Jidong County 鸡东县

Setting and landscape

The county covers 3,243 square kilometres and has a continental monsoon climate. It has 13 main rivers and 14 reservoirs, and forest covers 46.1 per cent of the land. Of its eight towns and three townships, two, Jilin (鸡林朝鲜族乡) and Mingde (明德朝鲜族乡), are Korean ethnic townships.

History

The county government traces settlement back to Sushen (肃慎) groups in the Shang and Zhou periods; under the Tang the area belonged to the Bohai (渤海) kingdom. The Qing lifted its ban on settlement in 1880, and in 1899 the Fengmishan (蜂蜜山) land-reclamation bureau was set up. The State Council decided to create Jidong in June 1964 from communes of Jixi, Mishan (密山) and Boli (勃利), and the county formally came into being on 1 January 1965.

The Guokui Mountain hill-fort site (锅盔山山城遗址) is a national key cultural relic protection unit. The county government also calls Jidong the place where the story of The Red Lantern (红灯记) is set.

What to see

Qilin Mountain (麒麟山), in Xingnong town (兴农镇), became a national 4A scenic area and a provincial geopark in October 2014. Its main peak rises to 550 metres, and the ridge takes its name from its outline: a head to the north and a tail to the south, like a reclining qilin. Fenghuang Mountain (凤凰山), 30 km southeast of the county town, is a 3A scenic area with a planned extent of 18 square kilometres, made up of Fenghuang Lake (凤凰湖), the Pingyang Reservoir (平阳水库) and a forest park. The Shuangyashan (双芽山) eco-tourism area at Baoquan Forest Farm (宝泉林场), founded in 1958, lies in the north of Jixi, south of Qitaihe (七台河), and has a valley of more than 5,000 transplanted maples. The county government also lists the Jilin Korean Folk Custom Park (鸡林朝鲜民俗风情园).

Food and local products

Farms grow rice, maize, soybeans, vegetables, flue-cured tobacco and perilla (紫苏). The county yields more than 300 kinds of wild medicinal materials, ginseng and matsutake among them, along with hazel mushrooms, hazelnuts and bracken, and its tourism page names matsutake liquor among its attractions.

Getting oriented

The county town lies 15 km from urban Jixi and 461.7 km from Harbin; the border crossings at Dangbi (当壁镇) and Suifenhe (绥芬河) are 100 km and 250 km away. The Linmi railway (林密线) and China National Highway 201 run east–west through the county.

Highlights

• Qilin Mountain Scenic Area 麒麟山景区: National 4A scenic area and provincial geopark since October 2014; main peak 550 metres.
• Fenghuang Mountain Scenic Area 凤凰山景区: 3A area of lake, reservoir and forest park 30 km southeast of the county town.
• Guokui Mountain hill-fort site 锅盔山山城遗址: National key cultural relic protection unit.
• Baoquan Forest Farm 宝泉林场: Forest farm founded in 1958 with a valley of over 5,000 transplanted maples.