Lufeng 陆丰市

Setting and landscape

Lufeng borders Luhe County (陆河县) and Puning (普宁市) to the north, Huilai County (惠来县) to the east, and Haifeng County (海丰县) and Shanwei's Chengqu (城区) to the west. The highest point is Emeizhang (峨眉嶂), 980.3 metres, in the north-west of Boyang town (陂洋镇). The Luo River (螺河) is the largest river reaching the sea from Lufeng, and the Wukan River (乌坎河) enters Jieshi Bay through Wukan harbour. The city's gazetteer office says winters here are often among the warmest in Guangdong. The mainland coast runs for 191.86 kilometres, with 196 uninhabited islands on the national register and five ports: Jiazi (甲子), Hudong (湖东), Jieshi (碣石), Jinxiang (金厢) and Wukan (乌坎).

History

In 622, under the Tang, Anlu County (安陆县) was split from Haifeng with its seat at Huanzhu (环珠寨) in today's Da'an (大安镇); it was merged back in 627. Lufeng County itself was created from Haifeng in 1731 under Huizhou prefecture (惠州府), came under Shanwei in March 1988 and became a county-level city in January 1995. In the early Ming, Jieshi was made one of 36 wei guard garrisons (卫) in the country.

What to see

Yuanshan Temple (元山寺) on Xuanwu Mountain (玄武山) in Jieshi town (碣石镇) is dedicated to Xuantian Shangdi (玄天上帝). Founded in 1127 and enlarged in 1577, it took its present name under the Kangxi Emperor to avoid his personal name, and holds plaques by Lin Zexu (林则徐) and Liu Yongfu (刘永福); it became a national key cultural relic in 2001. The Xuanwu Mountain scenic area also contains the former Jieshi battle headquarters of the Red Second Division (红二师). The city government names Jinxiang Beach (金厢滩) as its leading coastal sight, and Shizhai (石寨村) and Huanzhuzhai (环珠寨村) in Da'an and Dalou (大楼古村落) in Tanxi (潭西镇) as its main old villages.

Food, crafts and local products

Four Lufeng traditions are on the national intangible-heritage list: the Da'an rolling golden dragon (大安滚地金龙), Lufeng shadow puppetry (陆丰皮影戏), Zhengzi opera (正字戏) and the Jiazi Yingge dance (甲子英歌舞). Jieshi's traditional crafts include wheat-straw pictures (碣石麦秆画) and woodcarving. From the sea come prawns, lobster, abalone, roe crab (膏蟹), glass squid (玻璃鱿鱼), laver and oysters; orchards grow lychee, longan, Hongjiang oranges (红江橙) and pineapple.

Getting oriented

The city gazetteer gives road distances of 300 kilometres to Guangzhou, 150 to Shenzhen and 140 to Shantou (汕头), and 105 nautical miles by sea to Hong Kong. The railway station is in Chengdong sub-district (城东街道), with trains to Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Highlights

• Yuanshan Temple, Xuanwu Mountain 元山寺: Temple to Xuantian Shangdi founded in 1127; national key cultural relic since 2001.
• Jinxiang Beach 金厢滩: Named by the city government as the leading example of its coastal scenery.
• Lufeng shadow puppetry 陆丰皮影戏: One of four Lufeng traditions on the national intangible-heritage list.
• Jieshi wheat-straw pictures 碣石麦秆画: Traditional Jieshi craft listed by the city among its distinctive heritage items.