Get to know Tonglu County
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- Administrative area
- County · 县
- Part of
- Hangzhou
- Chinese name
- 桐庐县
- Local areas
- County guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 1,852.00 km²
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
History
Tonglu County was first set up in 225, under the Wu kingdom, abolished in 589 and restored in 602. Fenshui County (分水县) was carved out of its northwest in 621, and in the Ming and Qing both counties belonged to Yanzhou Prefecture (严州府). Xindeng (新登) and Fenshui were merged into Tonglu in 1958, and in 1960 Fuyang was added and the county placed under Hangzhou; when Fuyang was restored in 1961 it took Xindeng with it, so today's county is essentially old Tonglu plus Fenshui. It includes Eshan (莪山), a township of the She (畲) ethnic group. Inscribed steles and cliff carvings survive from the Tang and Song onward, such as the stele corridor at the Yanziling Fishing Terrace and the cliff inscriptions on Tongjun Hill (桐君山), and Tonglu was named a "home of Chinese calligraphy" in 2016.
What to see
The Yanziling Fishing Terrace (严子陵钓台) lies 15 kilometres south of the county town at the foot of Fuchun Mountain (富春山) and is a Zhejiang provincial heritage site. It honours Yan Guang (严光), courtesy name Ziling, a schoolmate of Liu Xiu (刘秀), the Han emperor Guangwu, who refused office after his friend took the throne and fished on the Fuchun River instead. Fan Zhongyan (范仲淹), demoted to Muzhou in the Song, built a shrine to him. The stele garden includes inscriptions of texts by Ba Jin (巴金) and Yu Dafu (郁达夫).
Tongjun Hill is named after Tongjun (桐君), who in legend gathered herbs for the Yellow Emperor, graded them and wrote a record of medicinal plants; he is honoured as the "ancestor of medicine". The hill keeps a shrine, a pagoda, stele pavilions and cliff inscriptions in his memory, and Tongjun traditional Chinese medicine culture joined the national intangible-heritage list in 2021. Other sights include Yaolin Wonderland (瑶琳仙境), a cave known as "the crown of all caves in China", and Daqi Mountain National Forest Park (大奇山国家森林公园).
Food and local products
Tonglu paper-cutting (桐庐剪纸), on the national intangible-heritage list since 2014, is cut from red and other papers into flowers, fruit, figures, animals and landscapes for festivals, weddings and funerals. In Shen'ao (深奥村) and Dipu (荻浦村) villages, the carved window panels, door boards and bracket carvings of old buildings were made from paper-cut templates. Fenshui town is known as China's pen-making town.
Highlights
- Yanziling Fishing Terrace 严子陵钓台: Provincial heritage site 15 km south of the county town, honouring the Eastern Han scholar Yan Guang.
- Tongjun Hill 桐君山: Named after the legendary "ancestor of medicine" Tongjun; shrine, pagoda and cliff inscriptions.
- Yaolin Wonderland 瑶琳仙境: Cave known as "the crown of all caves in China".
- Daqi Mountain 大奇山: Daqi Mountain National Forest Park is in the county.
- Tonglu paper-cutting 桐庐剪纸: National intangible heritage since 2014.
Sources for this guide
桐庐县 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
严子陵钓台 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
剪纸（桐庐剪纸） - 中国非物质文化遗产网·中国非物质文化遗产数字博物馆 - 中国非物质文化遗产网非遗 · China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
传统中医药文化（桐君传统中药文化） - 中国非物质文化遗产网·中国非物质文化遗产数字博物馆 - 传统中医药文化（桐君传统中药文化） · China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-25.
Explore Tonglu County
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Tonglu County
Yaolin Wonderland · 瑶琳仙境Yaolin Wonderland瑶琳仙境
Yaolin Wonderland leads through a limestone cavern filled with flowstone, stalactites, stalagmites and columns. The named formations provide a way to distinguish the chambers: Milky Way Cascade resembles a frozen waterfall…
Read the place guide →
Landing and inscribed wall at Yanziling Fishing Terrace, Tonglu · 桐庐严子陵钓台码头与题壁 Photograph date recorded by the source: 25 October 2011, 23:39:05.Yanziling Fishing Terrace严子陵钓台
Yanziling Fishing Terrace commemorates Yan Guang, remembered for choosing retirement beside the Fuchun River over official service. A stone gateway, shrine and stele garden turn the riverbank into a literary and commemorative…
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Jiangnan Ancient Village Cluster (江南古村落群), Tonglu County. Photograph: "Gongsi Hall in Shen".Jiangnan Ancient Village Cluster江南古村落群
Tonglu’s Jiangnan Ancient Village Cluster brings together Dipu, Shen’ao, Xufan, Huanxi and Qingyuan in Jiangnan Town, with Shen’ao at its centre.
Read the place guide →
Daqi Mountain · 大奇山Daqi Mountain大奇山
Daqishan in Tonglu is a forested mountain park where streams, small bridges and stepped paths pass through a landscape of gorges and unusual rocks.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Tonglu County is about 60 km in a straight line from central Hangzhou. Search for 桐庐县 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Yaolin Wonderland and Yanziling Fishing Terrace are about 25 km apart in a straight line. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Hangzhou →More in Hangzhou
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 桐庐县 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Some facts checked against 严子陵钓台 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Yaolin Wonderland · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Photo: Yanziling Fishing Terrace · Gisling · Gisling — 严子陵钓台天下第一观.JPG — CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Jiangnan Ancient Village Cluster · 猫猫的日记本 · CC BY-SA 4.0. Full frame retained; EXIF orientation normalized, proportionally resized to at most 800 pixels and converted to WebP. No generated pixels or subject changes. Cards may crop the display.
Photo: Daqi Mountain · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.