Anshun City 安顺市

Setting and landscape

The Miao Mountains (苗岭) cross the middle of the prefecture and divide the Yangtze and Pearl River systems: the Wu River (乌江) flows through the north, the Beipan River (北盘江) runs along the western edge, and the Getu (格凸河) and Dabang (打帮河) are among the other rivers. The city government puts karst at about two-thirds of the land, and it calls Anshun "the city with an average temperature of 21°C" for its summers.

History

The Chuandong Paleolithic site (穿洞遗址) in Puding County (普定县) is, in the city government's words, "the civilization light of Asia". The city dates its founding to 1381, when the Ming general Wu Fu (吴复) walled a garrison town at Adabu (阿达卜) for the Puding Guard (普定卫); in 1602 it became the seat of Anshun Military-Civil Prefecture (安顺军民府) and took the name Anshun. Descendants of those soldiers, the Tunpu (屯堡) people, still keep Fengyang-style Han dress and Anshun Dixi (安顺地戏), a ground opera on the national intangible-heritage list since 2006: farmer-actors wear masks on their foreheads and sing battle stories at Spring Festival and in the seventh lunar month, when the rice flowers.

What to see

Huangguoshu Waterfall, on the Baishui River (白水河) in Zhenning County (镇宁布依族苗族自治县), is 77.8 metres high and 101 metres wide, and a cave in the cliff behind the main fall gives close views of it; it was among the first national scenic areas named in 1982. The Dragon Palace (龙宫), the other 5A-rated area, is known for water caves that the city government calls China's longest. The Getu River (格凸河) has hanging-coffin cave burials and a Miao village inside a cave. Tianlong Tunbao (天龙屯堡) is a well-preserved Ming garrison village, and the Anshun Confucian Temple (安顺文庙) and the Yunshantun buildings (云山屯古建筑群) are national key cultural relics. Guanling County (关岭布依族苗族自治县) yields Triassic fossils, among them ichthyosaurs and sea lilies.

Food and local products

Anshun is known in Guizhou for street snacks. Anshun rice-sheet rolls (安顺裹卷) wrap shredded pickled radish, bean sprouts, kelp and zhe'ergen (折耳根) in near-transparent rice sheets with chilli sauces. Duoduo fen (夺夺粉) is a hotpot of rice tofu that is hard to pick up with chopsticks once cooked, so it is speared with skewers, which gives the dish its name. Poshu buns (破酥包) have various fillings, one mixing fresh pork with rose bean paste.

Getting oriented

The city has Xixiu (西秀区) and Pingba (平坝区) districts, Puding County and the autonomous counties of Zhenning, Guanling and Ziyun (紫云苗族布依族自治县). The Guiyang–Kunming railway and the Shanghai–Kunming high-speed railway pass through, and Huangguoshu Airport serves the city.

Highlights

• Huangguoshu Waterfall 黄果树瀑布: 77.8 m high and 101 m wide on the Baishui River in Zhenning County, with a cave behind the main fall; a national scenic area since 1982.
• Dragon Palace 龙宫: 5A-rated karst area whose water caves the city government calls China's longest.
• Getu River 格凸河: Karst river with hanging-coffin cave burials and a Miao village inside a cave.
• Tianlong Tunbao 天龙屯堡: Well-preserved Ming garrison village of the Tunpu people.
• Anshun Dixi 安顺地戏: Masked ground opera of the Tunpu villages; national intangible heritage since 2006.
• Anshun rice-sheet rolls 安顺裹卷: Thin rice sheets rolled around shredded pickles and vegetables with chilli sauces.