Guangning County 广宁县

Setting and landscape

Mountains ring the county, and the Suijiang cuts across it from northwest to southeast for 55 kilometres, leaving a trough that is high on both sides and low in the middle. Luoke Mountain (罗壳山), 1,339 metres, is the highest peak. Forest covers 83 percent of the county. Heavy rain here quickly raises the river downstream in Sihui, which a local saying sums up: "广宁落湿石，四会涨三尺" (when rain wets the stones in Guangning, the water in Sihui rises three feet).

Guangning borders Qingxin District (清新区) of Qingyuan (清远) to the northeast, Sihui (四会市) to the southeast, Deqing County (德庆县) and Gaoyao District (高要区) to the southwest, Huaiji County (怀集县) to the northwest and Yangshan County (阳山县) to the north. The county seat, in Nanjie subdistrict (南街街道), is 130 kilometres from Guangzhou and 98 kilometres from Zhaoqing.

History

The county was carved out of Sihui County (四会县) in the Ming Jiajing reign, after a campaign against the Yao (瑶) people who held the hill country; its name means "broad peace". Guangning and Sihui were twice merged as Guangsi County (广四县), in 1952–1954 and 1958–1961. The county government notes that one of the earliest rural Communist Party branches in South China was set up here, as was the first soviet government in the West River region.

Food and local products

Most of the bamboo grown is green-skinned Bambusa textilis (青皮竹), and bamboo shoots and winter mushrooms are among the forest products. Guanglü jade (广绿玉), a stone from the southwest of the county used for carving, is counted among China’s five famous stones; Guanglü jade carving entered the provincial intangible-heritage list in 2007, and the stone gained geographical-indication protection in 2013. Guangning is also known as a home of martial arts.

What to see

The county has developed the Bamboo Sea scenic area (竹海大观) and the Baodingshan scenic area (宝锭山景区); Baodingshan holds a bamboo culture exhibition hall, the only one in Guangdong according to the county. The Gushui River scenic area (古水河景区) keeps its natural vegetation, and the mountain scenic area at Luokeshan (螺壳山景区) has 95 percent forest cover. In Dawu village (大屋村), Beishi town (北市镇), more than ten intact Qing-dynasty Hakka big houses earned a place in the first national list of traditional villages; Liren village (里仁村) in Nanjie is also a listed traditional village.

Highlights

• Bamboo Sea scenic area 竹海大观: Scenic area the county describes as the largest bamboo sea in China.
• Baodingshan scenic area 宝锭山景区: Home of Guangdong's only bamboo culture exhibition hall, according to the county.
• Guanglü jade 广绿玉: Local carving stone; the carving craft is provincial intangible heritage since 2007.
• Dawu village 大屋村: Qing-dynasty Hakka big houses in Beishi town, on the first national list of traditional villages.