Lincang () is a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China ...

located in the southwest of

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

province, People's Republic of China.

History

Lincang was previously called Baihuai during the Shang dynasty. On December 26, 2003, the state council approved the cancellation of Lincang District and set up prefecture-level Lincang city.

Geography and climate

Lincang covers latitude 23° 05′－25° 02′ N and longitude 98° 40′－100° 33′ E, thus straddling the

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted tow ...

in the southern part of its administrative area, or prefecture. It is situated on the middle to lower reaches of the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...

, known as the Lancang in China, and the Salween, or the Nu. Bordering prefectures are Pu'er to the southeast, and Baoshan and Dali to the northwest. It also borders

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Shan State Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos ( ...

. Elevations within the prefecture range from . Located at an altitude of above and within 30

arc minute A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn. The n ...

s to the north of the Tropic of Cancer, Lincang has a mild

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Cwb''), bordering on a 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 January respectively. June through September accounts for nearly 70% of the annual rainfall of and during this time, some rainfall occurs on most days, pushing relative humidity above 80% and there is a marked reduction in sunshine. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 22% in July to 73% in January, the city receives 2,105 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Subdivisions

Demography

Lincang is the mountainous home of the Wa ethnic minority and was historically seen as too "wild" to be worth settling by neighboring powers, notably

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and ancient China. This may have had some connection to the Wa's image as head-hunters.

Natural resources

Mineral resources mined and extracted in the Lincang area include

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

(including waste coal ash), germanium and

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

. Lincang is also home to the world's oldest cultivated tea tree, some 3,200 years old, in the village of Jinxiu (), Xiaowan town, of

Fengqing County Fengqing County () is located in Lincang Lincang () is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. History Lincang was previously called Baihuai during the Shang dynasty. On December 26, ...

.News article about oldest tea tree
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Transport

* Lincang Airport * Dali–Lincang railway

References

External links

Lincang City Official Website
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