CHAPTER XI 



SUNGPAN TING 



The Land of the Sifan 



THE city of Sungpan is situated on the extreme north- 

 west corner of Szechuan, about long. 103° 21' E., lat. 

 32° 41' N., at an altitude of 9200 feet, and is the farther- 

 most outpost of Chinese civilization in this direction. The sur- 

 rounding country, more especially to south-west, west, andnorth- 

 west, is inhabited by Sifan, a people concerning which very little 

 is known. Originally established as a military post after the 

 conquest of the neighbouring regions by the Emperor Kienlung 

 about A.D. 1775, Sungpan has developed into a most important 

 trade entrepot. It is a city of the second class (styled " Ting "), 

 but the head civil official has the local rank of prefect, his 

 full title being " Fu-I-Li Min-Fu," which signifies " the Bar- 

 barian-cherishing, Chinese-governing Prefect." This fanciful 

 title has reference to the official's control over the neighbouring 

 Sifan tribes — a control which is purely nominal. The military 

 importance of this stronghold is still fully recognized, and its 

 strategic value is beyond question. A Chinese general (Chen- 

 tai), in command of ten regiments, has his headquarters here, 

 with jurisdiction extending south to Kuan Hsien, east to 

 Lungan Fu, and north-east to Nanping in Kansu province. 



The town is most picturesquely situated, occupying con- 

 siderable space in a narrow, highly cultivated valley flanked 

 by steep mountain-slopes 1000 to 1500 feet high. The Min (Fu) 

 River, which takes its rise some 35 miles to the north, winds 

 a circuitous course down the valley and flows through the 

 town in an S-curve, entering and leaving through the city 

 walls at unfordable points. On the western side the town is 

 backed by a steep slope, up two sides of which a wall is carried. 



