[ **up: [[China--Geography]] | [[Yunnan (Chinese province)]] | [[Dail Prefecture]]** ] --- # Shaxi Township [[Geographical description of Shaxi Township, within the Henghuan mountain rang, in the Northwest of Yunnan Province.|’Shaxi Township (Jianchuan County, Dali Prefecture) lies in the Northwest of Yunnan Province, roughly between the two cities Dali and Lijiang. It belongs to the Hengduan mountain range, which is known for its rich biocultural diversity. Shaxi encompasses an area of 288 km2 and consists of a high plateau at an altitude of about 2100 m, which is flanked by two mountain chains that delimit the valley in the west and east and reach heights of up to 3100 m.’]][^1] --- ## Economy [[Geographical description of Shaxi Township, within the Henghuan mountain rang, in the Northwest of Yunnan Province.|’Agriculture is dominated by the cultivation of wet rice and tobacco in the valley bottom and corn, beans, and potatoes in the surrounding hills.’]][^2] --- ## Demographics ### Religious belief [[2023-0917. There are a number of locally worshipped deities in Shaxi, which are neither part of an institutionalised religion nor of the Benzhu cult, such as the Earth God, Mountain God, and Dragon King.|There are a number of locally worshipped deities in Shaxi, which are neither part of an institutionalised religion nor of the Benzhu cult, such as the Earth God, Mountain God, and Dragon King.]][^3] --- ## History [[Geographical description of Shaxi Township, within the Henghuan mountain rang, in the Northwest of Yunnan Province.|’Shaxi acted as the last stopover before the Southern Silk Road ascended to the Tibetan Plateau.’]][^4] [^1]: Peter O. Staub, et al. ‘[[Staub, et al. ‘Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China_ A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi’, 2011.|Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China: A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi]]’, *Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine* 7, no. 1, (December 011), p. 2. [^2]: Peter O. Staub, et al. ‘[[Staub, et al. ‘Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China_ A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi’, 2011.|Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China: A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi]]’, *Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine* 7, no. 1, (December 011), p. 2. [^3]: Peter O. Staub, et al., ‘[[Staub, et al. ‘Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China_ A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi’, 2011.|Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China: A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi]]. *Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine*, vol. 7, no. 1 (December 2011), pp. 2-3. [^4]: Peter O. Staub, et al. ‘[[Staub, et al. ‘Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China_ A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi’, 2011.|Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China: A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi]]’, *Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine* 7, no. 1, (December 011), p. 2.