Hengyang County 衡阳县

Setting and landscape

The county sits on the northern rim of the Hengyang Basin (衡阳盆地), a transition zone between the uplifted Five Ridges (五岭) and the subsiding Dongting Lake (洞庭湖) basin. The Xiang and its tributary the Zheng (蒸水) run through it. It borders Nanyue District (南岳区) and Hengshan County (衡山县) to the east, Qidong County (祁东县) and Shaodong (邵东) to the west, and Shuangfeng County (双峰县) in Loudi (娄底) to the north. The Beijing–Guangzhou, Huaihua–Shaoyang–Hengyang and Anren–Zhangjiajie–Hengyang railways all cross it.

History

A county called Hengyang was first created in 589, when the Sui merged the older Linzheng (临蒸), Chong'an (重安) and Xincheng (新城) counties and set up Hengzhou (衡州). County and prefecture shared one seat. In 1943 the urban area was split off as Hengyang city, and in April 1952 the southeastern part of the county became Hengnan County (衡南县); that July the county government moved to Xidu.

What to see

Several of the county's sites are tied to the philosopher Wang Fuzhi (王夫之), known as Wang Chuanshan (王船山). His retreat, the Xiangxi Thatched Hall (湘西草堂) in Xiangxi village, Qulan (曲兰镇), dates from 1675: a south-facing brick-and-timber house of 176 square metres, where the Hunan Daily county channel says he wrote most of his works. He died there in 1692 and was buried on Daluo Mountain (大罗山) in Qulan. The residence and tomb are a national key protected site; the tomb, wrecked in the Cultural Revolution, was rebuilt in 1980 with a white marble stele calling him a great thinker.

Goulou Peak National Forest Park (岣嵝峰国家森林公园) grew out of a state forest farm and became a national forest park in 1995, only the second in Hunan at the time. It has more than 1,000 plant species, including dawn redwood and ginkgo, and 95 per cent forest cover. In Lizi village, Hongshi (洪市镇), the Qing-era family compound of Xia Minghan (夏明翰), built around 1745 with 45 rooms, opened to the public in 2005 with displays on his life.

Food and local products

Qulan cooks keep a dish tied to Wang Chuanshan: Fuzi chillies (夫子辣椒), made from fresh chillies, salt and glutinous-rice flour and left in a crock for half a month, then fried in oil before serving. Local legend says the poor scholar stuffed chillies with toasted glutinous rice and toon leaves. Douzha cakes (豆渣粑) are fermented from tofu dregs and fried and then stir-fried with meat, or cooked in soup, and soft-shelled turtle is braised with Qulan's hezhe sheets (荷折皮焖水鱼), which are thicker than those of Zhajiang (渣江).

Highlights

• Xiangxi Thatched Hall (Wang Chuanshan's Former Residence) 湘西草堂: Wang Fuzhi's retreat from 1675 in Qulan; national key protected site with his tomb.
• Tomb of Wang Chuanshan 王船山墓: On Daluo Mountain, Qulan; rebuilt in 1980 after damage in the Cultural Revolution.
• Goulou Peak National Forest Park 岣嵝峰国家森林公园: National forest park since 1995; 95 per cent forest cover.
• Former Residence of Xia Minghan 夏明翰故居: Qing-era compound of 45 rooms in Hongshi, opened in 2005.
• Fuzi Chillies 夫子辣椒: Crock-cured chillies with glutinous-rice flour, fried before eating; linked by legend to Wang Chuanshan.