IRON. 85 



of population have their somewhat small requirements supplied 

 by mines in the same regions. Whore any unusual demand has 

 arisen as in the case of the cast iron pans used in the brine-boiling 

 industry, there is generally a mine, blast furnace and foundry not 

 very far away. As examples, the needs of Yung-ch'ang Fu are 

 met from the mines at P'ing-tai in the Ta-tien-pa valley, two stages 

 to the east of the city. Teng-yueh is partly supplied from the 

 T'ien-t'ang-kuan, a valley north of the city. Yunnan Fu derives 

 its Supplies from the Yi-men Hsien region, the cities of south- 

 eastern Yunnan from the Hsi-o Hsien district and so on. 



The hemispherical cast iron pans of Yunnan are much appre- 

 ciated by the Chinese everywhere and can be found in any bazaar 

 in Upper Burma. Again, the thousands of mules engaged in the 

 trans-frontier trade and in the Shan States every winter are always 

 shod with Yunnan-made shoes and nails and every caravan carries 

 a large stock of these excellent articles about with it. 



The Iron Industry of the T'ien-t'ang-kuan. 



T'ien-t'ang-kuan is one of the smaller divisions of the Teng- 

 yiieh district. Its principal village is Ying-pan-kai, 37 miles almost 

 due north of Teng-yueh T'ing. The district is bounded on the 

 north by unadministered territory inhabited by Lisu tribes ; on 

 the east by Ming-kuang ; on the west by Ku-yung and on the 

 south by Hsi-lien. The valley contains a small but fertile plain 

 about 8 miles long and 1 or 1 * miles broad, which has been formed 

 by the Hsiao-pa Ho, the eastern branch of the headwaters of the 

 Shweli river. The plain has an average elevation of about 6,000 

 feet above the level of the sea. 



The Lung Chiang or Shweli as it is known to the Burmese, 

 divides into two streams near Clvii-ch'ih, 17 miles north-east of 

 Teng-yueh. The main stream proceeds in a north-north-easterly 

 direction, but the other takes a more westerly course as far as Ku- 

 tung-kai, 22 miles north of Teng-yueh. Here it divides into two 

 streams, the No-lo Ho, which continues in a north-north-easterly 

 direction, almost parallel to the main river, and forms the Ming- 

 kuang valley ; and the Hsiao-pa Ho, which flows from the north- 

 north-west and forms the valley known to the Chinese as the T'ien- 

 t'ang-kuan. The two districts are separated by a single range of 

 mountains which attain elevations of from 8,000 to 10,000 feet 

 above the sea, but the two streams are only from 8 to 10 miles 



