Ceheng County 册亨县

Setting and landscape

The Beipan River and Wangmo County (望谟县) lie to the east; across the Nanpan to the south are Tianlin (田林), Leye (乐业) and Longlin (隆林) counties of Guangxi. Anlong County (安龙县) adjoins it to the west and Zhenfeng County (贞丰县) to the north. Elevations run from 375 metres to 1,634 metres, averaging 830 metres, and the mean annual temperature of 19.8°C with a frost-free year has earned it the nickname of a "natural greenhouse". Forest covers 72.37 per cent of the land, much of it Chinese fir and eucalyptus, and the county holds the titles "Home of Chinese Glutinous Banana" and "Famous County of Chinese Camellia Oil".

History

According to the county government, surviving heritage includes the site of the ancient Luodian kingdom (罗甸王国), an old chieftain's residence site, tomb clusters and cliff reliefs. The county government was set up in 1951; in 1957 the seat moved from Ceyang (册阳) to a new town at Zhelou (者楼), which is still the seat. Ceheng was merged into Anlong County in 1958, restored in 1961, turned into Ceheng Buyei Autonomous County in 1965, and became an ordinary county again in 1981 when it passed to Qianxinan Prefecture.

What to see

Wanchongshan (万重山), a national 4A scenic area 17 kilometres north-west of the county town, stands at 1,395 metres where rolling earth hills meet karst; from the top, ridges stack up on every side. Banwan Old Village (板万古寨), a 3A scenic area, is a Buyei village founded in the late Qing, ringed by hills around a single valley floor, with Buyei stilt houses. Its intangible heritage includes Buyei masked opera, eight-instrument seated singing and Buyei opera, and the village was placed on the third national list of traditional villages in 2014.

Food and local products

Five-colour sticky rice (五色糯米饭) is a traditional Buyei snack: glutinous rice dyed black, red, yellow, white and purple with plant colourings such as mimeng flower (密蒙花), maple leaves, sappanwood and gromwell. Buyei families make it for Qingming, the third day of the third lunar month, the Ox King Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival, to take to song gatherings or offer to ancestors, and treat it as a sign of good harvest.

Highlights

• Wanchongshan 万重山: National 4A scenic area 17 km north-west of the county town, at 1,395 m where earth hills meet karst.
• Banwan Old Village 板万古寨: Late-Qing Buyei village with stilt houses; on the third national traditional-village list in 2014.
• Five-colour sticky rice 五色糯米饭: Buyei festival rice dyed five colours with plant dyes.