Jiangkou County 江口县

Setting and landscape

The land falls to the east from three sides, from 2,570.5 metres on Fenghuangshan (凤凰山) to 275 metres at the lowest point. The Taiping (太平河), Minxiao (闵孝河), Taoying (桃映河) and Cheba (车坝河) rivers all drain to the Yuan River (沅江) in the Yangtze basin. High mountains and gorges fill the north-west and south-east, the centre is a broad low valley of rice and rapeseed, and the karst south has peak clusters, caves and underground rivers.

Fanjingshan, a sacred mountain of Chinese Buddhism, has been a national nature reserve since 1978 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018. The Qing-era old temple on its Golden Summit (金顶古庙) and the Ming and Qing inscriptions carved into the cliff there are provincial protected sites listed under Jiangkou.

What to see

Zhaisha Dong Village (寨沙侗寨) sits at the foot of Fanjingshan, 10 kilometres from the county town, across a suspension bridge over the Taiping River. Around its central square stand a drum tower, built like all Dong drum towers with an odd number of eave tiers, and a song hall for festivals; most houses are newly built two-storey wooden stilt houses.

Yunshe (云舍村) in Taiping town is promoted by the county as the "first Tujia village of China" (中国土家第一村), and its Qing buildings are a provincial protected site. Its Longtan River (龙潭河) is billed as the world's shortest river. Two 1936 Red Army sites in Shuangjiang (双江), the Mowan meeting site (磨湾红军会师旧址) and the headquarters of the Red Sixth Army Group (红六军团司令部旧址), are also provincially protected.

Jiangkou Nuo drama (傩戏), on the provincial intangible heritage list since 2009, pairs more than 30 short plays with over a dozen feats, including climbing a ladder of blades and walking barefoot over burning charcoal.

Food and local products

The county's specialty is the luobo pig (萝卜猪), known for thin skin and tender meat; its blood and offal are stewed in a large pot of sour soup as luobo pig paotang (萝卜猪刨汤). Cold-water fish (冷水鱼) and rice tofu (米豆腐) are other local dishes. In Zhaisha, Dong households drink ginger tea boiled from ginger, tea leaves, charred chilli and salt.

Highlights

• Fanjingshan 梵净山: Highest peak of the Wuling Mountains and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018; part of it lies in Jiangkou.
• Zhaisha Dong Village 寨沙侗寨: Dong village at the foot of Fanjingshan with a drum tower and song hall.
• Yunshe Village 云舍村: Tujia village with a provincially protected group of Qing buildings and the short Longtan River.
• Luobo pig paotang 萝卜猪刨汤: Local pig breed's blood and offal stewed in sour soup.