Zixing 资兴市

Setting and landscape

The city borders Guidong (桂东) and Yanling (炎陵县) to the east, Rucheng (汝城) and Yizhang (宜章县) to the south, Chenzhou's Suxian District (苏仙区) to the west, and Yongxing (永兴) and Anren (安仁县) to the north. The average temperature is 16°C and annual rainfall 1,538 mm, and forest covers about 80 per cent of the land. The local speech, Zixing dialect (资兴话), belongs to the Gan group of Chinese.

Dongjiang Lake is an artificial lake formed by damming a river in the upper Xiang River system. Its catchment of 4,719 square kilometres spans Zixing and three neighbouring counties, Guidong, Rucheng and Yizhang, and the water surface covers 160 square kilometres, which the Hunan Daily compares to half of Dongting Lake (洞庭湖).

History

The Eastern Han created Hanning County (汉宁县) from Chen County (郴县) in 136, and after several renamings the county took the name Zixing in 672. In 1229 it became Xingning (兴宁县), and the county seat moved to Guanzihao (管子濠). Because Guangdong also had a Xingning County, the old name returned in January 1914, taken from the Zixing River (资兴水) in the county. Zixing County became a city in December 1984.

What to see

Dongjiang Lake is a national scenic area and a national wetland park. It was named in the national tourism authority's July 2015 public notice of new 5A-level scenic areas, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment refers to it as a 5A-level scenic area. The main sights named by the Hunan Daily are the morning mist on Little Dongjiang (雾漫小东江), the Dongjiang Dam (东江大坝), Longjing Gorge (龙景峡谷), Doushuai Lingyan (兜率灵岩) and Dongjiang rafting (东江漂流).

The lake's water quality is held steadily at Class I. Mines, fish cages and livestock farms around it have been closed and a ten-year fishing ban imposed, and the cold water from its depths is now used to cool servers in a big-data industrial park.

Getting oriented

The city government sits in Tangdong Subdistrict (唐洞街道). National Highways 240 and 357 cross the city.

Highlights

• Dongjiang Lake 东江湖: Reservoir in the upper Xiang River system with 160 square kilometres of water; national scenic area, national wetland park and 5A-level scenic area.
• Little Dongjiang 小东江: Known for its morning mist, one of Dongjiang Lake's main sights.
• Dongjiang Dam 东江大坝: Listed by the Hunan Daily among the main sights of the lake, with Longjing Gorge and Doushuai Lingyan.