Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture situates at the Southwest of Sichuan province, south to Jinsha River; north to Dadu River; east on Sichuan basin, west to Hengduan Mountains. It locates between longitude 100°15′ to 103°53′E and latitude 26°03′to 29°27'′ N, covering a land of 60,100 square kilometers with 17 counties (cities), which is the largest Autonomous Prefecture of Yi nationality in China and the region with the most nationalities and most population of minorities in Sichuan province. There are 4.35 million people in the whole state, and 1.97 million people are of Yi nationality.
Xichang city, the capital of the state, rising to 1500 meters above sea level, is like spring all the year around. The sky here is clear and the moon is bright, so that it is called "Moon City" and "Small Spring City", which is full of spring and well-known as China Spaceflight City.
Liangshan has been the important access to China's Southwest border since ancient times, and it's the only access to Southern Silk Road. As early as the Qin and Han Dynasties 2000 years ago, the central government set up prefectures and counties here for control. There were many famous people in the history having records of traveling here, such as Sima Qian of Xihan Dynasty, Zhuge Liang of Shu Han Dynasty, Hu Bi Lie"the ancestor of Yuan Dynasty, Xu Xiake"the famous traveler and Marco Polo. In 1935, during the Long March to north, the Workers" and Peasants" Red Army entered Hui Li from Jiao Ping, and held the significant meetings"Hui Li Meeting" and "Li Zhou Meeting", what's more, "Yi Hai Jie Meng" went down in history for ever as one of the "Ten Events".
Liangshan is an important part of "Pan-xi Resources Comprehensive Development Zone" of Sichuan province, which is called "Ural of China", "Golden Triangle of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River" and "Big Treasure House of the World Solar Power". Liangshan is the important region of national and provincial agricultural development, and here is a second plain of Sichuan province, Anning River Valley Region, second only to Chengdu Plain, called "Granary of South Sichuan". It is the key area given priority to development of tourism in Sichuan province, and here is Xichang Satellite Launching Center, called "Eastern Houston", and also has Torch Festival of the Yi people, called "Eastern Carnival and Valentines Day", and the marriage form of Mosuo people near Lugu Lake at the time of maternal side clan has been reserved up to now, which is a miracle, and also is a mystery. Great people Deng Xiaoping ever highly praised "Here is richly endowed by nature".
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