Manhao

Manhao (Chinese: 蔓耗; pinyin: Mànhào) is a town in Gejiu County-level city of Yunnan Province of China.

Located on the Red River, Manhao was a transhipment point of some significance prior to construction of the Kunming–Hai Phong Railway in the early 20th century, as the shortest route between Kunming and French Indochina ran through it.

[1] Manhao was considered the head of small-boat (junk, or wupan 五版) navigation on the Red River; so Yunnan's products such as tin would be brought to Manhao by pack mules, where they would be loaded to boats.

The high Manhao Bridge is a few kilometers upstream from the town; it carries Yunnan State Route 212 (S212).

The Red River around Manhao is not navigable for modern commercial ships (and the Madushan Dam, upstream of the town, has no ship lock), but numerous dredges, both upstream and downstream from Manhao, extract sand from its bottom for use in construction.

Manhao, in the valley of the Red River, seen from the northwest
A typical sand mining operation in the Red River near Manhao