The prefecture's name is derived from the Tibetan word བདེ་ཆེན (dêqên), which means "auspicious place".[2] In Chinese, the name is written with the characters 德 (dé) and 钦 (qīn), which mean "benevolence" and "to respect", respectively.
Geography and climate
Deqin occupies the northwest corner of Diqing Prefecture, and in latitude has a range of 27° 33'−29° 15' N and in longitude has a range of 98° 36'−99° 33' E, covering an area of 7,596 square kilometres (2,933 sq mi),[3] bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region to the northwest and Sichuan to the northeast. It is located in the central part of the Hengduan Mountains, and contains the valleys of the Salween, Mekong, and Jinsha Rivers.
Being located at an altitude of 3,300 metres (10,800 ft), Deqin lies in the transition between a subtropical highland climate (KöppenCwb) and humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb), which is remarkable for its latitude. Although mean maximum temperatures, as in Lhasa and Shigatse, stay above freezing year-round, minima are below freezing from November to March, and temperatures average −1.4 °C (29.5 °F) in January, 13.6 °C (56.5 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 6.32 °C (43.4 °F). The town is nonetheless a little warmer during the winter than Shangri-La County to the east despite being slightly higher in elevation, due to its more southerly aspect. Rainfall is concentrated between June and September, accounting for nearly 60% of the annual total of 640 mm (25.2 in); snowfall is rare but still causes major transport problems in the winter. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 29% in July to 62% in December, the county seat receives 1,989 hours of bright sunshine annually, with autumn and winter sunnier than spring and summer.
Climate data for Deqin County (1994–2020 normals, extremes 1971–2010)
Deqin can be reached by many daily buses traveling North from Kunming – Dali – Lijiang – Zhongdian – Deqin.
The route is a very scenic and most of it is a newly built highway apart from the Zhongdian to Deqin section which is a winding mountain road through the scenic North Yunnan/Tibetan mountains.
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