Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County 酉阳土家族苗族自治县

Setting and landscape

Longshan (龙山县) in Hunan lies to the east, Xiushan (秀山县) and Guizhou's Songtao (松桃) and Yinjiang (印江) to the south, and Hubei's Xianfeng (咸丰) and Laifeng (来凤) to the north; to the west, Yanhe (沿河县) in Guizhou faces the county across the Wu River (乌江). The land is highest in the middle and lower to the east and west, and the Maobagai range (毛坝盖) divides the drainage: the Youshui (酉水河) and Longtan rivers in the east flow to the Yuan (沅江), while the Apeng River (阿蓬江) in the west joins the Wu. Heights run from 263 metres at Dongjiazhai (董家寨) to 1,895 metres at Laohuiqian Liangzi (老灰阡梁子). The county town sits between two hills with the Youcheng River (酉城河) running through it.

What to see

Taohuayuan (酉阳桃花源), a national 5A scenic area, is presented by the county as the cultural model for Tao Yuanming's (陶渊明) fable The Peach Blossom Spring (桃花源记). It combines a shrine to Tao and four villages laid out after the fable, the karst Taigu Cave (太古洞), about 3,000 metres long, the 1.3-kilometre Youzhou old town (酉州古城) food street, and a national forest park.

Gongtan (龚滩古镇) stands where the Apeng meets the Wu. After a rockfall from Fenghuang Mountain (凤凰山) blocked the Wu in 1573, cargo, above all salt, had to be carried past the rapids by porters, and the town grew as a trans-shipment point until the rocks were blasted in 1959. Its flagstone street of about 1.5 kilometres is lined with timber stilt houses and crossed by small stone bridges; holes in the paving were worn by the poles porters used to prop their loads while resting.

Longtan (龙潭古镇), in the east, was rebuilt beside the Meisu River (湄苏河) after a fire in 1738. It holds 72 registered immovable cultural relics, including the former home of the labour leader Zhao Shiyan (赵世炎), and the writers Shen Congwen (沈从文) and Ding Ling (丁玲) both described it. Gongtan and Longtan are both named historic and cultural towns of China.

Food and culture

The county government lists Gongtan's dishes as including stir-fried mung-bean noodles (炒绿豆粉), old cured pork with mountain fern (老腊肉炒山蕨巴) and mushroom meatballs (香菌丸子). The Tujia hand-waving dance (摆手舞), called "sheba ri" (舍巴日) in the Tujia language, is a ritual dance honouring ancestors; the Youyang form was placed on the national intangible-heritage list in June 2008. The county is also a production base for the "three woods" medicinal barks: eucommia, magnolia and phellodendron.

Highlights

• Taohuayuan 酉阳桃花源: National 5A area built around Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Spring, with the Taigu karst cave.
• Gongtan 龚滩古镇: Wu River salt-portage town with a 1.5 km flagstone street of stilt houses.
• Longtan 龙潭古镇: Town rebuilt after a 1738 fire; former home of Zhao Shiyan.
• Tujia hand-waving dance 摆手舞: Ancestral ritual dance on the national intangible-heritage list since 2008.