Liangshan is China's largest Yi (彝族) autonomous prefecture. Its capital 西昌 hosts one of China's main satellite launch centers (西昌卫星发射中心) — giving the prefecture a striking contrast between rocket launches and traditional Yi villages.
history
Liangshan became famous in mainstream Chinese media in the 2010s as a poster region for 脱贫攻坚 (poverty alleviation) campaigns, with its remote "cliff villages" (悬崖村) reached only by ladders being widely reported.
