Pingtang County 平塘县

What to see

FAST came into use on 25 September 2016; the county presents it as the world's largest single-dish radio telescope. The "China Sky Eye" scenic area around it (中国天眼景区) covers 3.47 square kilometres in two parts, the Pingtang Astronomy Town (平塘天文小镇) and the viewing zone. It includes a Sky Eye viewing deck, an astronomy experience hall and a memorial hall to Nan Rendong (南仁东).

The Zhangbu scenic area (掌布景区), 65 kilometres from the county town, was the first national 4A scenic area in Qiannan. It follows a six-kilometre karst gorge on the Langma stretch of the upper Caodu River (槽渡河), with cliffs and many karst caves. Zhangbu is famous for the "character stone" (藏字石), a boulder of about a hundred tonnes that split in two when it fell; the split face shows five raised characters reading "Communist Party of China". In December 2003 an expert panel invited by the county explained the shapes as fossils and bioclastic debris in Middle Permian Qixia Formation rock, brought out by dissolution and uneven weathering. About 3 kilometres into the gorge, more than 300 stone "eggs" 30 to 40 centimetres across are set into a riverside rock wall.

The Jiacha waterfall (甲茶瀑布) at Jiacha village is 40 metres wide and 37 metres high.

Setting and landscape

The county town lies in the east of the county on the Pingzhou River (平舟河), which wraps around it on the south, west and north, while Longnao Hill (龙脑坡), 789 metres high, rises to the east. The town has long been called "jade water, golden basin" (玉水金盆). Yanghe Mountain (养鹤山), 1,063 metres high and 8 kilometres west of the town, is a spot for watching the sunrise. The climate is humid mid-subtropical monsoon.

History

Under the Tang the area first had two jimi prefectures, loosely governed frontier units named Nanping (南平州) and Dong (动州). Pingtang County dates from 1 July 1941, when the Republican government merged Pingzhou (平舟) and Datang (大塘) counties; the seat moved to the old Pingzhou county town that August. The county was abolished in 1958, split along the Caodu River between Luodian (罗甸) and Dushan (独山), and restored in 1961.

Two traditions from the county are on the national intangible heritage list: the firing of Yazhou pottery (牙舟陶), a craft with more than 600 years of history, and the monkey-drum dance (打猴鼓舞) of the Maonan people (毛南族). The county's Kapu (卡蒲) is a Maonan ethnic township.

Highlights

• China Sky Eye scenic area 中国天眼景区: 3.47 sq km area at Kedu around the FAST radio telescope, with a viewing deck and a Nan Rendong memorial hall.
• Zhangbu scenic area 掌布景区: Qiannan's first national 4A scenic area, a six-kilometre karst gorge on the upper Caodu River.
• Character stone 藏字石: Split boulder in the Zhangbu gorge whose face shows five raised characters, explained by a 2003 expert panel as weathered fossil debris.
• Jiacha waterfall 甲茶瀑布: 40 metres wide and 37 metres high.
• Yazhou pottery 牙舟陶: Pottery tradition of more than 600 years, on the national intangible heritage list.