China plans to place its largest astronomical telescope, a 2.4 m-diameter device manufactured by the British company TTL, in Lijiang County, Yunnan Province, a major tourist destination in the southwest.

The telescope, worth 30 million yuan, is to be put into use at the Gaogumei Observatory in Lijiang.

Gaogumei, which means "a place above the sky" in the language of the local Naxi people, is said to be an ideal site for astronomical observation, with favorable climatic conditions.

The best observatories in world are mainly located in North America and Africa, according to some local experts, who added that they believe that the Gaogumei Observatory will be the best in Asia.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2002)