Cangyuan Va Autonomous County 沧源佤族自治县

Setting and landscape

The county lies at the southern end of the Hengduan mountains' long valleys in western Yunnan. Deeply cut mid-height mountains alternate with river valleys, and mountain land covers 99.2 percent of the area; the small basins of Mengjiao (勐角), Mengdong (勐董) and Mengsheng (勐省) make up the rest. The highest point is Wokan Mountain (窝坎大山) at 2,605 m, and the lowest, 450 m, is where the Nanting River (南汀河) leaves the county at Mangka (芒卡).

History

The area was long known as the Awa Mountains (阿佤山区) or "land of the Gourd King" (葫芦王地). The National Ethnic Affairs Commission notes that Cangyuan's Va read the name of their origin myth, Sigangli (司岗里), as people "coming out of a gourd". Mengdong became the seat of the Cangyuan administrative bureau in 1937. In 1934 Va people at Banhong (班洪) resisted a British armed occupation of silver mines in the Banhong and Banlao (班老) tribal lands, and under the 1960 China-Burma boundary treaty the Banhong and Banlao tribal area passed to China.

What to see

The Cangyuan cliff paintings (沧源崖画) are 17 Neolithic rock-painting sites, a national key protected site since 2001. First recorded in January 1965, they are painted in red haematite on limestone cliffs at 1,200–2,000 m, apparently with fingers; uranium-series dating in 2020 put them at 3,800 to 2,700 years old. Guangyun Temple (广允缅寺) in Mengdong town, a Theravada Buddhist temple with a Qing-dynasty hall, has ten murals of Jataka tales and a chieftain's procession and was listed nationally in 1988. Wengding (翁丁村) in Mengjiao township, known as a Va settlement, has thatched stilt houses with living space above and pens for pigs and cattle below; its old village burned on 14 February 2021 and reopened after rebuilding on 28 December 2022. China Energy News names the Banhong Gourd King Land (班洪葫芦王地) as a national 4A scenic area.

Getting oriented

The county seat is Mengdong town. Cangyuan Washan Airport (沧源佤山机场) opened on 8 December 2016, 36 km north of the county town. The Cangyuan border port is a second-class national land port with three crossings into Myanmar. The Cangyuan section of the Ruili-Menglian expressway (瑞孟高速) opened to trial traffic on 13 February 2026.

Highlights

• Cangyuan cliff paintings 沧源崖画: 17 Neolithic red haematite rock-painting sites, dated to 3,800-2,700 years ago; national key protected site since 2001.
• Guangyun Temple 广允缅寺: Theravada temple with a Qing-dynasty hall and ten murals; national key protected site since 1988.
• Wengding village 翁丁村: Va village of thatched stilt houses, rebuilt after the 2021 fire.
• Banhong Gourd King Land 班洪葫芦王地: National 4A scenic area.