Luxi County 芦溪县

Setting and landscape

The land is mountainous and high in the southeast and lower and flatter in the northwest, with hills across much of the county. Yichun (宜春) lies to the east, Shangli (上栗) to the north, and Lianhua (莲花) and Anfu (安福) to the south. Forest covers 62.7 percent of the county, which is one of Pingxiang's main areas for timber, tea and medicinal herbs.

History

Luxi was Pingxiang's first county seat. In 267 Sun Hao (孙皓), ruler of Eastern Wu, carved Pingxiang County out of western Yichun and placed its seat at Gugang (古岗), now Gucheng village (古城村) in Luxi town. In 619 the seat moved to Fenghuangchi (凤凰池) in today's Pingxiang city, after 353 years and eight dynasties at Luxi. A Luxi District of Pingxiang was created in 1980 and became Luxi County in November 1997.

The Northern Song thinker Zhou Dunyi (周敦颐), who served here as a tax supervisor, founded Lianxi Academy (濂溪书院). Lu Deming (卢德铭), commander-in-chief of the Autumn Harvest Uprising, was killed at Shankouyan (山口岩) aged 22 while covering the withdrawal of Mao Zedong's troops; a martyrs' cemetery in his name is a national 3A scenic area. Folk traditions on Jiangxi's provincial intangible heritage list include the one-horned dragon dance of Gucheng (古城独角缩龙) and the nuo masked dance of Chexiang in Nankeng (南坑车湘傩舞).

What to see

The Wugong Mountains belong to the northern branch of the Luoxiao range (罗霄山脉) and run northeast to southwest for more than 120 kilometres across Anfu, Yuanzhou (袁州), Luxi and Lianhua. The highest point, Baihe Peak (白鹤峰), also called the Golden Summit (金顶), rises to 1,918.3 metres but stands inside Anfu. The range was made a national key scenic area in 2005 and is a national 5A tourist attraction; a sacrificial site beside the summit is a Jiangxi provincial protected relic. By legend the name "Wugong" was granted by Chen Baxian (陈霸先), Emperor Wu of the Chen dynasty.

Luxi's part of the range, on the county's southeastern edge, is run by the Pingxiang Wugong Mountain scenic area committee. Its Matian (麻田) area, 55 kilometres east of Pingxiang city, has a road to the foot of the mountain and a cable car. Fayunjie (发云界), at 1,628 metres, is known for its alpine meadows. The range's alpine meadows and stands of Huangshan pine are uncommon south of the Yangtze.

Highlights

• Wugong Mountains 武功山: Northern branch of the Luoxiao range, over 120 km long; national key scenic area since 2005 and national 5A attraction.
• Fayunjie 发云界: 1,628-metre area of alpine meadow in the Wugong Mountains.
• Matian scenic area 麻田: Wugong Mountain area 55 km east of Pingxiang city, with a road to the foot of the mountain and a cable car.
• Lu Deming Martyrs Cemetery 卢德铭烈士陵园: National 3A scenic area honouring the Autumn Harvest Uprising commander killed at Shankouyan aged 22.