Gucheng County 谷城县

Setting and landscape

The county government describes a C-shaped terrain opening to the north-east, falling in three steps from the south-west. The top is Qinglong Mountain (青龙山), 1,584 metres, in Zhaowan township (赵湾乡); the lowest point, 71 metres, is at Jiudaowan (九道湾) in Cihe town (茨河镇). The south-west is steep karst mountain country cut by V-shaped valleys; the middle band of rounded mountains reaches 1,099 metres at Nü'er Peak (女儿峰) in the Xieshan (薤山) forest; the north-east is low ridged hills and small plains along the Han and the lower South and North rivers (南河、北河).

History

The county was the seat of the ancient state of Gu (谷国). A Qianlong-era gazetteer quoted by Chinese Wikipedia places Gu Mountain (谷山), with the tomb of the Earl of Gu on top and the old Gu city below, ten li north-west of the county town. In June 1930 the Communist county committee moved into the summer villas on Mount Xieshan, and the Gucheng County soviet was founded there on 5 October 1931. In April 1939 the Party's north-west Hubei committee moved to the lower street of Cihe; it was active in Gucheng for nearly two years and set up the North Hubei Hand-Spinning Training Institute (鄂北手纺织训练所) there.

What to see

Chengen Temple (承恩寺), a national key protected site, stands below Lion Peak (狮子峰) on the north side of Wuduo Mountain (五朵山) in Cihe town, 35 kilometres from the county town. The county government dates it to the Sui dynasty; of more than 200 halls and rooms, over 70 survive, and a bronze bell of ten thousand jin inscribed with Sanskrit is described as the largest surviving in Hubei.

Shenya Catholic Church (沈垭天主教堂) in Zijin town (紫金镇) was founded in 1723 and by 1731 was the mother church for north-west Hubei. In 1879 the Italian priest Nanxi (南熙) built a Western-style church, seminary and orphanage at Mupan Mountain (木盘山).

The Nanhe Little Three Gorges (南河小三峡), a national 3A scenic area in Nanhe town (南河镇) 23 kilometres south-west of the county town, follows the South River (南河) for more than 30 kilometres through karst gorges. The river rises in Shennongjia (神农架) and is also called Fenshui (粉水), "powder water", after a legend of the face powder of Xiao He's (萧何) wife. The name "Little Three Gorges" for the Mafei, Shennü and Wulong gorges was in use by 1792, and the Nanhe dam has turned the gorge into a lake.

Highlights

• Chengen Temple 承恩寺: National key protected site below Lion Peak in Cihe town, with a Sanskrit-inscribed bronze bell of ten thousand jin.
• Shenya Catholic Church 沈垭天主教堂: Founded in 1723; mother church of north-west Hubei by 1731; Western-style church built in 1879.
• Nanhe Little Three Gorges 南河小三峡: National 3A scenic area on the South River, 23 km south-west of the county town, called the "Little Three Gorges" by 1792.
• Xieshan revolutionary sites 薤山革命旧址群落: Former county committee, soviet government and Red Army guerrilla headquarters in the Xieshan summer villas, 26 km south-west of the county town.