Baokang County 保康县

Setting and landscape

Local shorthand calls the county eight parts mountain, one part water and one part field. The Jingshan divide crosses the middle of the county from west to east: south of it the mountains are gentler and the valleys wider, while to the north they are higher and the valleys narrower. The average elevation is 910 metres, ranging from 194 metres at Fengqiao (枫桥) in Guoduwan (过渡湾) to 2,000 metres at Oudianguan Mountain (欧店关山). The main rivers include the Nan River (南河), the Ju River (沮河) and the Man River (蛮河), and a local saying holds that the climate changes with every zhang (about three metres) of height and between sunny and shady slopes.

History

The county government presents Baokang as the source of the Chu state and its culture, stating that 350 of Chu's 800 years were spent in the Jing Mountains around Baokang. Chaoyuan Mountain (朝元山) in Liangyu township (两峪乡), a Taoist site with a 1,469.4-metre main peak, was first built up in 477 under the Northern Wei, flourished in the Qing Tongzhi reign and is known as the 'Middle Wudang'. The former residence of Wu Defeng (吴德峰故居) at Baizhu village (白竹村) in Xiema (歇马镇), a late-Qing manor house with two halls and four courtyards, is a Hubei provincial key protected site; Wu, born there, later became the first mayor of Wuhan.

What to see

Baokang has five national AAAA scenic areas. Wudao Gorge (五道峡), a national nature reserve in Houping (后坪镇), takes its name from five natural passes, and legend says Bian He (卞和) of Chu found a fine jade here. Jiuluzhai (九路寨) in Xiema is a karst landscape at an average 1,200 metres with Chuwang Peak (楚王峰) and Huanglong Cave (黄龙洞). Yaozhihe (尧治河), at the junction of Baokang, Shennongjia and Fang County, lies at 1,300–1,500 metres and has a phosphate-mining museum. Hengchong (横冲), on the main peak of the Jing Mountains, averages 1,700 metres with a 1,949-metre summit and over 92 percent forest cover, and has a ski slope. Liuzhuya (六柱垭) at Huanglongguan village (黄龙观村) in Maqiao (马桥镇) rises to 1,525 metres.

In the county town, the Chinese Crape Myrtle Grove (中华紫薇林) holds more than 5,000 crape myrtle trees over a century old, the oldest put at 1,500 years; the trees flower from June to September.

Highlights

• Wudao Gorge 五道峡: AAAA scenic area and national nature reserve named for five natural passes; linked in legend to Bian He's jade.
• Jiuluzhai 九路寨: AAAA karst scenic area in Xiema at an average 1,200 metres.
• Hengchong 横冲: AAAA area on the main peak of the Jing Mountains, summit 1,949 metres, with a ski slope.
• Chaoyuan Mountain 朝元山: Taoist mountain first built up in 477, known as the 'Middle Wudang'.
• Chinese Crape Myrtle Grove 中华紫薇林: Over 5,000 century-old crape myrtles, the oldest put at 1,500 years.