Ta-li

Last year when returning with my wife to Ta-li from Yün-nan-fu, an old man at one of our resting-places waited for an opportunity to speak to me alone.

Viewing Yun-nan topographically from the large aspect, we may divide the province into three major regions: (1) Western Yun-nan including the great gorges west of Ta-li. The characteristic feature of this region is the parallel trends of rivers and mountain ranges. From altitudes of 16,000-19,000 feet in the north, the heights drop to 5000-5300 feet in the south;

The situation changed from day to day, but at the moment the rebels occupied the important western city of Ta-li, set by a large lake and not far, the explorers believed, from the upper course of the Mekong.