Yunfu 云浮市

Setting and landscape

The Luoding (罗定江) and Xinxing (新兴江) rivers, both tributaries of the West River, flow through the city, which has 110 kilometres of West River frontage. Yunfu once produced much marble, the source of its nickname "Stone City" (石城); today it works marble and granite brought in from elsewhere, and its long history of stone processing has earned it the name "Stone Capital" (石都).

History

A Yunfu Commandery (云浮郡) existed under the Tang from 742. In 1578 the Ming set up Dong'an County (东安县) under Luoding Department (罗定直隶州), and it was renamed Yunfu County in 1914. Yunfu is the birthplace of Huineng (惠能), the Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism: in Liuzu town (六祖镇) in Xinxing County (新兴县) stand his former home and Guo'en Temple (国恩寺), where he died, together with a lychee tree he is said to have planted.

What to see

The Sixth Patriarch's Hometown resort (六祖故里旅游度假区) in Liuzu is a national 4A scenic area with the Longshan hot springs (龙山温泉). Panlong Cave (蟠龙洞), in Shizi Mountain (狮子山) north of the city centre, is a three-level karst cave hung with stone flowers and stalactites; it has yielded fossils of the giant panda–Stegodon fauna, and an intermittent spring rises in its underground river. In Luoding (罗定市), the Changgangpo Aqueduct (长岗坡渡槽), built between 1976 and 1981 by more than 10,000 volunteers using hand tools and known as the "Red Flag Canal of southern Guangdong", carries water from the Taiping (太平河) and Luojing (罗镜河) rivers to the Jinyinhe reservoir (金银河水库). The Dawan old buildings (大湾古建筑群) and the Longkan Rock inscriptions (龙龛岩摩崖石刻) are national key heritage sites.

Food and local products

Luoding crinkled fish puffs (罗定皱纱鱼腐), recorded since the Qianlong reign, are made from fresh dace raised in the Long River (泷江) basin. The minced fish paste, bound with starch and egg, is squeezed out between thumb and finger into small balls and fried golden; the puffs are so thin and light that they are likened to crinkled gauze, yet they hold together in long simmering. Other local products include Yunan seedless wampee (郁南无核黄皮), Xinxing fragrant lychees (新兴香荔), Luoding cassia (罗定肉桂) and Tuodong tofu skin (托洞腐竹).

Highlights

• Sixth Patriarch's Hometown resort 六祖故里旅游度假区: 4A scenic area in Liuzu, Xinxing, with Huineng's former home and Guo'en Temple.
• Panlong Cave 蟠龙洞: Three-level karst cave north of the city centre with stone flowers and an intermittent underground spring.
• Changgangpo Aqueduct 长岗坡渡槽: Luoding aqueduct built by volunteers in 1976 to 1981, called the Red Flag Canal of southern Guangdong.
• Dawan old buildings 大湾古建筑群: National key heritage site.
• Luoding crinkled fish puffs 罗定皱纱鱼腐: Fried dace-paste balls as thin as gauze, made since the Qianlong reign.