Fenyi County 分宜县

Setting and landscape

The county runs about 65 km from north to south and 36 km from east to west, between Yushui District (渝水区) to the east, Anfu (安福) to the south, Yuanzhou (袁州区) to the west and Shanggao (上高) to the north. It is a country of low mountains and hills, slightly higher in the north and south and flatter through the middle; the highest point is Dagang Mountain (大岗山) at 1,091.8 metres. The frost-free season lasts about 270 days a year.

History

Fenyi was split off from Yichun (宜春) in 984, under the Song, and its name means "divided from Yichun". It belonged to Yuanzhou (袁州) through the Yuan, Ming and Qing, and passed to the new city of Xinyu in 1983.

What to see

Jieqiao old village (介桥古村), a national 4A scenic area, was founded in the Northern Song and produced seven jinshi, the highest examination graduates. Its Ming and Qing buildings include ten ancestral halls, nine official residences and 29 private halls, along with old stone lanes, a post road and camphor groves. Fangli village (防里村) at the southern tip of the county, founded in 345 AD, counts 19 jinshi and 12 juren among its sons; it has been on the national list of traditional villages since 2013, and a village history museum opened in the Yusheng ancestral hall (豫生公祠) in 2020.

In Dongcun township (洞村乡), the China Cave Capital (中国洞都) scenic area, a national 4A site, is a group of caves themed on marriage lore and the legend of the Seven Fairies (七仙女); its Niulang Zhinü cave (牛郎织女洞) runs 1,600 metres and stays around 20°C all year.

Food and local products

Ramie cloth is the county's signature craft. The Shuanglin Xiabu Cultural Tourism Area (双林夏布文化旅游景区) in Shuanglin town (双林镇), in the north-east of the county, is a national 4A scenic area with a heritage hall of old xiabu, an embroidery gallery and a museum on the weaving techniques recorded in the book Tiangong Kaiwu (天工开物). The Fenyi Hemp Museum (分宜麻博物馆), which the county describes as China's first museum devoted to hemp and ramie, covers the history of the fibre and xiabu weaving. For food, the Fenyi Power Plant snail area (分宜电厂螺蛳特色景区) serves snails made from wild field snails gathered around Qianyang Lake (钤阳湖).

Highlights

• Jieqiao old village 介桥古村: Northern Song village with Ming and Qing ancestral halls; seven jinshi; national 4A scenic area.
• Fangli village 防里村: Village founded in 345 AD with 19 jinshi; national traditional village since 2013.
• Shuanglin xiabu area 双林夏布文化旅游景区: National 4A area in Shuanglin town devoted to ramie cloth, with heritage and embroidery halls.
• Niulang Zhinü cave 牛郎织女洞: 1,600-metre cave in Dongcun township that stays around 20°C all year.