Mengzi (Hani: Maoqziif Siif) is a city in the southeast of Yunnan Province, China. Administratively, it is a county-level city and the prefectural capital of the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, located about 243 km southeast from Kunming, and 400 kilometres northwest from Hanoi, Vietnam. It is situated in the centre of a fertile valley basin on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau 1310 m above the sea level and was home to about 590,300 inhabitants as of 2021 census. Mengzi was formerly Mengzi County (蒙自县) until October 2010, when it was upgraded to a county-level city. Mengzi is the core area of South Yunnan Central City Cluster, which is officially regarded as the political, economic, cultural, and military centre of South Yunnan.

Name

The origin of the name

A widely accepted statement is that the name "Mengzi" (蒙自) was originated from Muze Mountain (now named as Lianhua Mountain) located in the west of Mengzi and now belongs to Gejiu. In Yi language, Muze Mountain means a towering mountain.

The romanized spelling

As with many other places in China, a variety of Romanized spellings were used for the name of Mengzi city in the past. The traditional French spelling was Mongtseu; the postal, Mengtsz, Mengtzu or Mongtze. Some works in English used the spelling Mêng-tse or Mengtsze.

Government

The municipal seat is in Guanlan Subdistrict.

Administrative divisions

At present, Mengzi City has 5 subdistricts, 4 towns, 2 townships and 2 ethnic townships.

Geography and climate

Located within 30 arc minutes south of the Tropic of Cancer, Mengzi, as with much of southern Yunnan, has a warm humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), with muddled distinction between the seasons and daytime temperatures remaining warm year-round. Highs peak in May before the core of the rainy season and reach a minimum in December; however, the warmest and coolest months are June and December, respectively at 23.2 °C and 12.3 °C; the annual mean is 18.65 °C. June thru September accounts for over 60% of the annual rainfall of 857 mm and during this time, some rainfall occurs on a majority of days, resulting in a marked reduction in sunshine. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 34% in June and July to 64% in February, the city receives 2,161 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Food

The Mengzi region is well known for a dish called guoqiao mixian ("Over the Bridge Rice Noodle"), made with long rice-flour noodles.

History

Pre-13th Century: Ancient Foundations

The history of Mengzi can be traced back to Western Han dynasty when Bengu County (贲古县) was founded (109 B.C.), which was currently the area of Xin'ansuo, Mengzi.

13th to 19th Century: Emergence of Mengzi

Not until in 1276 (Yuan dynasty), Mengzi county was formerly founded, which can be regarded as the prototype of the modern Mengzi City.

Late Qing to Early Republic of China: Mengzi as a Treaty Port

In 1886, following the war between France and the Qing China, a series of treaties designated Mengzi as a trade port in Yunnan province for the import and export of goods via Tonkin, currently the Northern Vietnam. Under the terms of these treaties, foreigners were allowed to reside and trade in Mengzi. Accordingly, the foreign-operated Imperial Maritime Customs Service established its office just outside the eastern city gate of Mengzi in 1899. Communications were inconvenient: goods from Hanoi or Haiphong were shipped to Hekou on the Vietnamese border by junk, transferred by small craft to Manhao, and then taken 60 km by pack animal to Mengzi. Despite these difficulties, Mengzi was an important port of entry into both Yunnan and western Guizhou provinces, and in 1889 it was opened to foreign trade as a treaty port. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, Mengzi was a major trading center for commerce between the interior of Yunnan and the Tonkin. Most of this foreign trade was in tin and opium. Its main exports were tin and opium, and the main imports were mostly textiles (primarily cotton) and tobacco.

1910s to 1930s: Transformation and Decline

As a trading center, the city gradually began to lose its importance beginning from the early 20th century. The importance of Mengzi was ended by the construction of the French railway from Haiphong to Kunming (the Yunnan provincial capital) in 1906–10. This railway bypassed Mengzi, but in 1915 a branch line was built via the town to the Gejiu tin mines. Apart from a brief respite during the early days of World War II, the town of Mengzi has, nevertheless, steadily declined in importance ever since. Gejiu became a county in 1913, and a city in 1951. With the improvement of communications and transportation between cities of Gejiu and Kaiyuan and the other counties nearby, plus the development of trade between southwestern China and the countries of Southeast Asia, Mengzi's ties have increasingly strengthened with Gejiu and Kaiyuan. The whole area has become a border economic centre. In addition to tin, the county's natural resources include coal, manganese, lead, zinc, and antimony.

Mengzi during the Second Sino-Japanese War: Resilience During Turmoil

When the Japanese invaded Beijing and Tianjin in the late 1930s, university professors, students, and administrators there were forced to leave and travel south to Changsha. Later as the Japanese pushed into Changsha, the academics made their own long march westward to Yunnan Province. There they established the Southwest Associated Universities, also known as Lianda (联大). The School of Arts and Law was located in Mengzi, but moved to the provincial capital of Kunming about half a year later.

1950s to 1980s: Mengzi under the Communist China

Modern Mengzi

In 2003, the prefectural government of Honghe moved from nearby Gejiu to Mengzi. New wealthy suburbs and large government offices have sprung up as a result, but much of the poverty remains, creating a large wealth gap within the city. In 2012, 11-14 thousand year old early human bones from Maludong near Mengzi City (some of them already in museum collections) were reported. These are provisionally known as the Red Deer Cave people.

Twin towns — Sister cities

Mengzi is twinned with:

Economy

Mengzi used to be a medium-sized county town before the prefectural government reloacted there from the City of Gejiu in 2003. Since then, the city has witnessed a rapid urban and economic expansion with significant infrastructure projects. In 2010, Mengzi was elevated to a city administratively Real estate industry is pivotal sector of the city's economy. Recent policy developments have promoted economic growth, leading to substantial changes in the local industry structure and employment landscape.

Transport

Railway

Tram

Honghe tram runs from Mengzi North railway station to the city center.

Airport

Honghe Mengzi Airport in Mengzi is under construction.

Tourism

Mengzi is an ancient city in Yunnan, with a long history dating back thousands of years. It is home to numerous historic sites, though many of its splendid structures were damaged or destroyed primarily during the Taiping Rebellion and the Cultral Revolution in 1960s. The following lists some of the prominent sites in the city.