Fengxin County 奉新县

Setting and landscape

The land falls from west to east: low and middle mountains in the west, hills in the centre and a river-valley plain along the Liao in the east, with Wumei Mountain (五梅山), at 1,516.3 metres, as the highest point. Anyi (安义) lies to the east, Gao'an (高安) to the south and Jing'an (靖安) to the north. The county is a national base for commercial grain and moso bamboo and a Jiangxi base for kiwifruit.

History

The county began in 185 as Xinwu (新吴), cut from Haihun (海昏) and Jianchang (建昌), with its seat at Guxian in present Huibu (会埠). The seat moved to Fengchuan (冯川) in 706. After the Yang Wu (杨吴) state handed its throne to the Southern Tang, the new rulers disliked the character "Wu" in the name and renamed the county Fengxin.

The Ming inventor Song Yingxing (宋应星, 1587 to about 1666) was born in what is now Pailou village (牌楼村), Songbu (宋埠) town. He finished "Tiangong Kaiwu" (天工开物), a major record of traditional Chinese science and technology, in 1637, and Joseph Needham called him "China's Diderot".

What to see

Baizhang Mountain (百丈山), another name for Mount Daxiong (大雄山) in present-day Fengxin, was home to the Tang Chan master Baizhang Huaihai (百丈怀海, 749 to 814), who took his name from the Baizhang Cliff there. Chinese Wikipedia lists Baizhang Temple (百丈寺), the Song Yingxing Memorial Hall (宋应星纪念馆), the Tiangong Kaiwu Park (天工开物园), Qingyun Pagoda (青云塔) and the old county town at Guxian among the county's sights. The county government's suggested routes add the Baxian waterfall pools (八仙飞瀑潭), which it calls the leading waterfall group south of the Yangtze, Hualin Mountain scenic area (华林山), Zhang Xun Manor (张勋庄园), Gengxiang Temple (耕香寺) with the Jimei stone archway (济美石坊), and terraced fields and bamboo at Jiuxian (九仙).

Food and local products

Fengxin rice was sent to the imperial court as tribute, according to the county government, which cites records in the "History of Song" (宋史) and "Tiangong Kaiwu". The county brands it as Tiangong rice (天工大米); the tribute-grade strain grows for 170 days on spring-water irrigation. Kiwifruit picking in orchards of ten thousand mu is one of the stops on the county's suggested routes.

Highlights

• Baizhang Temple 百丈寺: Listed among the county's sights with Baizhang Mountain, home of the Tang Chan master Baizhang Huaihai.
• Song Yingxing Memorial Hall 宋应星纪念馆: Memorial to the author of Tiangong Kaiwu, who was born in Fengxin.
• Baxian waterfall pools 八仙飞瀑潭: Called the leading waterfall group south of the Yangtze by the county government.
• Tiangong rice 天工大米: Fengxin rice, recorded as a tribute to the court.