Chongyi County 崇义县

Setting and landscape

The land falls from the southwest to the northeast. Qiyun Mountain (齐云山), at 2,061.3 m in Sishun township (思顺乡), is the highest point in the county and in southern Jiangxi, and 232 peaks top 1,000 m. The rivers belong to the Gan River system and feed the Zhang River (章水); the main ones are the Dajiang, Xiaojiang and Yangmei rivers. The county government puts forest cover at 88.3 percent and calls the county Jiangxi's green treasure house, with ginkgo, southern yew and dawn redwood among its protected trees.

History

The county government dates Chongyi's founding to the winter of 1517, after the Ming official Wang Shouren (王守仁), better known as Wang Yangming, put down the uprising of Xie Zhishan (谢志山) and Lan Tianfeng (蓝天凤) at Hengshui (横水) and Tonggang (桶冈). Land was taken from Shangyou (上犹), Nankang (南康) and Dayu (大余), the seat was placed at Hengshui, and the county was named after Chongyi ward. In late 1927 Zhu De (朱德) and Chen Yi (陈毅) retrained the remnants of the Nanchang Uprising force at Shangbao, and in 1931 a soviet government was set up in the county.

What to see

The Shangbao Hakka terraces (上堡梯田) in Shangbao township, 50 km from the county town, are a national 4A scenic area and are listed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System; the county government calls them one of China's three great terrace landscapes. The site of the Shangbao retraining is also in the township. Jiangxi Yangming Mountain National Forest Park (阳明山国家森林公园), where Hunan, Guangdong and Jiangxi meet, was once called Guanyin Mountain (观音山); it was renamed Yangling (阳岭) in memory of Wang Yangming and took its present name in January 2017. Chinese Wikipedia also lists the Pingchaliao (平茶寮) inscription, a Ming cliff carving.

Food and local products

Chongyi calls itself China's home of bamboo and of the Chinese hog plum (南酸枣). Shangbao township grows selenium-rich rice and tea, including the high-mountain Chishuixian (赤水仙) tea.

Highlights

• Shangbao terraces 上堡梯田: Hakka rice terraces listed as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System; national 4A scenic area.
• Yangming Mountain National Forest Park 阳明山国家森林公园: Forest park on the Hunan–Guangdong–Jiangxi border, renamed in memory of Wang Yangming.
• Qiyun Mountain 齐云山: Highest peak in southern Jiangxi at 2,061.3 m.