| Deqin County | |
| Settlement Type: | County |
| Etymology: | From Tibetan, meaning "auspicious place" |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Pushpin Map: | China Yunnan |
| Pushpin Label: | Deqin |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Yunnan |
| Coordinates: | 28.2°N 157°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Yunnan |
| Subdivision Type2: | Autonomous prefecture |
| Subdivision Name2: | Diqing |
| Seat Type: | County seat |
| Seat: | Deqen |
| Area Total Km2: | 7596 |
| Elevation M: | 3300 |
| Population Total: | 54736 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 census |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 674500 |
| Area Code: | 0887 |
| Timezone: | China Standard |
| Utc Offset: | +8 |
| Tib: | བདེ་ཆེན་རྫོང་ |
| Wylie: | bde chen rdzong |
| Zwpy: | Dêqên Zong |
| Order: | st |
| S: | 德钦县 |
| T: | 德欽縣 |
| P: | Déqīn Xiàn |
Deqin County is county of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, located in northwest Yunnan province, China.
The prefecture's name is derived from the Tibetan word, which means "auspicious place".[2] In Chinese, the name is written with the characters Chinese: 德 and Chinese: 钦, which mean "benevolence" and "to respect", respectively.
Deqin occupies the northwest corner of Diqing Prefecture, and in latitude has a range of 27° 33'−29° 15' N and in longitude has a range of 98° 36'−99° 33' E, covering an area of,[3] bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region to the northwest and Sichuan to the northeast. It is located in the central part of the Hengduan Mountains, and contains the valleys of the Salween, Mekong, and Jinsha Rivers.
Being located at an altitude of 3300m (10,800feet), Deqin lies in the transition between a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) and humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb), which is remarkable for its latitude. Although mean maximum temperatures, as in Lhasa and Shigatse, stay above freezing year-round, minima are below freezing from November to March, and temperatures average NaN°C in January, 13.6°C in July, while the annual mean is 6.32°C. The town is nonetheless a little warmer during the winter than Shangri-La County to the east despite being slightly higher in elevation, due to its more southerly aspect. Rainfall is concentrated between June and September, accounting for nearly 60% of the annual total of 6401NaN1; snowfall is rare but still causes major transport problems in the winter. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 29% in July to 62% in December, the county seat receives 1,989 hours of bright sunshine annually, with autumn and winter sunnier than spring and summer.
Deqin County has 2 towns, 4 townships and 2 ethnic townships.[4]
| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Tibetan | Wylie | Administrative division code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Towns | ||||||
| Deqen Town (Shengping) | Chinese: 升平镇 | 533422101 | ||||
| Gongzêra Town (Benzilan) | Chinese: 奔子栏镇 | 533422102 | ||||
| Towns | ||||||
| Foshan Township | Chinese: 佛山乡 | 53342220 | ||||
| Yunling Township | Chinese: 云岭乡 | 53342221 | ||||
| Yanmen Township | Chinese: 燕门乡 | 53342223 | ||||
| Yagra Township (Yala) | Chinese: 羊拉乡 | 53342226 | ||||
| Ethnic townships | ||||||
| Tangdoi Lisu Ethnic Township (Tuoding) | Chinese: 拖顶傈僳族乡 | 533422204 | ||||
| Zhag'o Lisu Ethnic Township (Xiaruo) | Chinese: 霞若傈僳族乡 | 533422205 | ||||
The Tibetans of Deqin, compared to Tibetans in Tibet, have had longer-lasting trade relations with the Han Chinese and other ethnic groups.[5]
Meilishi (Chinese: 梅里石) is in Foshan Township,[6] in the northernmost part of the county.[7]
Deqin can be reached by many daily buses traveling North from Kunming – Dali – Lijiang – Zhongdian – Deqin.
The route is a very scenic and most of it is a newly built highway apart from the Zhongdian to Deqin section which is a winding mountain road through the scenic North Yunnan/Tibetan mountains.