Jianhe County 剑河县

Setting and landscape

The land tilts from southwest to northeast, from 1,626 m at Dawanliang (大湾梁) in Liuchuan town (柳川镇) down to 340 m where the Qingshui River (清水江) leaves the county at Nanjia town (南加镇). Steep, deeply cut slopes explain the local saying "nine parts mountain, half water, half field". The county sits on the divide between the Qingshui River, part of the Yangtze basin, and the Duliu River (都柳江) of the Pearl River basin; its three large rivers are the Qingshui, the Nanshao (南哨河) and the Liudong (六洞河).

Yang'asha Lake (仰阿莎湖) is the reservoir filled in 2006 behind the Sanbanxi hydropower station (三板溪电站). It covers 85 square kilometres, with a main channel 130 km long. The climate is mid-subtropical and monsoonal, with an annual mean of 16.7°C.

History

The area was once known as Gou'e (勾俄) and Qingjiang (清江). The county was created only in 1729, under the Qing Yongzheng emperor, and the county government describes it as the last county established in China. Because of the Sanbanxi dam, the county town was rebuilt on a new site from 2004, and the move was finished in 2007; the government calls Jianhe the largest reservoir-resettlement county in Guizhou.

What to see

The Balang Cambrian fossil site (八郎寒武纪古生物化石遗址) holds fossils about 530 million years old and is described by the county as China's eleventh "golden spike" (金钉子) and a witness to the origin of life. The county also describes its radon-sulphur hot springs as Cambrian in origin; the Yang'asha Hot Spring Town (剑河仰阿莎温泉小镇) is a national 4A scenic area, and the county compares its water chemistry with that of the Vichy springs in France.

Thirty villages are on the national list of traditional villages. Festivals include the Sisters' Festival (姊妹节) and the Yang'asha festival on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, named after Yang'asha (仰阿莎), a legendary goddess of beauty; the county calls itself her home. The Miao water-drum dance (水鼓舞) is another local tradition.

Crafts and local products

Jianhe Miao embroidery entered the first national intangible-heritage list in 2006. Its distinctive form is tin embroidery (锡绣), made in Nanzhai (南寨), Mindong (敏洞) and Guanme (观么) for five to six hundred years: counted-thread patterns are laid out on dark blue cotton, strips of tin wire are stitched into them, and the gaps are filled with flowers in black, red, blue and green silk. The finished cloth looks like silver and is worn with silver hats, collars and bracelets.

Highlights

• Balang Cambrian fossil site 八郎寒武纪古生物化石遗址: About 530 million years old; described by the county as China's eleventh golden spike.
• Yang'asha Lake 仰阿莎湖: Reservoir of 85 square kilometres formed in 2006 by the Sanbanxi hydropower station.
• Yang'asha Hot Spring Town 剑河仰阿莎温泉小镇: National 4A scenic area built around radon-sulphur hot springs.
• Miao tin embroidery 苗族锡绣: Tin wire stitched on dark blue cotton; part of the national listing for Jianhe Miao embroidery (2006).