Located in western Yunnan Province and 4 kilometers from Tengchong County, Heshun Township is the most ancient town in the region. With a name meaning peace and harmony, Heshun is a small town with a pleasant climate and tranquil air. Wetlands, springs, canyons, egrets, wild ducks, plum and camellia trees have composed the picturesque scenery of this township.
Located at the southern end of the Chinese section of the Tea-horse Road, Tengchong County shares a border with Myanmar to its west. When you set foot on it, you feel like you’re entering a cultural maze of old and characteristic fold houses, their white walls, and gray tiles. To the east of the town lies the Hengduan mountain range, which rolls on for hundreds of kilometers. Many dormant volcanoes are dotted around the village and on misty days their peaks are shrouded in dense clouds.
As it is on the border between China and Myanmar, a lot of foreign cultures have been brought into the town since ancient times. Also, as many overseas Chinese ancestors lived in 600-year-old Heshun, almost every resident in the town has friends and relatives abroad. With local customs blending with foreign culture, residents in Heshun are open-minded and accept new things with pleasure. In the town, there is a saying: “We have clocks from Rome, lampshades from the Czech Repbulic, lattice windows from England and basins from Germany.” This describes the multiple cultures of Heshun.
Neighboring Myanmar is famous for its jade, and Heshan has been a trade center for this precious stone since ancient times. In those days, many parents in Heshun encouraged their sons and daughters to travel to Myanmar and engage in this lucrative trade. Many of them did, leaving their footprints in the mountains and forests of Myanmar, Thailand and India. Some returned with untold riches, while others were never seen again.
Wandering on the streets of Heshun, you can see many ornamental structures like pavilions, memorial halls or archways, lotus ponds, marble balustrades and so on. It is a rare place still holding a sense of tranquility and simplicity.
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