Baoshan and Tengchong

Beyond Xiaguan,the most important post on the Burma Road was Baoshan. Established as Yongchang in 69 A.D., its site was a natural selection, for Baoshan lies on the largest plain in western Yunnan, at a comfortable altitude of 1670 metres. Baoshan and Tengchong, the last posts in Yunnan on the ancient Southwest Silk Route, were the furthest extension of Han immigration prior to the Ming Dynasty.After the Mongols were cleared out of Yunnan the Ming rulers not only encouraged immigration to the prefecture, they forcibly transferred members of the Cuan clans in Qujing, distrusting their pre-Mongol connections with Dali.

The immediate hills and high valleys around both Baoshan and Tengchong are also the home of Han settlers. Except for the Hui, the prefecture's ethnic minorities mostly live in the mountains between these two cities, with the Dai inhabiting the lowlands along the Nujiang. Being important commercial centres, both Baoshan and Tengchong have sizable Hui communities, both in the cities and in the nearby villages. In the past the Hui organised most of the caravans that passed through here and Tengchong's Hui community used to be a bigger proportion of the city's population until the decimation visited upon them at the end of the Muslim Revolt.

Today Baoshan retains its commercial importance and is full of new buildings. The original name Yongchang was changed to Baoshan in 1911, after the small hill of that name on the western outskirts. A tall pagoda, in the Dali style, stands just above the foot of the hill and from there the road climbs to the top, site of Wuhouci, the Zhuge Liang Memorial Hall. Built to commemorate Zhuge Uang's Yunnan Expedition, it houses a statue of the Three Kingdoms era's most famous strategist, characteristically holding his feather fan. The expedition never got as far as Baoshan, but at the time Baoshan was the only prefecture to refuse to submit to Meng Huo. The campaign against Meng Huo relieved the pressure on Baoshan and perhaps that's why the hall was constructed.

The antiquity of Han influence in Baoshan can be seen in sites north of the city. In the cave at the foot of Yunyanshan, 15 km from town, lies a 15 metre-long Reclining Buddha, a copy of the original dated 716, which the Red Guards demolished. Sculptures of the 500 arhats also decorate the chamber. The Guangzun Monastery is another Tang relic, while the Daoist temple of the Jade Emperor (Yuhuangge) at the foot of Baoshan hill, was built in the Ming Dynasty.

Also in the north, 12 km from the city centre, is the rural forest park at King Dragon's Pond
(Longwangtang). This quiet getaway spot has a couple shrines near the pond, but a nicer venue for relaxing is by the small lake below, with a pavilion on the hillock on the bank. And in case the park ever gets crowded, the forests in the surrounding hills make a convenient refuge.

The prefecture's second major city is Tengchong,now 165 km southwest by the new road, which follows the highway halfway to Dehong, crosses the Nujiang, then turns northwest. The old road crossed the Gaoligong Mountains, much further north. This range, which runs north-south between the Nujiang and the Lancangjiang, boasts several peaks of over 3000 metres and the old road passed through dense, mixed forests that are brilliant with autumn colours. The new route crosses the mountains where they've shrunken to a modest size and are less forested. However, the time it takes to reach Tengchong has been reduced by at least 25%.

Tengchong lies in a smaller, rolling plain at about the same elevation as Baoshan. It is somewhat smaller and contains a far greater proportion of traditional wooden buildings. Laifeng Hill rises on its eastern side. The monastery here, originally a Nanzhao temple site, is a Ming structure, the complex of which has been turned into a park. Augmenting the elegant old temple is a hall of historical figures, a model of ancient Tengchong, when it was known as Tengyueh, and a photo exhibition of the county's attractions.

In the southwest part of town a branch road leads to the Dieshuihe waterfall, a roaring cataract of the Daying River. It was over this precipice that revenge-minded Qing troops in 1879 hurled hundreds of Tengchong Muslims to their deaths.

As an outgrowth of its involvement in foreign trade, Tengchong has had a long tradition of emigration, beginning in the Ming Dynasty. The county is famous for its successful Overseas Chinese. An almost disproportionate number of these hailed from Heshun township, about 10 km south. Some of its native sons sent money back to sponsor local projects like the library, one of the nicest buildings in the town, built in 1922 in a combination of Western and Chinese styles. The streets that lead to Heshun's neighbourhoods, bunched together on a low, wide mound, are marked by entry arches. At various points on the lower road that runs the perimeter of Heshun, small parks have been created around huge shade trees. Behind the town lies the pond Yuanlongtang. A rather ugly cement pavilion has been erected in the pond's centre, but on the hill on the north bank lie the ascending courtyards of the Yuanlong Temple. The architecture is in the classical style, with carved beams, painted rafters, gardens and with couplets mounted on the walls.