area, such as Miao, Zhuang and Hui.The town of Mengzi has a population of 390,080 thousand in total. Since Mengzi is on the plateau at low latitude, it has a subtropical monsoon climate. The annual average temperature is 18.6℃ and the annual average sunshine time is 2,234 hours. Mengzi is pervaded by places of historic interest and scenic beauty, including the tomb of Cao Shigui (who was the governor of Taiwan Province in the Qing Dynasty), the leased territory ruins which was appraised as the important protection unit of cultural relic of the province, the station of Bise zhai, the Yuanshidong which was under the important protection of cultural relic of the province, ,the martyrs’ cemetery in memory of martyrs and the site of the 1st Congress of the Yunnan Provincial Communist Committee.
From the geographic aspect, Mengzi has very important position in Yunnan. It is the gateway of China’s southwestern area and the countries of Indo-China Peninsula, so that Mengzi is celebrated as one of the three logistic centers of Yunnan Province. Besides, the strategic position of Mengzi is also important. Since there have always been a large number of garrisons in Mengzi through the ages, the town has been hailed “China’s Soldier Town”. In the year 1915, in Mengzi, the famous Chinese general Zhu De headed the troops to crusade against against Yuan Shikai (who wanted restoration of a dethroned monarch).
Mengzi has a long history of 2,110 years and flourishing culture. There used to be human beings inhabited here thousands of years ago. At present, there is one site which has been listed as important cultural relic sites under state-level protection by the Central Government, six sites which have been appraised as the important protection unit of cultural relic of the province and three patriotism education bases. Through thousands of years, Mengzi became richer and richer in multi-cultural heritages, including the cultures of borderland, central plains, communist party and western world, making Mengzi have great potentiality of development.
Mengzi has a wide stretch of land and a great variety of natural resources, making Mengzi a great place for living and pioneering work. Mengzi is the home of the famous Yunnan Bridge-crossing rice noodles, one of the six pomegranate producers and one of China’s top 10 agricultural tourist demonstration centers. Now Mengzi meets a large number of great opportunities of development, such as Great Western Development policy and the project of the ASEAN’s (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) free trade zone. By the year 2020, Mengzi is planned to become a modern garden town with beautiful environment, distinctive characteristics, flourishing culture and marvelous living conditions in southern Yunnan.