Longyan 龙岩市

Setting and landscape

Most of the city is low mountains and hills. The Wuyi range rises in the west, the Daimao Mountains (玳瑁山) cross the middle and the Boping Ridge (博平岭) runs along the east. The Ting River (汀江), known as the Hakka mother river, flows through the west, while headwaters of the Jiulong River (九龙江) drain the east.

History

The Jin created Xinluo County (新罗县) here in 282, the Tang set up Tingzhou (汀州) in 736, and the Qing made Longyan an independent department in 1734. In the first civil war the Communist Party built its Western Fujian base area here. In December 1929 Mao Zedong chaired the Ninth Congress of the Red Fourth Army's Party organisation, the Gutian Meeting (古田会议), at Gutian (古田) in Shanghang County (上杭县); the venue, a Liao clan ancestral hall built in 1848, became a national key protected site in 1961. The present prefecture-level city dates from 1997.

What to see

The Fujian tulou were inscribed as World Heritage in 2008; the 46 listed buildings include Yongding's Chuxi (初溪), Hongkeng (洪坑) and Gaobei (高北) clusters. In Gaobei, Chengqi Lou (承启楼), four concentric rings completed in 1709, has an outer ring 62.6 m across and 400 rooms; in Hongkeng, Zhencheng Lou (振成楼), begun in 1912 by descendants of a tobacco-trading family, fronts its inner ancestral hall with four Greek-style columns. The national intangible heritage list counts more than 20,000 tulou surviving in Yongding, most of them square. Yongding Tulou and the Gutian Meeting site are AAAAA scenic areas.

Guanzhai Mountain (冠豸山), 1.5 km east of the Liancheng (连城) county town, has been a national key scenic area since 1994; it is named for a rock shaped like the head of the mythical xiezhi (獬豸). Sights in Changting include the Qu Qiubai (瞿秋白) Martyrs Memorial Park and Diantou Street (店头街), an old street of the Ming and Qing.

Food and local products

Changting Hetian chicken (长汀河田鸡) is a geographical-indication product, and Liancheng white duck (连城白鸭) is on the national list of protected livestock and poultry breeds. Western Fujian's 'eight dried goods' include Changting dried tofu (长汀豆腐干), Liancheng dried sweet potato (连城地瓜干) and Shanghang dried radish (上杭萝卜干). The Longyan tea-picking lantern performance (龙岩采茶灯) of Xinluo District is national intangible heritage.

Getting oriented

The government sits in Xinluo District (新罗区). The Longyan–Xiamen, Ganzhou–Longyan and Nanping–Longyan railways meet here, Longyan Guanzhaishan Airport serves the city, and Xiamen is 142 km away by expressway.

Highlights

• Chengqi Lou 承启楼: Four-ring round tulou in Yongding's Gaobei cluster, completed in 1709.
• Yongding Hongkeng Tulou Cluster 永定洪坑土楼群: World Heritage cluster that includes Zhencheng Lou, begun in 1912.
• Gutian Congress site 古田会议会址: Liao clan hall of 1848 where the Gutian Meeting was held in December 1929; national key protected site.
• Mount Guanzhai 冠豸山: National key scenic area 1.5 km east of the Liancheng county town.
• Poached Hetian chicken 白斩河田鸡: Made with Changting Hetian chicken, a geographical-indication product.