Yunan County 郁南县

History

The county government describes Yunan as both a mountain county and a riverside county. The Modaoshan site (磨刀山遗址) at Hedu village (和都村) in Hekou town (河口镇) was found in 2013. Excavation in 2014 on the fourth terrace of the Nanjiang River (南江) yielded nearly 400 stone artefacts, including hand-axes, dated to roughly 600,000 to 800,000 years ago; the county government calls it the oldest cultural remains yet found in Guangdong. It became a national key cultural relics protection unit in 2019.

Ducheng County, which gave the present seat its name, was formed by merging two counties in the Liu Song period (424–453). In 1577 the Ming created Xining County (西宁县) here under Luoding prefecture, with its seat at today's Jiancheng (建城镇). Because it shared its name with Xining in Qinghai, it was renamed Yunan in 1914, and the county seat moved to Ducheng in 1950.

What to see

The Dawan old building complex (大湾古建筑群) in Wuxing village (五星村), Dawan town (大湾镇), dates from the Ming and Qing. Fifty-five old buildings survive: 35 mansions, 19 ancestral halls and a temple. The mansions have tall fire-break gables of the wok-handle type (镬耳) and are decorated with plaster relief under the ridges and on the gables, murals, calligraphy, and carved wood and stone. Wuxing is listed as a China Historical and Cultural Village.

Lanzhai village (兰寨) at Liantan town (连滩镇) produced the top imperial examination graduate Lin Zhaotang (林召棠) and several other jinshi scholars, and keeps the Guang'er mansion (光二大屋), a provincially protected Qing fortified house. The county government presents the area as a showcase of Nanjiang folk customs, among them the Helou dance (禾楼舞), on the national intangible heritage list, and the Liantan piaose parade (连滩飘色), a provincial listing.

In the county town, Ducheng, the old street was widened and straightened in the autumn of 1930, lined with arcaded qilou buildings (骑楼) and renamed Zhongshan Road. Dawangshan National Forest Park (大王山国家森林公园), a 3A scenic area, holds Xining Lake (西宁湖) and the Wende Tower (文德塔).

Getting oriented

Yunan borders Yun'an District (云安区) to the east, Luoding (罗定) to the south and Cangwu (苍梧县) and Cenxi (岑溪市) in Guangxi to the west, and faces Fengkai (封开县) and Deqing (德庆县) across the Xi River to the north. The Nanning–Guangzhou railway stops at Nanjiangkou and Yunan stations.

Highlights

• Modaoshan site 磨刀山遗址: Early Palaeolithic site about 600,000-800,000 years old, national protected site since 2019.
• Dawan old building complex 大湾古建筑群: 55 Ming and Qing mansions, ancestral halls and a temple with plaster relief.
• Lanzhai village 兰寨: Home village of top scholar Lin Zhaotang, with the Guang'er mansion.
• Helou dance 禾楼舞: Folk dance on the national intangible heritage list.
• Zhongshan Road, Ducheng 都城中山路: Arcaded qilou street widened in 1930.