Yongxiu County 永修县

What to see

Lushan Xihai, also called Zhelin Lake (柘林湖), formed when a dam cut across the Xiu River. The county government gives its area as 308 square kilometres, shared with Wuning and Xiushui, and counts well over a thousand islands in it.

Mount Yunju (云居山), with a main peak of 969.7 metres, holds Zhenru Temple (真如禅寺), 22 km northeast of the county town at the southern foot of Wunao Peak (五脑峰). The monk Daorong (道容) founded it in the Yuanhe reign (806-820), and its abbots have included Xuyun (虚云) and Yicheng (一诚). More than twenty monks' stupas stand around it and form a pagoda forest listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit. Inside are ginkgo trees said to be a thousand years old, one planted by the Tang monk Daoying (道膺), and an iron cauldron cast under Kangxi to feed a thousand monks; in front is the stone where Foyin (佛印) and Su Dongpo (苏东坡) are said to have talked.

Wucheng (吴城), on Poyang Lake, is counted with Jingdezhen, Zhangshu and Hekou as one of Jiangxi's four famous towns, and the remains of the old Haihun county (海昏县) lie there. Merchants from across China once built 48 native-place guild halls in the town. The Ji'an Guild Hall (吉安会馆), a provincial protected site, was rebuilt by Ji'an merchants between 1815 and 1827 on older foundations, with carved stone, brick and wood and a theatre stage and guest hall on its two floors. Wanghu Pavilion (望湖亭), first built in the Jin dynasty, stands on the lakeshore north of the town where the Xiu and Gan rivers enter the lake on either side. Each October Siberian cranes, swans and other migrants reach Poyang Lake from Siberia and stay until spring.

Food and local products

Jianchang Dongpo pork (建昌东坡肉) takes its name from Jianchang, Yongxiu's old name. Local legend says that when Su Dongpo was a guest at a farmhouse here, his host misheard a line of his verse as "boil it whole with straw", so the meat, tied with rice straw, was simmered whole. Wucheng also gave its name to the raftsmen's work songs (吴城排工号子), sung while lashing logs into rafts and floating them, which are on Jiangxi's provincial intangible-heritage list.

Getting oriented

The county government puts the county 38 km from Nanchang and 80 km from Jiujiang, with its county town 18 km from Nanchang Changbei airport. The Beijing-Kowloon railway, the Nanchang-Jiujiang intercity line and the Fuzhou-Yinchuan expressway cross it.

Highlights

• Lushan Xihai (Zhelin Lake) 庐山西海: Reservoir lake of 308 square kilometres on the Xiu River, with more than a thousand islands.
• Zhenru Temple 真如禅寺: Chan temple on Mount Yunju founded in 806-820; its pagoda forest is a national key protection unit.
• Wucheng 吴城: Old trading town on Poyang Lake, once home to 48 native-place guild halls.
• Wanghu Pavilion 望湖亭: Lakeshore pavilion where the Xiu and Gan rivers enter Poyang Lake.
• Jianchang Dongpo Pork 建昌东坡肉: Pork tied with rice straw and simmered whole, linked by legend to Su Dongpo.