Fanchang District 繁昌区

Setting and landscape

Fanchang lies where the alluvial plain of the middle and lower Yangtze gives way to the hills of southern Anhui. Mountain land makes up 40 percent of the district, rivers cross it in many directions, and there are numerous lakes and reservoirs. The district has 22 km of Yangtze frontage, and limestone heads its list of minerals.

History

The district government dates human activity here to 2.4 million years ago, and Neolithic settlers left the Miaodun culture (缪墩文化). Chungu County (春谷县) was set up in 109 BC, and in the Three Kingdoms period the Eastern Wu general Zhou Yu (周瑜) served as its head. When Emperor Yuan of Jin (晋元帝) moved his court south, a relocated county named Fanchang was placed here, and the name has lasted since the county seat was re-established under the Southern Tang. The poets Wang Wei (王维), Li Bai (李白) and Mei Yaochen (梅尧臣) all passed through. During the civil war the People's Liberation Army's "first boat across the river" landed in what is now the district.

What to see

Three sites are national key cultural relics protection units: the Fanchang kiln site (繁昌窑遗址), the Renzidong site (人字洞遗址) and the earthen mound tombs of southern Anhui (皖南土墩墓群). The kiln site spreads over the southwestern outskirts of the town, with the Luochong kiln (骆冲窑) to the west and the Kechong (柯冲窑), Yaochong (姚冲窑) and Banbianjie (半边街窑) kilns to the south; its remains cover about one million square metres. It is described as the only large kiln site in the lower Yangtze of the Five Dynasties and Northern Song that fired qingbai (bluish-white) porcelain alone.

Maren Qifeng (马仁奇峰) is a national forest park and 4A scenic area on the south bank of the Yangtze where Fanchang, Tongling and Nanling meet. Its mountain runs north to south with a W-shaped ridgeline, and the area is divided into five sections: the gate tower, Maren Temple (马仁寺), Sun Mountain, Moon Mountain and a nanmu forest. Named features include Luxun Peak (鲁迅峰), Camel Peak, the Maren stone pillar and the facing Sun and Moon caves. Forest covers about 95 percent of the scenic area.

Getting oriented

The Beijing–Fuzhou high-speed railway, the Shanghai–Tongling railway, the Nanjing–Anqing intercity line and the Nanjing–Wuhu and Chuzhou–Huangshan expressways meet in Fanchang. The Maren Qifeng scenic area is about 50 km from Wuhu and 150 km from Nanjing.

Highlights

• Fanchang kiln site 繁昌窑遗址: National key protected site; a large Five Dynasties and Northern Song kiln complex that fired only qingbai porcelain.
• Maren Qifeng 马仁奇峰: National forest park and 4A scenic area with a W-shaped ridgeline and five sections.
• Renzidong site 人字洞遗址: National key cultural relics protection unit.
• Earthen mound tombs of southern Anhui 皖南土墩墓群: Also listed as a national key protected site.