Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County 富川瑶族自治县

Setting and heritage

The county has Guishi National Wetland Park (龟石国家湿地公园), the Xiling Mountain (西岭山) regional nature reserve and what the county calls the largest golden nanmu (金丝楠木) forest in South China. Shenxian Lake (神仙湖) and the Shenjian Stone Forest (神剑石林) are among its four national AAAA scenic areas, and Fuchuan was the fourth place in China, and the first in Guangxi, to be named an international Cittaslow (slow city).

A county was first set up here more than 2,100 years ago. Two Yao traditions from Fuchuan, butterfly songs (瑶族蝴蝶歌) and the long-drum dance (瑶族长鼓舞), are on the national intangible heritage list. The Ma Yin Temple (马殷庙) and a group of 27 old wind-and-rain bridges (风雨桥) are national key cultural relics sites, and 27 villages are on the national list of traditional villages.

What to see

Xiushui Zhuangyuan village (秀水状元村) lies in Chaodong town (朝东镇) in the northwest, 29 km from the county town and bordering Taochuan (桃川) in Jiangyong (江永), Hunan. Founded in the Kaiyuan era of the Tang, it produced one top-ranked imperial graduate (zhuangyuan) and 26 jinshi degree holders between the Tang and Qing. Its sights include the Dengying wind-and-rain bridge (登瀛风雨桥), an old opera stage, the Jiangdong Academy (江东书院) and the Mao clan hall (毛氏宗祠).

Fuxi village (福溪村), also in Chaodong, stands beside the ancient Xiao-He road (萧贺古道). Thirteen gate towers carry examination-honour plaques dated from 1370 to 1946, and a flagstone street about two li long runs through the village, with uncut natural rock, which villagers call "rooted stones", left in place among the slabs. Beside the village is the Baizhu Temple (百柱庙), another name for the Ma Yin Temple: a hall built on 120 wooden columns whose interlocking brackets show not a single nail, rebuilt and enlarged in 1413 and again in 1499.

Food

Fuchuan guotiao (富川粿条) is glutinous rice flour and white sugar pounded together, coated with hulled sesame and deep-fried. Yao families still take it as a New Year gift when visiting relatives, and its sole-like shape gives it the other name "straw-sandal cake" (草鞋饼).

Getting oriented

National Highway 207 and the Luoyang-Zhanjiang Railway (洛湛铁路) cross the county, and the Yongzhou-Hezhou Expressway (永贺高速) now also serves it.

Highlights

• Xiushui Zhuangyuan village 秀水状元村: Tang-founded village in Chaodong that produced one zhuangyuan and 26 jinshi.
• Baizhu Temple (Ma Yin Temple) 百柱庙: Hall on 120 wooden columns at Fuxi, its brackets fitted without a visible nail; national key site.
• Fuxi village 福溪村: Village on the ancient Xiao-He road with 13 gate towers and a long flagstone street.
• Fuchuan guotiao 富川粿条: Fried glutinous-rice and sesame cake given at New Year.