Jiangling County 江陵县

History

The county government explains the name as "near the river" with only low mounds and hillocks (陵阜) and no high mountains near the prefecture. Jiangling County itself dates from 278 BC, when the Qin general Bai Qi (白起) took the Chu capital Ying (郢) and created Nanjun Commandery (南郡) and Jiangling County. Today's county is not the whole of that old county: in 1994 the old Jiangling was split three ways, and a Jiangling District was built around Haoxue, which became a county again in 1998.

Jiangling holds early sites of the Hunan-West Hubei revolutionary base (湘鄂西革命根据地) from 1927 to 1932, where He Long (贺龙) and Zhou Yiqun (周逸群) were active.

What to see

Shagang Red Army Street (沙岗红军街), formerly Shagang Old Street, runs for 0.6 kilometres. Between 1928 and 1932 it housed the Hunan-West Hubei committee of the Communist Party, the provincial Soviet, the Jiangling county Soviet and more than ten Red Army offices. The Shagang New Year uprising (沙岗年关暴动) started the Hunan-West Hubei uprisings and led to the Bailu Lake (白鹭湖) guerrilla unit and the Sixth Red Army.

The Zhen'an Temple iron ox (镇安寺铁牛), made in 1859, is the emblem of what is called "the first dyke of China" (中华第一堤) and a symbol of the fight against floods. The county government also lists the site of the Qingshan Chu palace (青山楚王宫遗址) among its heritage, and a 66-kilometre green corridor now follows the river and the dykes.

Food and local products

Sanhu yellow peaches (三湖黄桃) are a national geographical indication product and Jiangling golden chrysanthemum (江陵金菊) a registered geographical indication trademark. Its rice is marketed as "Jiangling Daomi" (江陵道米). Local specialities named by the county government include tieniu cakes (铁牛饼), a snack with a century-long history, and soy-sauce noodles (酱油面), an old Jingjiang name.

Getting oriented

The Yangtze shipping lane and the Haoji Railway (浩吉铁路), the national coal line from north to south, cross in Jiangling, which has its own railway station and river port areas. Jingzhou airport lies 30 kilometres away.