Lushan County 鲁山县

Setting and landscape

Yaoshan (尧山), in the west of the county, is where the Sha River (沙河) rises. Its highest peak, Yuhuangding (玉皇顶), reaches 2,153.1 metres, and the national 5A scenic area covers 268 square kilometres of peaks, pillar-shaped rocks, waterfalls, old-growth forest and old rhododendron woods on the line between the subtropical and warm-temperate zones. From west to east, five groups of hot springs, Shangtang (上汤), Zhongtang (中汤), Wentang (温汤), Xiatang (下汤) and Shentang (神汤), form a belt of springs averaging 61 to 63°C; the Northern Wei geographer Li Daoyuan (郦道元) wrote that they could cure ten thousand ailments. Zhaoping Lake (昭平湖), 10 kilometres west of the county town, is a reservoir of about 38 square kilometres of water in the foothills.

History

Lushan was anciently called Luyang (鲁阳) and has been a county since the Han, more than 2,000 years. The county government names it the birthplace of the Liu (刘) surname, the home of Cangjie (仓颉), the legendary inventor of writing, and of the philosopher Mozi (墨子); surviving remains include stretches of the Chu Great Wall (楚长城) and a Han iron-smelting site. The tomb of Liu Lei (刘累), honoured as a founding ancestor, is among the sights at Zhaoping Lake.

What to see

The Spring Temple Buddha (中原大佛), finished in 2008 at Foquan Temple (佛泉寺), is a copper-cast statue of Vairocana Buddha 128 metres tall including its 20-metre lotus throne; English Wikipedia gives the whole monument, with its pedestals, as 208 metres. It takes its English name from a nearby hot spring.

The Duandian kiln site (段店窑), a national key cultural relic since 2006, made Lushan flower-glazed ware (鲁山花瓷): black-glazed pieces splashed with milky-white patches. The county government describes it as the earliest high-temperature flambé-glazed porcelain yet found in China, and a flower-glazed drum from Duandian is in the Palace Museum in Beijing. The firing craft entered the national intangible heritage list in 2020. The county is also a main producer of tussah silk, and Lushan silk (鲁山绸) is nicknamed "fairy weaving".

Highlights

• Yaoshan 尧山: National 5A scenic area at the source of the Sha River; highest peak 2,153.1 metres.
• Spring Temple Buddha 中原大佛: Copper-cast Vairocana statue 128 metres tall, completed in 2008.
• Lushan hot springs 鲁山温泉: Five hot-spring groups in a west-east belt, averaging 61 to 63°C.
• Duandian kiln site 段店窑: Source of Lushan flower-glazed ware; national key cultural relic since 2006.
• Zhaoping Lake 昭平湖: Reservoir 10 kilometres west of the county town, with the tomb of Liu Lei.