Tiandong County 田东县

Setting and landscape

Hills enclose the county to the north and south, and a broad, flat basin lies between them. The Youjiang crosses the basin towards the southeast for 56 kilometres, past the towns of Xiangzhou (祥周镇), Pingma (平马镇), Linfeng (林逢镇) and Silin (思林镇), with farmland on both banks. South of the basin lie low, gently sloping hills, and further south mostly karst mountains; the highest point is the top of Lianhua Mountain (莲花山) in Naba (那拔镇) at 1,022 metres. The county sits on the Tropic of Cancer, and the government describes heat and dryness as its main climate features.

History

The county history office dates the first county here to 622, when Hengshan County (横山县) was set up under the Tang. Under the Yuan, the seat of Tianzhou Circuit (田州路) was at Jiuzhou hamlet (旧州屯) in Xiangzhou. After Tianzhou came under regular officials in 1875, the area became Enlong County (恩隆县), governed from Pingma; in 1934 Enlong was renamed Tiandong.

In 1929 Deng Xiaoping (邓小平) and Zhang Yunyi (张云逸) led the Baise Uprising (百色起义) and set up the Youjiang Soviet Government (右江苏维埃政府), which the county government calls the first revolutionary government in Guangxi and which sat in Tiandong. The former site of the Youjiang Workers' and Peasants' Democratic Government (右江工农民主政府旧址) was named a national patriotic education demonstration base in 2005.

What to see

The Gaolingpo early human site (高岭坡古人类遗址) at Tanhe (檀河) in Linfeng was listed by the State Council in June 2001 among the fifth batch of major protected sites. The county government also names the Bubing basin cave sites (布兵盆地洞穴遗址群) and a set of river and lake spots: the Shili lotus ponds (十里莲塘), Qipantan (棋盘滩) and Longtan Linghu (龙潭灵湖).

Zhuang liaoge (嘹歌), two-part antiphonal songs named after the drawn-out "liao" sung in each line, entered the national intangible heritage list in June 2008. In Tiandong they are sung mainly around Silin, and since 1752 a song fair has gathered on the 19th day of the second lunar month at Ganyang Cave (敢仰岩) in Guangyang village (广养村).

Food and local products

Tiandong was named "Home of Chinese Mango" (中国芒果之乡) by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Tiandong fragrant mango (田东香芒) became a protected geographical indication product in July 2011.

Highlights

• Youjiang Workers' and Peasants' Democratic Government site 右江工农民主政府旧址: Former government site named a national patriotic education demonstration base in 2005.
• Gaolingpo early human site 高岭坡古人类遗址: Listed in the fifth batch of major national protected sites in June 2001.
• Ganyang Cave song fair 敢仰岩歌圩: Liaoge song fair held on the 19th day of the second lunar month since 1752.
• Tiandong fragrant mango 田东香芒: Protected geographical indication product since July 2011.