Yanling County 炎陵县

Setting and landscape

The county government sums up its land as eight and a half parts mountain, one part fields and half a part water and estates. Jinggangshan City (井冈山市) and Suichuan County (遂川县) in Jiangxi lie to the east, Chaling County (茶陵县) to the north and Guidong County (桂东县) to the south. The government lists Lingfeng (酃峰), at 2,122.35 metres, as the highest peak in Hunan, and gives about 100,000 mu of primeval forest and a forest cover of 83.55 percent, which it ranks first in the province.

History

The county was carved out of Chaling in 1211, under the Southern Song, and was long called Ling County (酃县). In 1994 it was renamed Yanling after the mausoleum. It was one of the six core counties of the Jinggangshan revolutionary base: the county government records that Mao Zedong and Zhu De held their first meeting here, and that land was first redistributed here by staking out plots with signboards.

What to see

The Yan Emperor Mausoleum stands at Luyuanpo (鹿原陂), west of the county town. It is a nationally protected monument and a 5A scenic area, and the Yan Emperor memorial ceremony (炎帝陵祭典) was in the first national intangible-heritage list. Shennong Valley National Forest Park (神农谷国家森林公园), a 4A scenic area, is promoted for the high negative-ion count of its air. A museum of Red Army slogans, also rated 4A and described as the first of its kind in China, preserves 339 Red Army slogans.

Food and local products

Yanling yellow peaches (炎陵黄桃) and Yanling white geese (炎陵白鹅) are both registered as national geographical-indication farm products.

Highlights

• Yan Emperor Mausoleum 炎帝陵: At Luyuanpo west of the county town; national protected monument and 5A scenic area.
• Shennong Valley National Forest Park 神农谷国家森林公园: 4A scenic area promoted for the negative-ion count of its air.
• Red Army slogan museum 红军标语博物馆: 4A site preserving 339 Red Army slogans.
• Yanling yellow peach 炎陵黄桃: National geographical-indication product.