It was formerly a prosperous border town, the chief town in all the fertile valley of the Taiping.

It was in the hands of the rebels till June 10th, 1873, when it was delivered over to the Imperialists to carnage and destruction.

The valley is fertile and well populated, and prosperity is quickly returning to the district.
There is only one yamen in Tengyueh of any pretension, and it is the official residence of a red-button warrior, the Brigadier-General (_Chentai_) Chang, the successor, though not, of course, the immediate successor, of Li-Sieh-tai, who was concerned in the murder of Margary and the repulse of the expedition under Colonel Horace Browne in 1875.

A tall, handsome Chinaman is Chang, of soldierly bearing and blissful innocence of all knowledge of modern warfare.

Yungchang is the limit of his jurisdiction in one direction, the Burmese boundary in the other; his only superior officer is the Titai in Tali.
The telegraph office adjoins the City Temple and Theatre of Tengyueh.