Hong'an County 红安县

Setting and landscape

The land rises from south to north and is mostly hills and mountains; its ranges all branch from the Dabie range and run north to south. Laojun Mountain (老君山) in the north is the highest point at 840.5 metres, followed by Tiantai Mountain (天台山) at 817 metres. The main rivers are the Daoshui (倒水), Sheshui (滠水) and Jushui (举水).

History

Huang'an County was carved out of Macheng, Huanggang and Huangpi in 1563, in the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty; its name meant a peaceful land with settled people. On 13 November 1927 the Huangma Uprising (黄麻起义) broke out here and peasant forces took the county town. The county government records that the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army was founded here and that Qiliping (七里坪) was named "Lenin City" (列宁市); it puts the county's dead in the revolutionary wars at 140,000. In September 1952 the central government approved the change of name to Hong'an.

What to see

The Huangma Uprising and E-Yu-Wan Soviet Area Memorial Park (黄麻起义和鄂豫皖苏区纪念园) is one of China's 100 classic red-tourism sites and one of the county's four national 4A scenic areas, together with the Li Xiannian Former Residence Memorial Park (李先念故居纪念园), Tiantai Mountain and Jinxiu Tongluo (锦绣铜锣). The Hong'an Martyrs' Cemetery (红安烈士陵园), with memorial halls to Dong Biwu (董必武) and Li Xiannian (李先念), is a major national historical and cultural site. Qiliping holds 20 revolutionary sites, including the former seat of the E-Yu-Wan Special Area Soviet government.

Tiantai Mountain stands on the Hubei–Henan border 40 kilometres north of the county town; its summit is shaped like a platform walled by cliffs. The Wu Clan Ancestral Hall (吴氏祠) in Doushan village (陡山村), built in 1763, has three halls decorated with painted, pottery and wood-carved scenes, and the Yuan dynasty Twin City Pagoda (双城塔) stands 3 kilometres south of Qiliping.

Food and local products

Hong'an mung bean balls (红安绿豆丸子) date from the late Qing: mung beans and rice beans are soaked, ground into a batter and spooned into hot oil to fry, giving soft, reddish-brown balls about the size of a pheasant egg. Hong'an cloth (红安大布), Hong'an sweet potato (红安苕) and Laojunmei tea (老君眉茶) carry national geographical indication status.

Getting oriented

The county town is 100 kilometres from Wuhan, and Macheng lies to its east. National highways G230 and G346 cross the county, the Shanghai–Chengdu and Macheng–Anlu expressways pass through its central south, and the Hankou–Macheng railway link has a station at Hong'an West.

Highlights

• Huangma Uprising and E-Yu-Wan Soviet Area Memorial Park 黄麻起义和鄂豫皖苏区纪念园: One of China's 100 classic red-tourism sites and a national 4A scenic area.
• Hong'an Martyrs' Cemetery 红安烈士陵园: Major national historical and cultural site with memorial halls to Dong Biwu and Li Xiannian.
• Tiantai Mountain 天台山: 817-metre platform-shaped peak on the Hubei–Henan border, 40 km north of the county town.
• Wu Clan Ancestral Hall 吴氏祠: Built in 1763, three halls with painted, pottery and carved decoration.
• Hong'an mung bean balls 红安绿豆丸子: Fried balls of ground mung beans and rice beans, created in the late Qing.