Wuchuan Gelao and Miao Autonomous County 务川仡佬族苗族自治县

History

Wuchuan became a county in 599 under the Sui, and the county government calls it the oldest county in Guizhou. In 1281 the name was changed to Wuchuan written with a different character (婺川) after a "Wu star" (婺星) meteorite fell at the county seat; the uncommon character was later dropped again. The autonomous county was approved by the State Council in August 1986 and set up in November 1987, one of two in China where the Gelao and Miao are the main peoples.

The area has long been tied to cinnabar. The county government describes it as the county with the earliest history of cinnabar mining and mercury smelting in the world, and credits the Gelao with using specific gravity and distillation to extract cinnabar and mercury.

What to see

The Gelao Origin scenic area (仡佬之源景区), a national 4A site about 8 km from the county seat, centres on Daping (大坪) by the Hongdu River (洪渡河), which the county calls the Gelao mother river. It takes in the Longtan old village (龙潭古寨), a Gelao settlement once known as Huotanya (火炭垭), and the Jiutian Mother Stone (九天母石), a rock formation on the riverbank likened to nine pillars and regarded as the origin point of the Gelao. Around the Qingming festival an ancestral rite for heaven and forebears is held there.

In the county seat, the Gelao ethnic culture museum (仡佬族民族文化博物馆) on the Hongdu riverside was completed and began trial operation in August 2016; it holds 1,297 objects and presents Gelao life and history. The Daping Han tombs (大坪汉墓群), a national protected site, are listed as the largest Han tomb group in Guizhou; Wengxi Bridge (瓮溪桥) and the Shen You Shrine (申佑祠) are provincial sites. The county also has what it calls China's largest protection base for François' langurs, the Mayanghe national nature reserve (麻阳河国家级自然保护区), the Liyuan grassland (栗园大草原), a red-leaf canyon and the Shichao sinkhole (石朝天坑).

Food and customs

The Gelao banquet Sanyaotai (三幺台) seats eight to a table with places set by generation and comes in three rounds: a tea round of oil tea (油茶) and pastries, a wine round with sausage and pig's ear, and a rice round of steamed dishes, chicken, duck, fish and meat. Other living customs include lion dancing on high platforms (高台舞狮), the traditional sport Damie Jidan (打篾鸡蛋), the Chixin new-harvest festival (吃新节) and Gelao Nuo opera (仡佬傩戏).

Highlights

• Gelao Origin Scenic Area 仡佬之源景区: National 4A area on the Hongdu River taking in the Longtan old village and the Jiutian Mother Stone.
• Daping Han Tombs 大坪汉墓群: National protected site, listed as the largest Han tomb group in Guizhou.
• Gelao Ethnic Culture Museum 务川仡佬族民族文化博物馆: Museum of Gelao life and history in the county seat, which began trial operation in 2016.
• Sanyaotai banquet 三幺台: Three-round Gelao feast of tea, wine and rice courses for eight diners.