Overview

Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, located deep in the valleys of Hengduan Mountains at the southern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, adjoins Zayul County in Tibet to the north, Diqing, Lijiang and Dali prefectures in Yunnan to the east, Baoshan Prefecture in Yunnan to the south and Burma to the west. Nujiang is mountainous. Three rivers, Nujiang (Salween) River, Lancang (Mekong) River and Dulong River run from north to south through four great mountains, Yunling Mountains (located in Lanping County), Biluo Snow Mountains (in Lanping County), Gaoligong Mountains (in Lushui County) and Dandang Lika Mountains (located at the juncture of Yunnan and Burma). With a total area of 14,703 sq km, the prefecture has magnificent scenery, including the Three Parallel Rivers and so on. Liuku Town in Lushui County, the capital of the prefecture, is 638 km from Kunming. Being the only autonomous prefecture in China, Nujiang has a total population of 471,500. More than 90% of the population is ethnic minority.

The folk customs, religions and etiquettes vary a lot in Nujiang. The prefecture is home to many minority groups, including Dulong, Nu, Lisu, Bai, Naxi, Hui and Han nationalities. And Nujiang people are followers of Protestant, Catholic, Tibetan Buddhist religions, or the animist religions. There are many traditional festivals in the region, such as Kuoshi Festival (the New Year of Lisus, celebrated a the end of December), Flower Festival (celebrated by Nu Nationality people living on Nujiang River on March 15 of the lunar calendar) and Kaquewa Festival (the Spring Festival of Dulong Nationality, celebrated on January 10 of the lunar calendar).

Nujiang is also regarded as a museum of geology and landform, a kingdom of animals and a gene bank because there are species of the frigid zone, the temperate zone and the tropical zone in the region.