Pingjiang County 平江县

Setting and landscape

The county town, Hanchang (汉昌镇), sits on the upper Mi River (汨水), a Miluo headstream. The Lianyun Mountains (连云山), part of the Luoxiao range, rise to 1,600.3 m on the Liuyang (浏阳) border, the highest peak in the Yueyang area; the name, "linked clouds", comes from the mist that often wraps the summit. Mufu Mountain (幕阜山), a national forest park, has its main peak in Nanjiang town (南江镇).

History

In the Spring and Autumn period the area was the Luo state (罗子国), a vassal of Chu. It was later Hanchang (汉昌县) and Wuchang (吴昌县) counties and, from 706, Changjiang County (昌江县). In the first year of the Later Tang Tongguang reign it became Pingjiang, "calm river", to avoid the personal name of the emperor Zhuangzong's grandfather, Li Guochang; the county seat stood on flat land by still water. The county government lists the Autumn Harvest Uprising (秋收起义) and the Pingjiang Uprising (平江起义) among the revolutionary events that took place here, and Pingjiang produced 52 generals of the founding of the People's Republic.

What to see

The tomb and shrine of the Tang poet Du Fu (杜甫墓祠) at Xiaotian village in Anding town (安定镇) is a provincial heritage site; the national heritage administration's Dictionary of Chinese Places of Interest treats it as the only tomb where Du Fu is buried. The complex includes an ancestral hall, a thatched-cottage hall and the Tieping Poetry Society (铁瓶诗社). Tianyue Academy (天岳书院) in Hanchang was founded in 1867 and named for Little Tianyue hill opposite its gate; it now forms part of Pingjiang No. 1 Middle School. Shiniuzhai National Geopark (石牛寨), in Shiniuzhai town, is a Danxia landscape of odd rocks, peaks and caves, once a military stronghold, with more than 2,000 m of old wall preserved.

Food and local products

Pingjiang is where latiao (辣条), the spicy extruded snack of flour or bean skin, began. The China National Food Industry Association named it China's home of gluten snacks in 2015, and in 2018 "Pingjiang latiao" became a registered geographical certification mark. Jianggan (酱干), a spicy snack of the same kind, is regarded as its forerunner. The Ten Bowls of Pingjiang (平江十大碗), a clan banquet headed by fried flour-based zharou (炸肉), appeared in the third season of the CCTV series A Bite of China. Huobei fish (火焙鱼) is fried crucian carp or other small fish. The Nine Dragon dance (九龙舞), linked by legend to the search for the body of Qu Yuan (屈原), is on the national intangible-heritage list.

Highlights

• Du Fu Tomb and Shrine 杜甫墓祠: Provincial heritage site in Anding town, treated by a national heritage reference as Du Fu's only burial tomb.
• Shiniuzhai National Geopark 石牛寨: Danxia rocks, peaks and caves with more than 2,000 m of old wall.
• Tianyue Academy 天岳书院: Academy founded in 1867, now part of Pingjiang No. 1 Middle School.
• Mufu Mountain 幕阜山: National forest park with its main peak in Nanjiang town.
• Pingjiang latiao 平江辣条: Spicy gluten snack that originated here; a geographical certification mark since 2018.