Lichuan County 黎川县

Setting and history

Lichuan borders Nancheng (南城), Nanfeng (南丰) and Zixi (资溪) in Jiangxi and four Fujian counties and cities: Guangze (光泽), Shaowu (邵武), Taining (泰宁) and Jianning (建宁). The land is mostly mountainous; Yangjialing (杨家岭) reaches 1,513 metres and Huixian Peak (会仙峰) 1,355 metres. The Lintan (黎滩河), Long'an (龙安河) and Zifu (资福河) rivers all flow into the Hongmen Reservoir (洪门水库). The seat is Rifeng (日峰镇).

Lichuan was split from Nancheng in 1138 as Xincheng County (新城县). Because four provinces had a county of that name, it was renamed Lichuan in 1914. From 1933 to 1935 Hufang (湖坊) housed the Min-Gan provincial Communist committee, revolutionary committee and military district, whose former site is now a national key protected site.

What to see

Historic sites in the county include the ten-li Ming and Qing street (十里明清长街) of the county town, the old houses at Zhouhu (洲湖船形古屋) whose plan resembles a boat, and a group of four temples named after the blessings of fortune, rank, longevity and joy (福禄寿禧四大古寺). Chinese Wikipedia lists the old street and Xianshi Street (贤士街) as historic and cultural districts. In the middle of the old street, where the Shepin River (社苹河) enters the Li River, the Henggang (横港桥) and Xinfeng (新丰桥) bridges date from the Song and Ming, and the former home of Zhang Henshui (张恨水), a provincial protected site, stands on Nanjin Street by the Xinfeng Bridge.

Provincial protected sites include the Zhouhu Dafudi mansion (洲湖大夫第) in Huashan town (华山镇), the Confucian temple inside Lichuan No. 1 Middle School, the Zifu Pagoda (资福塔) and the old chamber of commerce on Nanjin Street (南津街). Yanquan National Forest Park (岩泉国家森林公园) takes in Huixian Peak and Yangjialing.

Crafts and customs

Lichuan is recognised as a home of the Chinese torreya nut (香榧) and of folk oil painting. The Lichuan white lion dance (黎川舞白狮) comes from Xiaqiao Village (下桥村) in Rifeng town; records trace its first form to the Yuan, and it was fully developed by the Xianfeng reign of the Qing. A male and a female white lion, led by a performer holding a dragon pearl, dance their way around the county town at the Spring Festival, at the city-god temple fair on the ninth day of the fifth lunar month and at mid-autumn, and the show ends with a masked performer "killing" the lion. The dance entered the national intangible-heritage list in 2014.

Highlights

• Ming and Qing old street 十里明清长街: About ten li long; listed as a historic and cultural district.
• Zhouhu boat-shaped houses 洲湖船形古屋: Old houses in Zhouhu village built in the shape of a boat.
• Henggang and Xinfeng bridges 横港桥、新丰桥: Song and Ming bridges where the Shepin River meets the Li River.
• Lichuan white lion dance 黎川舞白狮: National intangible heritage since 2014.
• Yanquan National Forest Park 岩泉国家森林公园: Includes Huixian Peak and 1,513-metre Yangjialing.