Wengyuan County 翁源县

Setting and landscape

Mountains cover about 80 percent of the county, with small basins between ranges that mostly run northeast to southwest. The highest point, 1,300 metres, is at Qixingdun (七星墩) on the northern border; Qingyun Mountain (青云山) in the south reaches 1,246 metres, and the land falls to 92 metres at Guandu (官渡). Carboniferous limestone is widespread, and 107 larger karst caves have been found.

History

Wengyuan County was carved out of Zhenyang County (浈阳县) in 554 under the Liang dynasty, and the county government counts it among the 16 earliest counties in Guangdong. It was merged into Qujiang (曲江) in 1278, restored in 1301, and briefly renamed Censhui (岑水县) in 1368. Natives include the late-Tang poet Shao Ye (邵谒) and the Ming general Chen Lin (陈璘), who fought Japanese pirates.

What to see

Donghua Mountain Scenic Area (东华山风景区), 3 kilometres east of the county town, became a national 4A scenic area on 14 November 2018. At its core are the Donghua Mountain forest park and Donghua Chan Temple (东华禅寺), built in 1457–1464 under the Ming, destroyed in the Republican era and rebuilt from 2001 with funds raised by the monk Wanxing (万行).

The Huxinba Hakka building group (湖心坝客家群楼) in Nantang village (南塘村), Jiangwei (江尾镇), was begun in the Ming Zhengtong reign. Of its 59 enclosed houses, 32 keep their original structure; Chang'an Wei (长安围), Waihandi (外翰弟), Dafudi (大夫弟) and Sanmenlou (三门楼) are provincial protected sites. The Bagua Wei (八卦围) at Xiling (葸岭) blends the eight trigrams of the Book of Changes with Hakka culture, and Luopan Wei (罗盘围) is shaped like a compass.

Food and local products

Sanhua plums (三华李) originated here, with those from Sanhua village in Longxian (龙仙镇) rated best; they have been grown since the late Ming and ripen around the summer solstice. Jiuxian peaches (九仙桃) come from Jiuxian village in Jiangwei. The county grows more than 1,800 varieties of Chinese orchid and its government calls it China's largest orchid production base.

Jiangwei rice noodles (江尾米粉) are made by hand from local rice and mountain spring water, ground, steamed, sun-dried and cut. Wengyuan meatballs (翁源肉圆) are fresh pork chopped to a paste with starch, salt and shallot or mushroom and are crisp and tender.

Getting oriented

Lianping (连平) lies to the east, Xinfeng (新丰) to the south, Yingde (英德) and Qujiang to the west, and Shixing (始兴) and Jiangxi to the north. With the Shaoguan–Xinfeng Expressway (韶新高速) open, its expressways form three north–south routes and one east–west route.

Highlights

• Donghua Mountain Scenic Area 东华山风景区: National 4A scenic area since 2018, centred on Donghua Chan Temple.
• Huxinba Hakka building group 湖心坝客家群楼: Ming-era group of 59 enclosed houses in Jiangwei, four of them provincial protected sites.
• Sanhua plum 三华李: Plum grown here since the late Ming, ripening around the summer solstice.
• Jiangwei rice noodles 江尾米粉: Handmade from local rice and mountain spring water and sun-dried.
• Wengyuan meatballs 翁源肉圆: Chopped fresh pork with starch and shallot or mushroom.