Liannan Yao Autonomous County 连南瑶族自治县

Setting and landscape

Its other neighbours are Lianzhou (连州) to the north-east, Yangshan (阳山) to the south-east, Huaiji (怀集) to the south and Lianshan (连山) to the west; the seat is Sanjiang town (三江镇). The uplands are known as the "hundred-li Yao mountains" (百里瑶山), and forest covers 83.8% of the county. Two national parks lie here, the Wanshan Chaowang National Rocky Desertification Park (万山朝王国家石漠公园) and the Yaopai Terraces National Wetland Park (瑶排梯田国家湿地公园), along with provincial reserves at Bandong (板洞) and for the Chinese giant salamander. The Xuchang–Guangzhou and Erenhot–Guangzhou expressways and national road G323 cross the county.

History

Liannan County was set up in 1946 with its seat at Sanjiang. In 1953 it was joined with Lianshan as the Liannan Yao Autonomous Area; Lianshan was split off again in 1954, and the name became Liannan Yao Autonomous County in 1955. After a period inside a merged Lianyang county from 1958, it was restored in 1961, and it moved to Qingyuan's administration in 1988. Sanpai town (三排镇) is where the classic piece "Yao Dance" (瑶族舞曲) was written.

What to see

The Nangang Thousand-Year Yao Village (南岗千年瑶寨) is a national historic and cultural village. In Nangang village (南岗村), the Ming-era Nangang Gupai (南岗古排) old settlement has been a county protected site since 2001, and in 2012 it and Sanpai village (三排村) were among the first Chinese traditional villages. Nangang and Youling (油岭村) villages are both named hometowns of Chinese folk art.

Shuagetang (耍歌堂), the Pai Yao festival that went on the first national intangible-heritage list in 2006, is held on the 16th day of the tenth lunar month, the birthday of Pangu Wangpo (盘古王婆). The big version lasts three days and comes every three or five years; it combines ancestor worship, Yao singing, the long-drum dance and the chasing of a black-faced man. The long-drum dance (长鼓舞), listed nationally in 2008, is danced to ox horns and gongs on village grounds or harvested fields at Spring Festival and other feast days. Liannan Yaoshan camellia oil is a national geographical-indication product.

Highlights

• Nangang Thousand-Year Yao Village 南岗千年瑶寨: Listed as a national historic and cultural village.
• Shuagetang festival 耍歌堂: Pai Yao festival on the 16th day of the tenth lunar month; national intangible heritage since 2006.
• Yao long-drum dance 瑶族长鼓舞: Danced to ox horns and gongs at festivals; national intangible heritage since 2008.
• Yaopai Terraces National Wetland Park 瑶排梯田国家湿地公园: One of two national parks in the county.