Gutian County 古田县

Setting and landscape

Ningde and Luoyuan (罗源) lie to the east, Nanping (南平) and Jian'ou (建瓯) to the west, Minqing (闽清) and Minhou (闽侯) to the south and Pingnan (屏南) to the north. The ground is mostly hills of Jurassic volcanic rock, arranged as ridges and valleys running north-east; the highest point, Shitashan (石塔山), reaches 1,629 m. A local saying holds that the weather differs on either side of the Hongting uplands (红亭山地). The Min River crosses the county for 35 km through Huangtian (黄田镇) and Shuikou (水口镇).

The local speech, Gutian dialect (古田话), belongs to the Houguan group of Eastern Min.

History

Gutian was split from Min County (闽县) as a county in 741, and its northern districts became Pingnan County in 1734. In the late Qing it was the scene of the Gutian missionary case (古田教案). In 1958 work began on the Gutian River hydropower station, China's first underground power station, and the county seat was moved to a site 9 km south-west of the old town. On 8 June 1959 the 71 m-high dam was closed and the water drowned the old county town, more than a thousand years old; 43,154 people were moved. Called Gutian Reservoir until 1993, it gradually took the name Cuiping Lake (翠屏湖) from a newspaper supplement named after Cuiping Mountain, the county's main peak in old records, and the pen name of the Yuan–Ming poet Zhang Yining (张以宁).

What to see

Cuiping Lake, on the eastern outskirts of the county town, covers 37.1 square km and is a provincial scenic area. Linshui Palace (临水宫), the ancestral temple of the goddess Chen Jinggu (陈靖姑), is a national protected site, and the Chen Jinggu belief is on the national intangible-heritage list. Tiandi Bridge (田地桥) in Hetang (鹤塘镇), a covered bridge, is also a national protected site.

Qianyang (前洋) in Zhuoyang Township (卓洋乡) keeps more than 70 Ming and Qing houses. Shanyang (杉洋镇) is a national historic and cultural town, known for the Lantian Academy (蓝田书院) where Zhu Xi (朱熹) taught. The Baixi grassland (白溪草场) spreads over 24,000 mu at an average height above 1,200 m.

Food and local products

Gutian was named China's capital of edible fungi by the China Edible Fungi Association in 2007, and Gutian white fungus (古田银耳) became a China well-known trademark in 2008. Red yeast rice (红曲) making is an old local craft, and the county's typical livestock are the Gutian black pig and black Muscovy duck.

Highlights

• Linshui Palace 临水宫: Ancestral temple of Chen Jinggu; national protected site.
• Cuiping Lake 翠屏湖: Reservoir of 1959 that drowned the old county town; provincial scenic area.
• Lantian Academy, Shanyang 蓝田书院: Academy where Zhu Xi taught, in a national historic and cultural town.
• Gutian white fungus 古田银耳: China well-known trademark since 2008.