Lianjiang 廉江市

History and people

In 622 the Tang set up Shicheng County (石城县), named after the Shicheng River, and the next year moved the seat of Luozhou (罗州) prefecture here; the site of the Luozhou city lies on a hillside east of Longhu village (龙湖村), Hechun town (河唇镇). In 742 the county was renamed after the Nanlian River (南廉水) east of its seat. Because a Shicheng County also existed in Jiangxi, the name was changed to Lianjiang County in 1914, and it became a city in 1993. Three local languages meet here: Hakka (涯话), spoken by about half the population, Lianjiang Baihua (廉江白话, Gaoyang Cantonese) by about 35%, and Li speech (黎话), a form of Leizhou Min.

What to see

Xiexie Mountain (谢鞋山), 5 kilometres east of the city in Shicheng town (石城镇), is a national 3A scenic area. Once called Lion Hill, it is the home village of the Ming scholar Yang Qin (杨钦), and the hill was renamed "thanks for the shoes" after the emperor gave him a pair. Its 500-plus mu of wild lychee forest, with trees 500 to 600 years old, is described by the city government as the largest verifiable wild lychee community in inland China.

Hedi Reservoir (鹤地水库), in Hechun town 10 kilometres from the city, straddles the Guangdong–Guangxi border. It was built from June 1958 to August 1959; the Leizhou Youth Canal (雷州青年运河) was begun that June, and a memorial hall to both works stands there.

In Anpu town (安铺镇), beside the Jiuzhou River (九洲江), the Anpu arcade old streets (安铺骑楼老街) are a 3A scenic area. The qilou arcades date from the late Qing and early Republic and line five old streets about 5.6 kilometres long; the city government calls them the best-preserved and largest continuous group in western Guangdong. A Guandi temple, the Wenge Pagoda (文阁塔) and halls on Anpu gong-and-drum and bayin music are within the scenic area.

Food and local products

Anpu chicken (安铺鸡) is a local capon breed with yellow feet, beak and skin. For white-cut chicken it is poached gently in stock with pork belly until the bone is just pink, then dipped in soy sauce with garlic, sand ginger and coriander, finished with peanut and sesame oil. Lianjiang is also known for red oranges: the Hongjiang orange (红江橙) was bred at Hongjiang Farm (红江农场).

Getting oriented

The Litang–Zhanjiang and Hechun–Maoming railways stop at Lianjiang and Hechun stations, and the Shenyang–Haikou, Lanzhou–Haikou, Huazhou–Lianjiang and Yulin–Zhanjiang expressways cross the city.

Highlights

• Xiexie Mountain 谢鞋山: 3A scenic area with a wild lychee forest of 500- to 600-year-old trees and the home village of Ming scholar Yang Qin.
• Hedi Reservoir 鹤地水库: Reservoir on the Guangdong–Guangxi border, built 1958–59; the Leizhou Youth Canal was begun at the same time.
• Anpu arcade old streets 安铺骑楼老街: 3A scenic area of late-Qing and early-Republic qilou arcades on five streets by the Jiuzhou River.
• Anpu chicken 安铺鸡: Yellow-skinned local capon, served as poached white-cut chicken with a soy, garlic and sand-ginger dip.