Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County 秀山土家族苗族自治县

Setting and landscape

Huayuan (花垣), Longshan (龙山) and Baojing (保靖) counties of Hunan lie to the east and north-east, Songtao Miao Autonomous County (松桃苗族自治县) in Guizhou to the south, and Youyang (酉阳) to the north. Central Chongqing is 387 kilometres away, which makes Xiushan one of the most remote counties of the municipality. The land is higher in the south-west, where Jiaozi Ding (轿子顶) reaches 1,631.4 metres, and lower in the north-east. The county takes its name from Gaoxiu Mountain (高秀山), and the Meijiang River (梅江河) winds through the town.

The climate is humid subtropical monsoon, averaging 16°C a year, with only about 1,214 hours of sunshine, placing it among the low-sunshine areas of China.

History

The county was created in 1736 from the Shidi (石堤), Songnong (宋农) and Wansen (晚森) chieftain lands cut from Youyang, ending hereditary chieftain rule here. In 1939 a plan for a Qingjiang Province (青江省) of 48 border counties of Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan and Hubei, with the Xiushan county town as its capital, completed its legal approval; troops were sent and an airfield built before the civil war stopped it. The county government dates Xiushan's liberation to 7 November 1949; it became an autonomous county on 4 April 1983, and moved with Qianjiang prefecture (黔江地区) into Chongqing in 1997.

What to see

Hong'an (洪安镇), in the south-east where Chongqing, Hunan and Guizhou meet, is named by the county government as the model for Shen Congwen's (沈从文) novel Border Town (边城) and the first stop of the Liu-Deng army (刘邓大军) in the south-west. The town has the Jiming Sansheng Pavilion (鸡鸣三省亭), "the cockcrow of three provinces". Hong'an Biancheng, the century-old West Street (百年西街) and the Fenghuang Mountain flower-lantern folk-culture area (凤凰山花灯民俗文化旅游区) are national 4A scenic areas, as is the summer retreat of Chuanhegai (川河盖), rated in 2017. There is also the Daxi National Wetland Park (大溪国家湿地公园).

Xiushan flower-lantern song and dance (秀山花灯) was on the first national intangible-heritage list. Troupes perform on the nights from the second to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, in two forms: a song-and-dance for a young woman (幺妹子) and a clown (花子), and short plays with simple stories. Lantern bearers carry six-petalled hanging lanterns from house to house.

Food and local products

The county lists grain and cooking oil, medicinal herbs, tea, camellia oil and fruit among its products. Tung oil from its tung-tree forests is known as "Xiu oil" (秀油).

Highlights

• Hong'an 洪安镇: Border town named by the county government as the model for Shen Congwen's Border Town.
• Century-old West Street 百年西街: National 4A scenic area in the county.
• Chuanhegai 川河盖: Summer retreat rated a national 4A scenic area in 2017.
• Xiushan flower-lantern 秀山花灯: Song-and-dance on the first national intangible-heritage list, performed in the first lunar month.