Jianghua Yao Autonomous County 江华瑶族自治县

Setting and landscape

The Mengzhu Range (萌渚岭), part of the Five Ranges (五岭), spans the county, and its spurs run right across it. The south, north and east are high, generally above 600 metres, while the west drops to between 100 and 200 metres. Mountains, hills, basins, plains and water all appear, and the climate is humid mid-subtropical monsoon, broken into many local microclimates by the rugged ground. The county government gives distances from the county town of 460 km to Changsha, 370 km to Guangzhou and 430 km to Nanning.

History

The name comes from the position of the old county seat, on the south side of the river at Yanghua Rock (阳华岩). Jianghua County was split off from Fengcheng County (冯乘县) in 621 under the Tang; Fengcheng itself had been set up in 111 BC. Under Empress Wu Zetian the county was renamed Yunxi (云溪县), and the old name returned under Emperor Zhongzong. In 1462 the seat moved to Huangtougang (黄头岗), today's Tuojiang town (沱江镇).

The Yao autonomous county was founded on 25 November 1955, and the seat moved to Shuikou town (水口镇). It returned to Tuojiang in November 1985. The county government also records that the first Communist Party organisation in what is now Yongzhou was founded here, as the Jianghua county branch.

What to see

Among its heritage the county government names three sights. The Xiaohe Ancient Road (潇贺古道) has run for a hundred li and more than a thousand years. The Yanghua scenery was praised by Yuan Jie (元结) in the line "九嶷万峰，不如阳华" (the ten thousand peaks of Jiuyi are no match for Yanghua). The Jianghua Confucian Temple (江华文庙) is described as the earliest built in Yongzhou.

Yaoshan Water City (瑶山水城) is rated a 4A scenic area, and five more are rated 3A: the Yao Culture Park (瑶族文化园), Xiangcaoyuan (香草源), Qinyan (秦岩), Baojing (宝镜) and Tongchongkou (桐冲口). The Yao long-drum dance (瑶族长鼓舞) and the Panwang song cycle (盘王大歌) are on the national intangible heritage list, and the Yao Panwang Festival (盘王节) is named one of Hunan's four major minority festivals. The county has also been named China's home of honey-scented black tea (蜜香红茶).

Highlights

• Yao Culture Park 瑶族文化园: Rated a 3A scenic area by the county.
• Yaoshan Water City 瑶山水城: The county's 4A-rated scenic area.
• Xiaohe Ancient Road 潇贺古道: An old road the county says has run for over a thousand years.
• Jianghua Confucian Temple 江华文庙: Described by the county as the earliest-built Confucian temple in Yongzhou.
• Yao long-drum dance 瑶族长鼓舞: On the national intangible cultural heritage list.