Huangshan District 黄山区

History

Taiping County was created under the Tang in 752 from parts of Dangtu (当涂县) and Jing (泾县) counties and placed under Xuancheng commandery (宣城郡); from 1166 it belonged to Ningguo prefecture (宁国府). In 1983 the county was abolished and replaced by a county-level city named Huangshan, which also took in part of Shitai County (石台县), Huangshan township of She County (歙县) and the scenic area's administration. When the Huizhou region (徽州地区) was renamed Huangshan City in 1987, the county-level city became Huangshan District. The district government sits in Gantang Town (甘棠镇).

What to see

Mount Huangshan is built mainly of granite, and its highest point, Lotus Peak (莲花峰), reaches 1,864.8 metres. It was called Yishan (黟山) until 747, when the Tang emperor Xuanzong renamed it after the legend that the Yellow Emperor (黄帝) made elixirs of immortality there. UNESCO inscribed it in 1990 as a mixed cultural and natural World Heritage site, and it became a Global Geopark in 2004. It is known for four features: its pines, oddly shaped rocks, sea of clouds and hot springs. The Welcoming Guest Pine (迎客松), east of Yuping Tower (玉屏楼), is treated as the mountain's emblem, and the hot spring rises below Ziyun Peak (紫云峰) at 850 metres, at 42°C all year.

Taiping Lake (太平湖), first called the Chencun Reservoir (陈村水库), was built in 1970 on the Qingyi River (青弋江) and is shared with Jing and Shitai counties. It takes its name from the old Taiping County, which holds most of it. It stretches 80 kilometres east to west but is only about 4 kilometres across at its widest. The lake sits between Huangshan and Jiuhua Mountain (九华山), and the three are known together as Anhui's 'two mountains and one lake'. It was made a national forest park in 1992.

Food and local products

Taiping Houkui (太平猴魁) is a green tea first made in 1900 in the villages around Houkeng (猴坑) in Xinming Township (新明乡). Each shoot is two leaves wrapped around a bud, which gave rise to the saying 'two knives flanking a spear' (两刀夹一枪). The leaves are straight and thick, pointed at both ends without curling. It is a Chinese geographical-indication product and won a gold medal at the 1915 Panama exposition, and its green-tea making technique was entered on the national intangible-heritage list in 2008.

Highlights

• Mount Huangshan 黄山: Mainly granite mountain topped by Lotus Peak (1,864.8 m); UNESCO mixed World Heritage site since 1990.
• Welcoming Guest Pine 迎客松: Pine east of Yuping Tower, treated as the emblem of Huangshan.
• Taiping Lake 太平湖: Reservoir on the Qingyi River built in 1970, named after old Taiping County; national forest park since 1992.
• Taiping Houkui 太平猴魁: Green tea first made in 1900 around Houkeng in Xinming Township; its making technique is national intangible heritage (2008).