Longhui County 隆回县

Setting and landscape

The county government divides Longhui into three zones: low hills in the south, an upland plateau in the northwest and mountains in the north. Its hills belong to the Xuefeng Mountains (雪峰山), and all 73 of its peaks above 1,500 metres stand in the northwest and north. Longhui borders Xinshao (新邵县) to the east, Shaoyang County and Wugang (武冈) to the south, Dongkou (洞口县) to the west, and Xupu (溆浦) and Xinhua (新化县) to the north; the county town is 56 kilometres from Shaoyang.

History

For centuries the area was part of Shaoyang County under Baoqing Prefecture (宝庆府). In 1372 the Ming set up the Longhui patrol post (隆回巡检司) here. After the war against Japan the local townships petitioned for a county of their own, and Longhui County was approved on 31 January 1947, with its first offices in the Liu family ancestral hall at Liuduzhai (六都寨).

What to see

The Huxingshan Huayao scenic area (虎形山花瑶景区), 118.4 square kilometres in the northwest, became a national scenic area in 2009; the county notes it is the only one named after an ethnic group. Its core is Chongmudang (崇木凼村), which the county calls the largest Huayao settlement in China and which joined the first list of Chinese Traditional Villages in 2012. At the Wangxi waterfalls (旺溪瀑布), five falls and their pools follow one another along a 1.5-kilometre gorge.

Wei Yuan's former residence (魏源故居), a Qing house in Xuetangwan village (学堂湾村) of Simenqian town (司门前镇), is a national protected site. Wei Yuan wrote the Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms (海国图志) and argued that China should "learn the superior techniques of the foreigners in order to control them".

Food, crafts and local products

Four national intangible heritage items come from Longhui: Huayao cross-stitch embroidery (花瑶挑花), Huayao wuwa mountain songs (花瑶呜哇山歌), Tantou New Year woodblock prints (滩头年画) and Tantou handmade paper (滩头手工抄纸). The county is known for its "three hot things": chilli, garlic and ginger, along with honeysuckle and dragon-tooth lily (龙牙百合).

Highlights

• Huxingshan Huayao scenic area 虎形山花瑶景区: National scenic area since 2009 in the Huayao uplands of the northwest.
• Chongmudang 崇木凼村: Huayao village on the first list of Chinese Traditional Villages (2012).
• Wei Yuan's former residence 魏源故居: Qing house in Xuetangwan village, Simenqian town, linked to Wei Yuan; national protected site.
• Tantou New Year prints 滩头年画: Woodblock prints on the national intangible heritage list.