Current Time in Lincang, China

Lincang is a prefecture-level city in the south-west of Yunnan province in China, taking its name from its position overlooking the Lancang River, the stretch of the Mekong that flows through Chinese territory. It occupies a region of steep mountains and deep valleys along the border with Myanmar, where subtropical valleys rise to cool forested ridges, and the administrative seat is Linxiang District, a compact town set among tea-covered hills.

The prefecture has a population of about two and a half million, spread across eight counties and districts. Its importance rests on tea, on cross-border trade and on its remarkable ethnic diversity. Lincang is one of the historic homelands of the tea plant itself, and it also serves as a land gateway to Myanmar through the crossings at Qingshuihe and Mengding.

The area lay far beyond the reach of the Chinese empire for most of history, governed by local chieftains and by the kingdoms of Nanzhao and Dali. It came under firmer administration during the Ming and Qing periods but remained remote, reached only by mule caravans on the ancient tea and horse road that carried Yunnan tea north to Tibet and Sichuan. The modern prefecture was formed in the twentieth century, and border demarcation with Myanmar was settled in 1960.

Tea is the reason many visitors come. The mountains of Mengku and Bingdao produce some of the most sought-after raw pu-erh in China, with old trees growing on high slopes above the villages, while Fengqing County is the birthplace of Dianhong, the celebrated Yunnan black tea developed in the 1930s. Ancient wild tea trees more than a thousand years old grow in the forests, and tea markets, factories and mountain villages are open to travellers. Beyond tea, the cliff paintings of Cangyuan, painted more than three thousand years ago in red ochre on limestone faces, are among the oldest rock art in southern China, and the Wa villages of the same county, with their wooden houses and drum halls, preserve one of the most distinctive cultures in the country.

Ethnic minorities make up a large share of the population, including Wa, Dai, Lahu, Yi, Bulang and Blang communities. Their festivals are vivid and widely attended, particularly the Wa new rice ceremony with its drumming and hair-swinging dance, and the Dai water-splashing new year in April. Local food leans towards sour and spicy flavours, with wild vegetables, river fish and bamboo shoots.

Access has improved dramatically. Lincang Airport connects the city to Kunming, and the railway from Dali reached Lincang in 2020, ending its long isolation. Expressways now link the valleys, and the border crossings handle growing volumes of trade in agricultural produce and minerals.

Education is provided by Dianxi Science and Technology Normal University and vocational colleges focused on agriculture and tea science.

Lincang matters as one of the great tea regions of the world and as a place where Chinese, South-East Asian and highland minority cultures meet along a remote and beautiful stretch of the Mekong.