Ailao Shan

mountain range in southern China in the Yunnan highlands. It extends along the right bank of the Yüan Chiang River (Hung Ho) for 450 km. The predominant heights are 1,500–2,000 m, and the maximum height is 2,998 m. The mountain ridge is intensively and deeply dissected and is formed of crystallized schists, with Mesozoic limestone and reddish rocks overlaying the schists. Tropical monsoon forests grow on its slopes, and pine on the ndge. The Ailao Shan has mountainous laterite soils and tin deposits.