Keshan County 克山县

Setting and landscape

Keshan County borders Kedong County (克东县) to the east, Baiquan County (拜泉县) to the south, Yi'an County (依安县) to the west and Wudalianchi (五大连池市) to the northeast. To the north the Nemor River (讷谟尔河) separates it from Nehe (讷河市). The county covers 3,186.11 square kilometres, and the county government lists 3.45 million mu of farmland. Chinese Wikipedia gives average temperatures of -22.0°C in January and 21.9°C in July.

History and name

The place was once called Chahuoletun (查霍勒屯), Mongolian for 'stork', and Sanzhan (三站). One account recorded by Chinese Wikipedia derives the name from Erke Mountain (二克山), a pair of facing extinct volcanic peaks that now lie north of the Kedong county seat. Land here was opened for settlement in 1905, and a Keshan administration based at Sanzhan, today's Keshan Town (克山镇), was set up in 1915. In 1929 the eastern part was split off as Kedong County.

Keshan disease (克山病), which is linked to selenium deficiency, was first recorded here and is named after the county.

What to see

The Mao Anqing Memorial stands in the Keshan county town. It recalls Mao Anqing (毛岸青), second son of Mao Zedong, who took part in a pilot land-reform campaign in Keshan in 1947–1948. It opened on 23 November 2008, his 85th birthday anniversary, and was refurbished in 2021 with added displays on the county's own history. The collection includes 820 photographs of the Mao family and 260 objects that Mao Anqing used.

Food and local products

Potatoes, soybeans and maize are the main crops. The county is known as China's home of seed potatoes and of high-protein soybeans, and it serves as a regional base for breeding quality potato seed stock.

Highlights

• Mao Anqing Memorial 毛岸青纪念馆: Museum opened in 2008 on Mao Anqing's land-reform work in Keshan in 1947–1948, with 820 family photographs.
• Keshan seed potatoes 马铃薯种薯: The county is called China's home of seed potatoes and is a regional potato seed-breeding base.