Shaoguan 韶关市

Setting and landscape

Three arcs of mountains, running mainly east to west, follow one another from north to south, with the Nanxiong, Lechang, Shaoguan and Wengyuan basins between them; plains and terraces make up only a fifth of the land. Shikengkong (石坑崆) reaches 1,902 metres. The rock north of the city centre is mostly red and full of fossils, and the city government calls Shaoguan a world-famous home of red-bed dinosaurs.

History

In 1958 a human skull dated to 129,000 years ago was found in a cave near Maba (马坝) in Qujiang (曲江区) and named Maba Man (马坝人); the Shixia site (石峡遗址) beside it gave its name to a late Neolithic culture, and the two are listed together as a national key heritage site. Legend says Emperor Shun played Shao music on the red rocks here, the origin of the name Shaozhou (韶州), used from 589. The name Shaoguan came in the Ming and Qing, when three tax passes were set up in the city.

Hakka is the main dialect and Cantonese the second. The city government calls Shaoguan the birthplace of the overseas Yao. The Yao Panwang Festival (盘王节), on the first national intangible heritage list in 2006 and safeguarded in Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County (乳源瑶族自治县), honours King Pan with rites led by four ritual masters and the singing of the long epic Panwang Dage (盘王大歌).

What to see

Mount Danxia is part of the China Danxia World Heritage Site, and its administration calls it the place that named Danxia landforms worldwide. Nanhua Temple (南华寺), beside the Cao stream south of Maba and founded in the sixth century, is where the Sixth Patriarch Huineng (惠能) spread Southern Chan; his seated image in the Sixth Patriarch Hall is built up over his body in dry lacquer. Other sights include Yunmen Temple (云门大觉禅寺) and the Grand Canyon (大峡谷) in Ruyuan, the Mantang Hakka enclosure (满堂客家大围) in Shixing (始兴县), a national key heritage site, and the Meiguan ancient road (梅关古道) and Zhuji Lane (珠玑巷) in Nanxiong (南雄市).

Food and local products

Cold-water pork tripe (冷水猪肚) from Longgui (龙归) in Wujiang District (武江区) is boiled over a fierce fire and then steeped in cold well water, which makes it crisper. Nanxiong is known for its ducks, and duck braised with sour bamboo shoots and chilli (酸笋焖鸭), a Hakka dish of the Shaoguan area, is fried golden, braised until soft and said to taste better when left for a later meal.

Highlights

• Mount Danxia 丹霞山: Part of the China Danxia World Heritage Site; the place that gave its name to Danxia landforms.
• Nanhua Temple 南华寺: Temple near Maba in Qujiang where Huineng spread Southern Chan; holds his lacquered seated image.
• Maba Man site 马坝人遗址: Cave near Maba where a 129,000-year-old human skull was found in 1958; national key heritage site with the Shixia site.
• Mantang Hakka enclosure 满堂客家大围: Hakka enclosure in Shixing County, a national key heritage site.
• Cold-water pork tripe 冷水猪肚: Longgui dish of tripe boiled hard and steeped in cold well water.