Daozhen Gelao and Miao Autonomous County 道真仡佬族苗族自治县

Setting and landscape

The Furong River (芙蓉江) cuts across the county from southwest to northeast and the Meijiang (梅江) from west to east, and the land slopes down towards the Furong valley from the northwest and southeast. Mountains, outliers of the Dalou range (大娄山), make up 79 per cent of the county. The average temperature is 16°C.

The Dashahe National Nature Reserve (大沙河国家级自然保护区) is where the county's wildlife is concentrated; surveys there have recorded 5,356 species and varieties of plants and animals. Its first-class protected plants include the Cathaya fir (银杉), which the county calls the "panda of the plant world", as well as ginkgo and the dove tree (珙桐).

History

In the Qin the area belonged to Ba Commandery. The Ming set up Zhen'an department (真安州) in 1601, renamed Zheng'an in 1724. In July 1941 the northeast of Zheng'an County became Daozhen County, named after the Han-dynasty scholar Yin Zhen (尹珍), whose courtesy name was Daozhen; its seat was Tuxichang, today's Yuxi town (玉溪镇). The county was merged into Zheng'an in 1958, restored in 1961, and became a Gelao and Miao autonomous county in November 1987.

Culture and what to see

Daozhen Nuo opera (傩戏) goes back more than 700 years; its masked performers aim to drive out evil and keep people safe, and the most powerful of the gods they portray is the Mountain King (山王). The China Nuo City (中国傩城) at Dalian town (大磏镇), which the county describes as the world's largest Nuo-culture old town, has two theme parks and three old streets named after the Bamboo King, the Mountain King and Yelang (夜郎).

The Sanyaotai (三幺台) banquet, on the national intangible-heritage list since 2014, is served for ancestor rites, festivals and honoured guests. In the local dialect "yaotai" means "finish": the meal ends only after three rounds of tea, liquor and rice, with more than 60 dishes and songs for each round. It took its final form in the late Qing and early Republic, when Gelao oil tea became the centre of the tea round.

Local products and orientation

Three products carry national geographical indications: Luodangshen codonopsis (洛党参), Daozhen figwort root (道真玄参) and selenium-strontium tea (硒锶茶). The county town is 160 km from Zunyi, 310 km from Guiyang and 150 km from central Chongqing, on an old route from northern Guizhou into Chongqing and Sichuan.

Highlights

• Dashahe National Nature Reserve 大沙河国家级自然保护区: Reserve with Cathaya fir, ginkgo and dove trees among its first-class protected plants.
• China Nuo City 中国傩城: Nuo-culture old town at Dalian with theme parks and three old streets.
• Sanyaotai banquet 三幺台: Three-round Gelao banquet of tea, liquor and rice, national intangible heritage since 2014.
• Luodangshen codonopsis 洛党参: Medicinal root with a national geographical indication.