Baojing County 保靖县

Setting and landscape

The county is shaped like a saddle: high in the northwest and southeast, lower in the middle, with the Wuling range running diagonally across it. The highest point is Baiyun Temple on Baiyun Mountain (白云山) at 1,320.5 metres; the lowest, at 200.5 metres, is on the river at Qianling (迁陵). The You and the Wu (武水) are the main rivers. Baojing borders Longshan (龙山) to the north, Yongshun (永顺) and Guzhang (古丈) to the east, Huayuan (花垣) and Jishou (吉首) to the south, and Xiushan (秀山) in Chongqing to the west. Fossils of the jawless fish Tujiaaspis vividus, dated to 436 million years ago, were found in the county.

History

In 202 BC the area was Qianling County under Wuling Commandery, with its seat at the site now called Sifangcheng (四方城). In 907 it became Baojing Prefecture, and in 1729 the Qing abolished the hereditary native chieftains and set up Baojing County with its seat at Qianling. Remains in the county include the Han-dynasty Sifangcheng site, the Motian rock inscriptions (摩天石刻), the Babu Dawang Temple (八部大王庙) at Shoubadong and the Western Han walled town at Weijiazhai (魏家寨).

What to see

Lvdong Mountain (吕洞山) in the south of the county is a national AAA scenic area reaching 1,227.3 metres; its summit crag is regarded as the embodiment of the Miao king Lidong and as a sacred mountain of the Miao. Dozens of wooden Miao villages lie around it, and Hangji (夯吉) is called the first village of the Miao frontier. Baiyun Mountain in the north is a national nature reserve with 93 percent forest cover, home to Elliot's pheasant and the dove tree. Longmudong (陇木峒) village in Qianling town is a national traditional Tujia village and a AAA scenic area run by the village.

Food and local products

Baojing golden tea (保靖黄金茶) is a national geographical-indication product. Its home is Huangjin village (黄金村) in Lvdong Mountain town, where seven old tea gardens hold 2,057 tea trees from the Ming and Qing periods; the "king" of these trees, in the Derangong (德让拱) garden, is 416 years old. Bi'er town (比耳镇) on the You River has grown navel oranges for more than 200 years.

Highlights

• Lvdong Mountain 吕洞山: National AAA scenic area in the south of the county, a sacred mountain of the Miao ringed by old Miao villages.
• Baiyun Mountain 白云山: National nature reserve in the north with 93 percent forest cover and the county's highest point.
• Longmudong village 陇木峒村: National traditional Tujia village in Qianling town, run as a AAA scenic area.
• Baojing golden tea 保靖黄金茶: Geographical-indication tea from Huangjin village, with 2,057 Ming and Qing tea trees.