By XI WEN

Its awesome landscape, ancient civilization and the exotic culture of its diverse ethnic groups makes southwestern China’s Yunnan Province one of the country’s most alluring tourist destinations. In the past decade, Shidian County in the Nushan Mountain Valley on the east bank of the Nujiang River has drawn large numbers of anthropologists as well as tourists.

Qidan Descendents Found in Shidian

The Qidan ancient ethnic group of northern China was once bold and strong enough to establish its own dynasty, the Liao Dynasty, which lasted from 916 to 1125. In the early 12th century, however, this group began to fragment. Some Qidan surrendered to the mighty Genghis Khan and integrated with the Mongols. Others gradually married into different ethnic groups. Before long, the Qidan had almost completely disappeared from China’s historical stage. Chinese anthropologists have searched long and hard for Qidan descendents, and their painstaking work was rewarded when a small group of people was observed engraving Qidan characters onto ancestral graves in Shidian County. Even more significant, a placard bearing the characters “Yelu,” in commemoration of the Qidan ancestor Asulu a placard was found in an ancestral hall. DNA tests on the group found in Shidian showed that the engravers share similar genes to those of the Qidan female corpse found in Sichuan as well as to Qidan teeth and bone samples unearthed in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The tiny group in Shidian had preserved their family tree, and elders had countless stories to tell about their antecedents. The amazing discovery included a clan works of art hanging in an ancestral hall that reflected the Qidan people’s lives.

A Historical Land

Shidian may be a small county, but it is well known in Yunnan. Three rivers run through it, the fall between the mountaintop and the valley trough measuring 2,300 meters, and it has a mild climate and rich vegetation. There was human activity in Shidian more than 10,000 years ago, and in the late 1980s, archaeologists found the fossil of a human skull there dating back to the late Paleolithic age about 8,000 years ago.

In ancient times, it was also a key transport link between China and Southeast Asia. At that time, transportation was by draught animal and although slow, Shidian’s thoroughfare was nonetheless crucial to the ancient China-Southeast Asia trade boom. The Southern Silk Road (the early trade route between China and India) and the Ancient Tea-Horse Trail all ran through the county, bringing commodities from Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet to Myanmar and India.

In the 1930s and 40s, Shidian County once again gained fame during the Second World War, when much-needed wartime commodities were transported along the Yunnan-Burma Highway (The Burma Road) running across to China. According to statistics, between 1939 and 1941, about 490,000 tons of strategic goods were transported along the Yunnan-Burma Highway, and many Shidian people participated in the construction of the road, as well as in battling the Japanese invaders.

Catching up

This ancient historical town is now undergoing a period of modernization as China leads its people towards a well-off life. The Shidian-Mengding Highway connecting Kunming, Dali and Baoshan in the north and two national ports in the south will soon be completed. Meanwhile, modern communications and telecommunications technologies have also shortened distances between it and the outside world.

Agriculture is still the mainstay of Shidian’s local economy. Grain, sugar and tobacco are its major products, and animal husbandry, fruit and tea planting are emerging as new industries. The county government is solidifying its pillar industries and adjusting its industrial structure in order to develop silkworm breeding, and artificial mushroom and vegetable planting.

Tourism is another economic growth point in the county. Green forests, grasslands and tranquil lakes adorn the area with beautiful pastoral scenery. There are numerous hot springs in the county, most famous being the Shipiao Hot Springs in the Nujiang River valley. This is a carbonic acid water spring, a healthy temperature of 50 °C.

Mulaoyuan Village is home to the Blang people, another ethnic group living in Yunnan. Their recorded history began in the first century during the Han Dynasty. The Blang population of 82,000 has preserved its own language, religion, costumes and folk customs. Buddhism is their main religion, but they also worship nature and consider the horse a sacred animal. Within Blang culture its is forbidden to slaughter horses, and if a horse accidentally dies, it is buried. The Blang people are expert tea planters, and the village is home to the well known Pu’er tea.

The Shidian county government is currently exploring all kinds of ways to develop its economy and improve people’s lives. It expects investment in trade and tourism, and several projects are currently underway, including the 707 Industrial Park, the Yaoguan Culture and Ecology Town and forest parks celebrating the Blang culture. Meanwhile, visitors from both home and abroad continue to visit the historical county hidden deep in the mountains to explore its mysterious past, witness its present development, and contribute to its prosperous future.