Gejiu

Gejiu is a county-level city and the capital of Honghe prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. It is the site of the country's largest tin deposits and its main industry is mining.

The town is located in a crater-like depression around a lake on top of a mountain. The main road enters the town from the north through a thin pass. To the east and west are steep cliffs. Those to the west are too steep to inhabit, however extensive new construction along the eastern side has created many new districts.

The populace is primarily Han Chinese, however minorities such as the muslim Hui, Dai from the nearby Red River valley, and Hani from the surrounding mountains (see Yuanyang) are also present.

Gejiu is located on top of a mountain to the north of the Red River (pinyin Hong He) valley, which flows from Tibet to Vietnam. To the south-west in this valley is Nansha, which lies directly below the town of Yuanyang. To the north-west lies Jianshui, and to the north Jijie. Mengzi lies 12 miles to the west.

The town surrounds a lake which, however, was not naturally formed. According to locals, during the 1950s water welled up through the mines and flooded a large portion of the town, and later the adjacent area was turned into a park. Today the town is protected from further flooding by an underground spillway.