Wanding
Wanding, formerly romanized as Wanting, is a frontier town in Ruili City, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. Wanding is a town in the official division system, but there are three administrative systems in Wanding: county-level Wanding Economic Development Zone, township-level Wanding Town government and Wanding Farm government.
History
Wanding was developed after the Burma Road was built, as the terminal end of the road in China. It quickly grew into a trade town between China and Burma after 1938. As a result of Japanese troops occupying Wanding in 1942 during World War II, it became economically depressed, until it was recovered by the Chinese Expeditionary Force on 19 January 1945. Wanding is also an important town on the Ledo Road, whose opening ceremony was held in Wanding on 28 January 1945. Soong Tse-ven, the premier of the Republic of China attended the ceremony. The town government was also established in early 1945.Wanding upgraded to a county-level town in 1952 and established county-level Wanding City in 1985. The border trade at Wanding reached its peak in 1992, and then it declined. The reason is complicated, which includes the route change of China National Highway 320, the competition from the neighboring city Ruili, the national border trade policy adjustment, and the 1997 Asian financial crisis, etc. Thereafter, Wanding city was abolished in 1999, and a county-level Wanding Economic Development Zone of Ruili city was founded to replace the Wanding city. Wanding city was divided into three township-level divisions: Chengguan Town, Hunban Township, and Mangbang Township. These three combined to a new town of Wanding in 2005, and it was the only township-level division under the economic development zone. In 2011, another township-level division, Wanding Farm, was transferred under the administration of the economic development zone from the Yunnan provincial farm system. Therefore, the economic development zone contains two township-level divisions now.