Diqing
The Diqing BCI Team
- Team = 18 Nationals, 8 Expats
- Site Director – Markus zum Felde
Who we Impact
- People with disabilities
- Orphans and children with difficult family situations
- HIV related high risk groups
- People and communities affected by leprosy
- Poor patients and others with serious medical needs
- The health and rehabilitation sector of Diqing
What we Do
- Diqing Rehabilitation Center — assisting people with disabilities mainly through physical rehabilitation and prosthetics.
- Xia Ruo Children’s Care Center — assisting children with special needs.
- HIV Prevention Programme — HIV prevention in high risk and general populations
- Community Rehabilitation Programme — Holistic rehabilitation of people and communities affected by leprosy, including educational, social, economic and physical/medical aspects
- Medical Programme – medical trainings; assisting local hospitals with challenging patients; village level medical outreach; assistance with hospitalization, surgeries, specialised treatment for poor patients and people with serious medical needs.
- Student Support for children with challenging economic situations
How the Site Started
BCI’s work in Diqing Prefecture began in 1998 with English teacher training, village doctor training and compassionate medical relief efforts.
Location Diqing
Geographic Description
Diqing Prefecture is a group of three counties in Northwest Yunnan, including Shangri-la (Zhongdian), Weixi and Deqin Counties.
The elevation of the region ranges from about 1500 meters (5000 feet) in the river valleys to nearly 7000 meters (23,000 feet) along the Meili mountain range.
The elevation of the town of Shangri-la where most BCI personnel live is around 3,300 meters (11,000 feet). The region borders the Tibet Autonomous Region and Western Sichuan Province.Weather
Because of the high elevation, the region is much cooler than most of Yunnan. The summers are rainy with temperatures ranging from the high teens to mid twenties Celsius (60’s to mid 70’s F). The winters are dry with cold nights (-10 C/ 10-20 F average night temperatures in the mid winter) and cool days (5-10C/30-50F).People groups of Diqing
The populace of Diqing Prefecture includes the indigenous Kham Tibetans (Zhongdian and Deqin Tibetan), Naxi, Yi, Bai, Lisu, Pumi, Mosuo, and others, as well as the migrant Miao, Hui, and Han people groups.
Each of these groups have their own minority language which predominates in the villages, but many of the younger people are able to speak Mandarin.Diqing is well known for...
... its beautiful mountains, forests, wild flowers, and more wildlife than much of the more densely populated urban and farming areas of China.
