Cangwu County 苍梧县

History

In 111 BC the Han founded Guangxin County (广信县), covering today's Cangwu and all of Wuzhou, with its seat at present-day Wuzhou city. The Sui renamed it Cangwu County in 583, and from then until the Qing it served as the seat of the Wuzhou region. In 1855 the rebels Chen Kai (陈开) and Li Wenmao (李文茂) took Wuzhou and briefly renamed the county Xiuping (秀平). A separate county government was set up apart from Wuzhou city in January 1950. In 2013 four towns were split off to form Wuzhou's Longxu District (龙圩区); the county now has nine towns.

Liubao tea

Tea named after Liubao, then part of Duoxian township (多贤乡), was known by the early Ming. The county government says it was listed among 24 famous teas in the Jiaqing reign (1796–1820) for its betel-nut aroma and sent to court as tribute. The making technique, a national intangible heritage item since 2014, uses local leaves that are fired at low heat, rolled, steamed, left to ferment in piles, steamed again, then dried over a pinewood fire and aged. The leaf is glossy blackish-brown and the liquor an amber red.

The Liubao tea garden area in Liubao town, 30 kilometres from Wuzhou city, has 1,100 mu of tea bushes, displays of traditional tea-making equipment and tea-art performances. Around the town are a tea street and waterfalls led by the Niugushuang falls (牛骨爽瀑布).

What to see

Feilong Lake (飞龙湖), a national forest park in Lipu town (梨埠镇), combines a lake with islands, forest and waterfalls. Its Huangdian cascades (皇殿梯级瀑布群) drop from mountains over 300 metres high in more than ten falls strung along two kilometres, the tallest nearly 20 metres. Large celebrations are held here each year for the Panwang Festival (盘王节).

Longyan (龙岩), 700 metres west of Shiqiao's streets, is a karst cave 100 metres long with a shaft open to the sky, which gives it the name Tongtian Yan (通天岩). Its walls carry inscriptions by Li Zongren (李宗仁), Bai Chongxi (白崇禧) and other officials and writers, and it has been a county-protected site since 1987. Xianji Peach Blossom Island (仙迹桃花岛), also in Lipu town on the Dong'an River (东安江), keeps the Shimen old houses and a Liang ancestral hall from the late Ming and early Qing.

Highlights

• Liubao tea 六堡茶: Dark tea from Liubao town; its making technique is national intangible heritage (2014).
• Feilong Lake 飞龙湖: National forest park with the Huangdian cascades, more than ten falls along two kilometres.
• Longyan cave 龙岩: Karst cave near Shiqiao with a shaft open to the sky and inscriptions by Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi.
• Xianji Peach Blossom Island 仙迹桃花岛: Island on the Dong'an River with late-Ming and early-Qing houses and an ancestral hall.