Qimen County 祁门县

History

Qimen became a county in 762, under the Tang, when it belonged to Shezhou (歙州); from the Song it was part of Huizhou prefecture (徽州府). The name joins Mount Qi (祁山), north-east of the town, and Changmen (阊门) to the south-west. In the 1860s Zeng Guofan (曾国藩) kept his army headquarters here.

Under the Ming Wanli reign, Zheng Zhizhen (郑之珍) of Qingxi in Qimen wrote the play text of Mulian Rescues His Mother, and Huizhou Mulian opera (徽州目连戏) spread from here to neighbouring counties. Most troupes were organised by clan, with all members drawn from one lineage, and players worked acrobatics such as rope-walking and leaping through fire into the fighting scenes. In Luxi village (芦溪村), the Qimen nuo dance (祁门傩舞) is still performed from the second day of the lunar new year: masked dancers in dragon robes walk through the village, accompanied only by gongs and drums.

Food and local products

Keemun black tea, or Qimen hongcha (祁门红茶, "Qihong"), was first made in 1876 and won a gold medal at the 1915 Panama-Pacific exposition; China's intangible-heritage register calls it the only black tea among China's ten famous teas. Traditional Qihong is made by hand: withering, rolling, fermenting and drying, then sifting, cutting, winnowing, picking over, re-firing and blending. The finished tea is dark and glossy with tight, fine strands, brews a bright red liquor, and is prized for a scent tea tasters call "sugar" or "apple", with a hint of orchid. Its making technique has been a national intangible heritage item since 2008. Qimen also produces An tea (安茶), a Chinese geographical-indication product.

What to see

Eleven old opera stages, all inside clan ancestral halls, were listed together in 2006 as a national protected site, the Qimen Ancient Stages (祁门古戏台): eight in Xin'an (新安乡) and three in Shanli (闪里镇). Hong Family Mansion (洪家大屋), used as Zeng Guofan's field headquarters, is also a national protected site.

Guniujiang (牯牛降), on the border with Shitai County (石台县), is the main body of the Huangshan range where it runs west; its highest peak reaches 1,728 metres, and it lies about 65 kilometres from the county town. The county is one of Anhui's key forestry counties, with forest cover of 85.78 per cent.

Highlights

• Keemun black tea 祁门红茶: First made in 1876; its making technique has been a national intangible heritage item since 2008.
• Qimen Ancient Stages 祁门古戏台: Eleven ancestral-hall opera stages listed as a national protected site in 2006.
• Guniujiang 牯牛降: Mountain area on the Shitai border, highest peak 1,728 metres.
• Qimen nuo dance 祁门傩舞: Masked new-year ritual dance of Luxi village, a national intangible heritage item since 2008.