Quannan County 全南县

Setting and orientation

Longnan (龙南) and Xinfeng (信丰) in Jiangxi border the county on the southeast, and Wengyuan (翁源), Lianping (连平), Shixing (始兴) and Nanxiong (南雄) in Guangdong on the northwest. Two Gan River tributaries, the Taojiang (桃江) and Huangtianjiang (黄田江), flow through the county. The Ganzhou–Shenzhen high-speed railway (赣深高铁) and the Daqing–Guangzhou Expressway (大广高速) pass through it. The climate is mid-subtropical monsoon, with about 1,650 millimetres of rain a year and 301 frost-free days on average.

History

From 953 the south of the area belonged to Longnan and the north to Xinfeng. In 1903 six rural districts taken from the two were joined to form Qiannan subprefecture (虔南厅) under Ganzhou prefecture, which became Qiannan County in 1913. The present name dates from 1957.

What to see

The county has 29 fairly well-preserved Gannan enclosed Hakka houses (围屋). Two stand in Yaxi village (雅溪村) in Longyuanba town (龙源坝镇), about a hundred metres apart. The earthen Fuxing Enclosure (福星围), built in the Xianfeng reign, is a three-storey rectangle of mud brick with seventeen rooms on each floor and four corner gun towers. The Yafeng Enclosure (雅凤围), from the Guangxu reign, has outer walls of lime earth and river pebbles around four storeys of timber galleries, with an iron-clad outer door and water holes above the gate against fire attack. The Yaxi enclosure group is on China's tentative list for World Heritage nomination. Yaxi Ancient Village (雅溪古村), Tianlong Mountain (天龙山) and the Rock Climbing Town (攀岩小镇), which the county calls Jiangxi's first full-scale climbing base, are its three national 4A scenic areas. The county also has one of Jiangxi's only two Yao (瑶族) administrative villages.

Food and local products

Gannan Hakka pounded tea (赣南客家擂茶), a national intangible-heritage craft, is made at the Yaxi enclosures by grinding fresh tea leaves, roasted peanuts, sesame, soybeans and a few herbs in a clay bowl with a hawthorn-wood pestle, then pouring on boiling water and a little camellia oil. In Tianbei village (田背村), Dajishan town (大吉山镇), Hakka smoked chicken (客家熏鸡), on the provincial list, is salted and spiced, air-dried for a day and smoked over rice bran and a wood fire; local tradition dates it to the late Ming. Mozhai (磨斋), also called tuijiangci, is japonica rice soaked overnight in lye water made from burnt wood, ground to a paste, cooked and then steamed; it is eaten sliced with chilli and spring onion, stir-fried or in soup. Lazi (腊子), a paper-thin steamed rice sheet, is rolled around shredded vegetables or dried and fried crisp.

Highlights

• Yafeng Enclosure 雅凤围: Four-storey Guangxu-era stone enclosure in Yaxi village with pebble and lime-earth walls.
• Fuxing Enclosure 福星围: Three-storey Xianfeng-era mud-brick enclosure with four corner gun towers, next to Yafeng.
• Gannan Hakka pounded tea 赣南客家擂茶: National intangible-heritage craft of tea, peanuts, sesame and soybeans ground in a clay bowl.
• Hakka smoked chicken 客家熏鸡: Provincial-list chicken smoked over rice bran in Dajishan town.
• Mozhai 磨斋: Lye-soaked rice paste cooked and steamed, eaten sliced, fried or in soup.