Beauty and Tranquility of the Land of the Wa

LOCATED in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province is the breathtaking region of Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County, lying along China’s western border with Myanmar. It is one of China’s two Wa autonomous counties.

- ZHAO YANQING

The county of Cangyuan has the title of “City of Eternal Spring.” The mountains in the region are connected to the Laobie Mountains of the Nushan Mountain range. There are so many mountain peaks in the region that it is hard to find any flat land, and the area is filled with numerous varieties of plants and animals. In addition to this, it also has well preserved villages that have maintained their traditional culture and way of life for hundreds of years, exhibiting a living example of how humans and nature can live harmoniously together.

Mesozoic Era Survivors and Ancient Cliff Paintings

A particular tree species in this area is a secondary national protected rare plant called caryota urens or caryota obtusa. The caryota obtusa forest has been called the living fossil of the plant world and was once a staple food of dinosaurs. During the cretaceous period, this type of tree covered the whole world, but later with global climate changes, it slowly disappeared. Here in the Menglai canyon in Cangyuan, this plant flourishes everywhere. Caryota obtusa trees are accustomed to growing on high mountain peaks and grow straight upwards regardless of the height of the peak, symbolizing the upright and brave Wa people.