Maonan Habitat

      The Maonan inhabit Huanjiang County and its neighbouring counties of Nandan, Hechi, Tian'e, Yishan, Du'an, Luocheng and Rongshui, with their concentration in the southwestern part of Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County on the northern border of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
       Huanjiang is situated in the subtropical zone, covering an area from 24º44' to 25º33' north latitude and from 107º51' to 108º43' east longitude, about 300 hundred kilometers north of the Tropic of Cancer, with the annual average temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and annual rain fall of 1500 mm. The highest average temperature in July is 28 degrees Celsius; the lowest average temperature of January is 10 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature can go up to 35 Cº, the minimum down to 2 Cº. It is humid in summer and relatively dry in winter. Most villages are seated on the small strips of flat land or slopes among the rocky mountainous area 500–1000 meters above sea level. Because of the higher locality than the surrounding areas and the sinkholes and underground caverns in the karst landform in this area, despite abundant rainfalls there are no rivers but only a small number of streams. So water shortage has been the major obstacle to economic development. The strips of arable land are scattered on the slopes and on the flat terrains in the narrow valleys, which also hinders mass production involving large agricultural machinery.