Lushi County 卢氏县

Setting and landscape

The ground rises from north-east to south-west, a mix of mountains, hills and river-valley basins with an average altitude of 1,221 metres; the highest point is Yuhuangjian (玉皇尖) at 2,057.9 metres. Its rivers belong to two systems. The Luo River (洛河) and Duguan River (杜关河) in the north flow to the Yellow River and drain about seven-tenths of the county, while the Laoguan (老灌河) and Qi (淇河) rivers in the south are headwaters of the Dan River (丹江), a tributary of the Han. The Sanmenxia city government notes that the low mountains south of the Xiong'er range have a subtropical climate, unlike the warm-temperate rest of the city.

History

The county was created in 113 BC under Hongnong Commandery (弘农郡). In the Western Zhou the area was Xin (莘), a territory of the state of Guo (虢国), and the Bamboo Annals (竹书纪年) record Jin taking the area in 456 BC. The Red 25th Army took Lushi in 1934, making it the core of the Red Army's Hubei–Henan–Shaanxi base, and in 1947 four towns were split off to form the new Luanchuan County (栾川县).

What to see

Shuanglongwan (双龙湾), a national 4A scenic area in Shuanglongwan town, lies in the middle of the Xiong'er Mountains at the source of the Luo River and takes its name from two peaks, Big Dragon Head and Small Dragon Head. Its zones include the Luo River Little Three Gorges and a group of karst caves. The Yuxi Grand Canyon (豫西大峡谷), a 4A area in Guandaokou town (官道口镇), runs east to west for more than 30 kilometres with 99 tiers of waterfalls and over 300 pools; its rafting channel is 6 kilometres long with a drop of 210 metres. Among historic buildings, the Lushi City God Temple (卢氏城隍庙) is a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Food and local products

Lushi people eat mostly wheat-flour food: braised noodles (卤面), hutu noodles (糊涂面), fermented-starch noodles (浆面条) and pulled noodles (拽面). The traditional banquet is the "eight bowls" (八碗席): two bowls of red-braised pork strips, eight slices to a bowl, then crisp-fried pork, meatballs, noodle strands and cabbage, and two cold dishes. National geographical-indication products include Lushi forsythia (卢氏连翘), black wood-ear fungus, Lushi chicken, walnuts and green-shelled eggs (绿壳蛋), which Wikipedia says gives Lushi more such products than any other Henan county. Lushi paper-cutting (卢氏剪纸) and Lushi gong-and-drum storytelling (卢氏锣鼓书) are on the national intangible-heritage list.

Highlights

• Shuanglongwan 双龙湾: National 4A scenic area at the source of the Luo River, named after two peaks called the Big and Small Dragon Heads.
• Yuxi Grand Canyon 豫西大峡谷: 4A canyon in Guandaokou town with 99 tiers of waterfalls, over 300 pools and a 6-kilometre rafting channel.
• Lushi City God Temple 卢氏城隍庙: National key cultural relics protection unit.
• Lushi forsythia 卢氏连翘: Medicinal plant with national geographical-indication status; a flower-season festival has been held each March since 2021.
• Lushi paper-cutting 卢氏剪纸: National intangible cultural heritage item.