# Qiaojia County

Qiaojia County (Chinese: 巧家县; pinyin: Qiǎojiā Xiàn) is a county in the northeast of Yunnan province, China, bordering Sichuan province to the north and west. The population was 625,000 in 2019, 33,200 of whom belonged to ethnic minorities. It is both the southernmost and westernmost county-level division of Zhaotong City and located entirely on the right bank of the Jinsha River. The river valleys of Qiaojia are some of the lowest points in Yunnan province, at around 900 meters. The name of the county literally means 'City of industrious artisans'.
The county is noted for being the site of the Baihetan Dam, located 40 km from the county seat. Construction of the dam required resettlement of 44,919 Qiaojia residents.
Qiaojia is located at the junction of several geological faults. It was hit by a magnitude 5.0 earthquake in 2020, and also affected by the 2014 Ludian earthquake.

## Administrative divisions

The county government is seated in Baihetan town. Qiaojia is subdivided into the town and township level divisions:

### 12 towns

| Baihetan (白鹤滩镇) Yaoshan (药山镇) Dazhai (大寨镇) Maozu (茂租镇) Dongping (东坪镇) Xiaohe (小河镇) | Xindian (新店镇) Laodian (老店镇) Mashu (马树镇) Chongxi (崇溪镇) Menggu (蒙姑镇) Jintang (金塘镇) |

### 4 townships

| Hongshan (红山乡) Baogunao (包谷垴乡) | Zhongzhai (中寨乡) Lufang (巧家县) |

## Climate

Climate data for Qiaojia, elevation 894 m (2,933 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 30.4 (86.7) | 33.7 (92.7) | 38.6 (101.5) | 40.8 (105.4) | 44.7 (112.5) | 42.5 (108.5) | 40.7 (105.3) | 39.4 (102.9) | 39.1 (102.4) | 36.1 (97.0) | 34.6 (94.3) | 31.3 (88.3) | 44.7 (112.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 19.2 (66.6) | 23.2 (73.8) | 28.3 (82.9) | 31.8 (89.2) | 32.8 (91.0) | 31.8 (89.2) | 32.0 (89.6) | 32.2 (90.0) | 28.9 (84.0) | 25.2 (77.4) | 23.3 (73.9) | 19.1 (66.4) | 27.3 (81.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.6 (54.7) | 16.3 (61.3) | 20.8 (69.4) | 24.6 (76.3) | 26.2 (79.2) | 26.1 (79.0) | 26.6 (79.9) | 26.4 (79.5) | 23.7 (74.7) | 20.2 (68.4) | 17.2 (63.0) | 13.1 (55.6) | 21.2 (70.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 8.3 (46.9) | 11.3 (52.3) | 15.4 (59.7) | 19.3 (66.7) | 21.4 (70.5) | 22.2 (72.0) | 23.0 (73.4) | 22.7 (72.9) | 20.3 (68.5) | 17.0 (62.6) | 13.2 (55.8) | 9.3 (48.7) | 17.0 (62.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −0.3 (31.5) | 0.1 (32.2) | 4.2 (39.6) | 7.8 (46.0) | 9.4 (48.9) | 14.5 (58.1) | 17.3 (63.1) | 16.6 (61.9) | 11.9 (53.4) | 8.3 (46.9) | 3.4 (38.1) | 0.1 (32.2) | −0.3 (31.5) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 14.2 (0.56) | 11.4 (0.45) | 17.9 (0.70) | 23.8 (0.94) | 68.2 (2.69) | 192.7 (7.59) | 164.1 (6.46) | 123.6 (4.87) | 123.6 (4.87) | 88.3 (3.48) | 19.3 (0.76) | 5.7 (0.22) | 852.8 (33.59) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 3.4 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 6.5 | 10.7 | 16.7 | 17.2 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 12.9 | 4.9 | 2.7 | 111.5 |
| Average snowy days | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 1.1 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 51 | 43 | 39 | 41 | 50 | 68 | 73 | 71 | 74 | 72 | 62 | 57 | 58 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 198.8 | 199.4 | 229.5 | 230.7 | 199.6 | 131.4 | 137.8 | 154.0 | 115.2 | 125.7 | 176.0 | 181.5 | 2,079.6 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 60 | 63 | 61 | 60 | 48 | 32 | 33 | 38 | 32 | 36 | 55 | 56 | 48 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||