Zhongxian 忠县

Setting and landscape

The county is mostly low mountains cut by hilly trough valleys. Its lowest ground is the Yangtze valley at Shibao (石宝镇), at 117.5 m, and its highest is the main peak of Fangdou Mountain (方斗山), at 1,680.3 m. Twenty-eight streams drain to the Yangtze; the largest, the Huangjin River (黄金河), runs 115.5 km inside the county. Zhongxian was one of the key counties for resettlement during the Three Gorges project.

History

In the Warring States period the area belonged to the state of Ba (巴国) and produced salt. Local tradition links it to General Ba Manzi (巴蔓子), who promised three cities to Chu in return for help and then took his own life rather than surrender them. The Western Han set up Linjiang County (临江县) here in 112 BC, named after the river.

In 634 the Tang renamed Linzhou (临州) as Zhongzhou (忠州), "Loyal Prefecture", honouring Ba Manzi and the generals Yan Yan (严颜) and Gan Ning (甘宁). In 1265 the Southern Song raised it to Xianchun Prefecture (咸淳府) and moved the seat to Huanghua Island (皇华州). The name Zhongxian dates from 1913. The Ming-dynasty figure Qin Liangyu (秦良玉) is remembered here by a family ancestral hall at Yangdu (洋渡镇) and by the Taibao Shrine (太保祠).

What to see

Shibaozhai (石宝寨) stands on the north bank of the Yangtze about 32 km from the county town. The rock beneath it, anciently called Yuyin Hill (玉印山, "jade seal hill"), rises as a lone peak with sheer sides, and the county government traces the name "stone treasure stockade" to the rebel leader Tan Hong (谭宏), who camped on it in the late Ming or early Qing. Since the reservoir filled, water surrounds it on four sides. It is a national key protected site and a 4A scenic area.

The Baigong Temple (白公祠) cultural area beside Mingyu Creek (鸣玉溪) combines the temple and the Zhongzhou Museum (忠州博物馆). The temple was founded in 1630 in memory of the poet Bai Juyi (白居易), prefect of Zhongzhou from 818 to 820. In 2003 two Eastern Han stone gate towers, the Dingfang Que (丁房阙) and the uninscribed Ganjinggou Que (㽏井沟无铭阙), were moved into its grounds ahead of the reservoir.

Huanghua City (皇华城) archaeological park occupies an island in the river. The county government describes it as the only island-type city in the Song–Yuan war system of mountain fortresses; excavations have exposed its walls, gates and an official compound. The island was approved as a national wetland park in 2016.

Highlights

• Shibaozhai 石宝寨: Stockade on a sheer rock on the Yangtze's north bank, surrounded by water since the reservoir filled; national key protected site.
• Baigong Temple and Zhongzhou Museum 白公祠: Temple founded in 1630 for Bai Juyi, prefect of Zhongzhou in 818–820; holds two relocated Eastern Han gate towers.
• Huanghua City archaeological park 皇华城: Island seat of Xianchun Prefecture from 1265, part of the Song–Yuan fortress system.
• Zhongzhou fermented tofu 忠州豆腐乳: Fermented bean curd registered as a Chinese geographical indication product.