Heyuan 河源市

Setting and landscape

The prefecture is hilly, higher in the northeast than the southwest, with the Jiulian Mountains (九连山) in the northwest and the Lianhua Mountains (莲花山) in the southeast. The Dong River forms in Longchuan County (龙川县), where the Xunwu (寻乌水) and Anyuan (安远水) rivers meet, and runs southwest through the city; 87 per cent of the prefecture lies in its basin. Wanlü Lake, the Xinfengjiang Reservoir (新丰江水库), lies in the west, and the city calls it the largest artificial lake in southern China. The climate is southern subtropical monsoon.

History

When the Qin conquered the south in 214 BC, Zhao Tuo (赵佗) built a town in Longchuan and became its first magistrate; he later ruled Lingnan as king of Nanyue. The city counts its history from this county, founded more than 2,200 years ago, and calls the area the first part of Lingnan opened up by the Hakka. Heyuan County was created in 483, and Heyuan became a prefecture-level city in 1988. The former headquarters of the rescue of Hong Kong cultural figures (香港文化名人大营救指挥部旧址) is a national key protected site. Zijin County’s (紫金县) Huachao opera (花朝戏) and the Zhongxin lanterns (忠信花灯) are on the national intangible heritage list.

What to see

Since 1996 more than 10,000 dinosaur eggs, eight skeletons and 168 footprints have been found here, and in 2005 Heyuan was named China’s Home of Dinosaurs; the city says its collection of fossil eggs is the largest in the world. Guifeng Pagoda (龟峰塔) is the other national key protected site, and Sujiawei (苏家围) is among the city’s scenic spots. Local Hakka houses include enclosed dragon houses, many of them square rather than round, and four-cornered-tower mansions; the city calls Linzhai village (林寨古村) China’s largest home of four-cornered towers.

Food and local products

Heyuan cooking belongs to Dongjiang cuisine (东江菜), a branch of Cantonese cooking that favours rich, salty, well-cooked food. Hakka dishes include Dongjiang stuffed tofu (东江酿豆腐), salt-baked chicken (东江盐焗鸡) eaten with sand-ginger oil and salt, and the “three stuffed treasures” (酿三宝) of bitter melon, chili and aubergine; Lianping County (连平县) is known for jiuchongpi (九重皮), literally “nine-layer skin”.

Getting oriented

The city government sits in Yuancheng District (源城区). The Ganzhou–Shenzhen high-speed railway (赣深高铁) and the Beijing–Kowloon (京九铁路) and Guangzhou–Meizhou–Shantou (广梅汕铁路) railways cross the prefecture, and Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong all lie within 200 km in a straight line.

Highlights

• Wanlü Lake 万绿湖: The Xinfengjiang Reservoir in the west of the prefecture, called by the city the largest artificial lake in southern China.
• Heyuan Dinosaur Museum 河源恐龙博物馆: The city says its collection of fossil dinosaur eggs is the largest in the world.
• Guifeng Pagoda 龟峰塔: One of the city's two national key protected sites.
• Dongjiang stuffed tofu 东江酿豆腐: Signature Hakka dish of the Dong River region.