Yingjiang County (Jingpho: Yinkyang Ginwang; ) is a county in Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan province, China, bordering Burma's Kachin State to the west.

Geography

Yingjiang county has a border of 214.6 km with Kachin State, Myanmar in the west. The Danzha River and Binglang River meet near Jiucheng and become the Daying River (Dàyíngjiāng). The Daying then flows through Yingjiang County into Myanmar and into the Irrawaddy River, with the confluence near Bhamo. The Daying is known as the Taping (大平江; Dàpíng Jiāng) in Myanmar. Yingjiang county is mountainous with several alluvial plains. The county has various climate types, with ranges from the tropical, the subtropical, to the temperate zones. Intact forests can be seen in the mountains above 2000 m. The elevations vary from 210 to 3404.6 m. Yingjiang is abundant in hydroelectric, forest, and geothermal resources. There are 21 hot springs, six of which are above 90 °C. Most of the hot springs are distributed within the Daying River system. The county is within a very active seismic zone, and have been struck in 2008, 2009 and 2011 by violent earthquakes.

Climate

History

Yingjiang county became part of Chinese territory for the first time in the Western Han dynasty. It was under control of Yizhou Prefecture (益州郡) (Yìzhōu jùn) in the Western Han dynasty. During the Eastern Han, the Shu Han, the Western Jin, and the Eastern Jin, it was governed by Ailao county (哀牢縣) (Āiláo xiàn), Yongchang Prefecture (永昌郡) (Yǒngchāng jùn), and then by Xicheng county (西城縣) (Xīchéng xiàn) from the Southern Qi dynasty in 479. From 320s, the Cuan (爨) (Cuàn) family began to control Yunnan. China was very unstable during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the central governments had no force to control Yunnan. The Cuan family took the strategy by which they recognized the nominal sovereignty of the central governments while remaining themselves as the real local rulers. In this way, the Cuan family had controlled Yunnan for more than 400 years until it was conquered by Nanzhao in 769. Yingjiang was ruled by Nanzhao and later by Dali from the 8th to the 13th century and hence was not governed by China during the Tang dynasty and the Song dynasty. It was conquered by the Mongols and again became part of the Chinese territory. During the Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty, Yingjiang was governed by local chiefs under the "Tusi system" (土司制度) (Tǔsī Zhìdù), i.e. the Native Chieftain system, in which the central government had the nominal sovereignty.

Administrative divisions

Yingjiang County has 8 towns, 6 townships and 1 ethnic township.

Sights