Dehong is a Dai and Jingpo minorities autonomous prefecture. Besides these two peoples, and the Lisu in the northern and western mountains, Dehong is also home to most members of two of Yunnan’s smaller ethnic minorities – the Achang and the De’ang.
Mangshi City (now named Luxi), the capital of Dehong Prefecture, is 783 kilometers from Kunming. Here is where most of the prefecture’s Han live. Dai are farmers, so most of them remain in the countryside.
Yingjiang county has more of a Dai feel to it. The Xuyan Pagodas stand on Xuyan Mountain, about one kilometer east of downtown Yingjiang. The architecture bears marked traces of influence from other Buddhist cultures, although it is a typical Dai from structural and sculptural point of view.
Not as well-known as the “Tiger Leaping Gorge” in Lijiang, the “Tiger Leaping Stone Gorge”, it is also worth to see. It is 33 kilometers southwest of Yingjiang, a little distance form the junction of the Yingjiang River and the Huche River.
Ruili is a border city encroached by Myanmar from three sides. Most big new buildings in Ruili are concrete made, but a few establishments have bamboo and wood facades and interiors. This city attracts lots of Chinese tourists, who come to purchase jade ornaments from the Burmese traders.
The county of Ruili is blessed with attractive scenery and several important Buddhist sites. Jiele Golden Pagoda, on the eastern outskirts, is among the oldest buddhist pagodas in Dehong Prefecture, and is supposed to contain some bone fragments of Lord Buddha.
