Yanhe Tujia Autonomous County 沿河土家族自治县

Setting and landscape

Yanhe borders Pengshui (彭水) and Youyang (酉阳) in Chongqing to the north and east, and Wuchuan (务川) in Zunyi to the northwest. It sits on the slope where the Guizhou plateau falls towards the hills of western Hunan and the Sichuan Basin. The Wujiang splits the county: the northwest belongs to the Dalou Mountains (大娄山) and the southeast to the Wuling Mountains (武陵山). The land is high in the northwest and southeast and falls to the Wujiang valley in the middle. The highest point is Jiaying Rock (驾鹰岩) on Kunlong Mountain (困龙山), at 1,462 m; the lowest, 225 m, is at Xiaopangtan (小旁滩) where the Wujiang leaves the county. Karst covers 72.5 per cent of the land.

What to see

The Wujiang flows for 132 km inside the county, and this stretch, known as the "Hundred-li Gallery of the Wujiang" (乌江百里画廊), is a national scenic area. The Mayanghe National Nature Reserve (麻阳河国家级自然保护区) protects the black leaf monkey (黑叶猴), a first-class protected species, and its forest habitat; the county government describes it as holding the largest population of the species in the world.

In spring the plum orchards of Nanzhuang (南庄) in Shazi (沙子) turn white across more than ten thousand mu. The county also lists karst caves such as Zhujia Cave (朱家洞) and Sanxing Cave (三星洞), the old town of Qitan (淇滩古镇), a Qing flood-level carving at Guanyin Rock (观音岩) and an old towpath along the Wujiang (乌江古纤道).

History

Western Han kiln remains and Eastern Han tombs have been found at Hongdu (洪渡). Yanhe was the centre of the Qiandong revolutionary base (黔东革命根据地), counted among China's eight revolutionary base areas; the Qiandong Special Zone Revolutionary Committee (黔东特区革命委员会) was the first Communist government on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and its former site is a national key protected site. On 7 October 1986 the State Council replaced Yanhe County with the present autonomous county, one of four in China set up for the Tujia alone.

Culture and local products

Yanhe is known as the home of Tujia mountain songs (土家山歌) and of the hollow plum (空心李), a plum with crisp, tender flesh grown at Nanzhuang. Tujia festivals include Guo Gannian (过赶年) and the Ox King Festival (牛王节); local performing traditions include the hand-waving dance (摆手舞), Nuo opera (傩堂戏) and bridal lament songs (哭嫁歌). Tujia brocade weaving and the stilt houses of Liyuchi (鲤鱼池) are among the crafts and dwellings the county lists.

Highlights

• Wujiang Gorges National Scenic Area 乌江山峡国家级风景名胜区: 132 km of the Wujiang inside the county, known as the Hundred-li Gallery of the Wujiang.
• Mayanghe National Nature Reserve 麻阳河国家级自然保护区: Reserve for the black leaf monkey, a first-class protected species.
• Former site of the Qiandong Special Zone Revolutionary Committee 黔东特区革命委员会旧址: National key protected site of the first Communist government on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.
• Nanzhuang plum orchards 沙子南庄: More than ten thousand mu of plum trees, where Yanhe's hollow plums are grown.