Tonggu County 铜鼓县

Setting and landscape

Mountains cover most of the county. The Dawei Mountains (大围山, also written 大沩山) in the west belong to the Luoxiao range (罗霄山脉); their top, Qixingling (七星岭, 1,608 metres), stands just inside Hunan on the border with Paibu town (排埠镇). The Jinsha (金沙河) and Dingjiang (定江河) rivers drain the county and are both headwaters of the Xiu. The National Forestry and Grassland Administration gives forest cover of 88.04 percent and notes that in 2012 the China Wild Plant Conservation Association named Tonggu the home of the southern Chinese yew (南方红豆杉), some of whose trees are over 1,000 years old. The Guanshan National Nature Reserve (官山) lies partly in the county.

History

The name means "bronze drum": a large rock east of the town is copper-coloured, drum-shaped and rings when struck. In 1577 the Ming government placed a garrison under Deng Zilong (邓子龙) at the site of today's county town, in the hills where Liuyang, Pingjiang, Wanzai (万载) and Ningzhou (宁州) met, after he put down a rising led by Li Dasuan (李大銮). The garrison became a sub-prefecture in 1910 and a county in 1912.

In September 1927 Mao Zedong directed the Autumn Harvest Uprising from Tonggu. The Xiao ancestral hall (肖氏宗祠), where he lodged and where the Third Regiment of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had its headquarters, is a provincial protected site. Tonggu later housed the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet government and its military command.

What to see

The Autumn Harvest Uprising Memorial Hall (秋收起义纪念馆) in the county town opened in 1977 and displays 127 relics. At Yuexingwan (月形湾) in Paibu, a memorial site marks where Mao, after escaping local militia at Zhangjiafang (张家坊) in Liuyang, met Chen Jiuxing (陈九兴) of the Tonggu paper-workers' union, who helped him reach Tonggu. Tianzhufeng (天柱峰) scenic area has 76 named spots in Danxia landform country. The Tangli (汤里) resort in Datuan town (大塅镇) grew from an old village named for its hot-water well; its spring comes out at 72°C. Dongxu village (东浒村) has a 28-metre camphor said to be a thousand years old.

Food and local products

Hakka households serve eight-treasure tea (八珍茶), also called fruit tea: wild tea brewed with spring water and mixed with salted chrysanthemum, fried green beans, dried radish, sesame and ginger, all eaten once the tea is drunk. Liangduan village (梁塅村) markets a Hakka "eight bowls" menu that includes bamboo-flower chicken (竹花鸡), smoked bamboo shoots and "Red Army" fried tofu (红军煎豆腐).

Highlights

• Autumn Harvest Uprising Memorial Hall 秋收起义纪念馆: Opened in 1977 in the county town; displays 127 relics of the 1927 uprising.
• Tianzhufeng 天柱峰: National forest park and 4A scenic area with 76 named spots in Danxia landform country.
• Tangli resort 汤里: Old village named for its hot-water well; spring water at 72°C.
• Dawei Mountains 大沩山: Part of the Luoxiao range along the county's western border with Hunan.
• Eight-treasure tea 八珍茶: Hakka tea with salted chrysanthemum, green beans, radish, sesame and ginger, eaten after drinking.