Yunxi District 云溪区

History

For most of its history the area belonged to Linxiang County (临湘县). Lucheng (陆城), on the Yangtze, was the Linxiang county seat from 996 until 1930; local tradition says the Three Kingdoms general Lu Xun (陆逊) of Wu camped here behind earthen walls and that the town is named after him. The area became Yueyang's North District in 1984 and took the name Yunxi in 1996.

What to see

The Tonggushan site (铜鼓山遗址) covers the whole of Tonggu Hill in Xinshe village (新设村), Lucheng, on the southeast bank of the Yangtze. The Yueyang culture bureau describes it as the earliest site south of the Yangtze belonging to the Panlongcheng (盘龙城) type of Shang culture. Hunan archaeologists excavated about 400 square metres in 1987, recovering Shang pottery such as li tripods and wide-mouthed zun jars, stone adzes and bronze arrowheads, and cleared seven Eastern Zhou tombs; a bronze ding and a gu wine vessel were found in 1997. The site became a national key cultural relic in 2013.

Lucheng itself keeps 33 well-preserved old houses set symmetrically along one old street. Provincial-level relics in the town include Peifeng Pagoda (培风塔) and the Big Rock of Linxiang Point (临湘矶大矶头).

The Pingtian memorial arch (坪田牌坊) in Pingtian village (坪田村) was put up in 1888 by Liu Zhaomei (刘兆梅), an official of the Qing Board of Revenue, in honour of his widowed mother. It stands 9 metres high and 6 metres wide, built of bluestone, granite and white marble, and was the first building in the district listed as a provincial relic.

Getting oriented

Linxiang (临湘) borders the district to the east, and Yueyanglou District and the Yueyang Economic Development Zone lie to the south. The district government is in Yunxi town, and Yunxi Station is on the Beijing–Guangzhou railway.

Highlights

• Tonggushan site 铜鼓山遗址: Early Shang settlement on a hill by the Yangtze at Lucheng; national key cultural relic since 2013.
• Lucheng old town 陆城: Linxiang county seat from 996 to 1930, with 33 old houses along one street.
• Pingtian memorial arch 坪田牌坊: Stone arch of 1888 raised by Liu Zhaomei for his widowed mother.