Hanchuan 汉川市

Setting and landscape

This is flat, low-lying country of plain and lakes, tilting gently from north-west to south-east at around 25 metres above sea level. Repeated Han River floods have left the land along the river slightly higher than the low middle of the city, with a few hills in the south-east. Tianmen (天门) lies to the west, Xiantao (仙桃) to the south, and Yingcheng (应城), Yunmeng (云梦) and Xiaonan (孝南) to the north. The climate is subtropical monsoon, with about 230 frost-free days a year.

History

A county was first set up here in AD 561 under the Northern Zhou. Its seat stood at Mount Zeng (甑山), in today's Ma'an (马鞍乡), so it was called Zengshan County. In 621 it became Chachuan (汊川), after the Cha River that crossed it, and in 960 Yichuan (义川). In 977 the name Yichuan clashed with the personal name of the Song emperor Taizong, Zhao Guangyi, so the county was renamed Hanchuan after the Han River running through it. The State Council turned the county into a city on 12 March 1997.

What to see

Makou pottery (马口陶) has been made for more than 500 years. The Huanglong Lake (黄龙湖) Makou pottery base keeps the wood-fired Makou kiln and the Yuji dragon kiln (喻集龙窑), and its potters still throw pots by hand and decorate them with carved-away patterns.

Hanchuan shanshu (汉川善书), on the national intangible-heritage list, is a local storytelling art that took shape in the Qianlong reign of the Qing, more than 260 years ago. It grew out of religious readings of moral tracts and mixes spoken passages with sung verse rhymed in the local dialect. The city also keeps a large body of folk songs: the teacher Li Lianghen (李良恒) of Litan (里潭乡) collected nearly 300, and 258 were published in 2006.

Food and local products

Diao lotus (汈莲), named after Diaocha Lake (汈汊湖) where it grows, is mostly a red-flowered lotus grown for its seeds. The Hanchuan government lists it among China's five famous lotus varieties, alongside Hunan's Xiang lotus and Honghu's white lotus. Before the lake was brought under control it covered 60,000 mu of water.

Highlights

• Makou pottery 马口陶: Pottery tradition of more than 500 years, with wood-fired kilns at the Huanglong Lake base.
• Hanchuan shanshu 汉川善书: National intangible-heritage storytelling art, formed in the Qianlong reign, mixing speech and dialect song.
• Diao lotus 汈莲: Red lotus of Diaocha Lake, listed by the city among China's five famous lotus varieties.