Longchuan County 龙川县

History

The county was created in 214 BC, when the Qin (秦) generals Zhao Tuo (赵佗) and Ren Xiao (任嚣) had subdued the far south. Zhao Tuo, later the founding ruler of the Nanyue (南越) kingdom, served as its first magistrate. The county government counts it among the four oldest counties in Guangdong, and in 2009 a United Nations group of place-name experts recognised it as a "millennium-old county" of Chinese place-name heritage.

The seat stayed in the same place from the founding until 1949 and afterwards moved to Laolong (老隆). The old seat was renamed Tuocheng (佗城) after Zhao Tuo during the Republican era, and today it is one of the first group of historic and cultural cities named by Guangdong province.

What to see

In Tuocheng, the Longchuan school-temple (龙川学宫), a provincial protected site first built under the Tang dynasty, is described by the county as one of the earliest-founded school-temples in Lingnan (岭南) with the most original buildings kept. Since 2010 the county has restored the Yuewang Well (越王井), said to have been dug by Zhao Tuo, the Zhengxiang Pagoda (正相塔), the City God Temple, the old examination hall (龙川考棚), the Nanyue King Temple (南越王庙) and the Fujian Guild Hall (福建会馆). Old city wall, the county yamen site and the Song-dynasty Su Embankment (苏堤) also survive.

Across the villages stand Hakka round enclosures (围龙屋), halls ringed by curved rows of rooms facing a half-moon pond, and four-cornered fortified houses (四角楼) with gun-looped towers at each corner. Mount Huoshan (霍山) and the Fengshuba Reservoir (枫树坝水库) on the upper Dong River are among the better-known natural sights; the Fengshuba hydropower station is listed by Chinese Wikipedia as Guangdong's second-largest.

Food, crafts and performance

Most residents are Hakka, and local cooking follows the Dongjiang style. Dishes linked to the county include stuffed tofu, salt-baked chicken, Tuocheng tofu balls (佗城豆腐丸) and Chetian tofu (车田豆腐); local products include Laolong beef-tendon cake (老隆牛筋糕), dried persimmons and Hakka yellow wine (客家黄酒).

Lizui hand-held puppetry (黎咀手擎木偶戏), whose puppets move their hands, feet, mouths and eyes, joined the Guangdong intangible heritage list in 2009. The Lipu horse-lantern dance of Huilong (廻龙李埔马灯舞) and Longchuan acrobatics followed in 2018; the acrobatics troupe performs more than ten acts, among them rola-bola (晃管), jar-balancing (顶缸) and foot-juggling (蹬技).

Getting oriented

The Beijing–Kowloon and Guangzhou–Meizhou–Shantou railways meet at the county seat, where Chinese Wikipedia places the Longchuan marshalling yard, listed there as the largest in Guangdong. Longchuan West station (龙川西站) is on the Ganzhou–Shenzhen high-speed railway (赣深高铁).

Highlights

• Tuocheng old town 佗城: The county seat from 214 BC to 1949, renamed after Zhao Tuo; one of Guangdong's first provincial historic and cultural cities.
• Longchuan school-temple 龙川学宫: Provincial protected site first built in the Tang dynasty.
• Yuewang Well 越王井: Well attributed to Zhao Tuo, restored by the county since 2010.
• Lizui hand-held puppetry 黎咀手擎木偶戏: Provincial intangible heritage since 2009; puppets with moving hands, feet, mouths and eyes.
• Longchuan acrobatics 龙川杂技: Provincial intangible heritage since 2018, with acts such as rola-bola and jar-balancing.