Wanzai County 万载县

Setting and landscape

The county lies north of Fengding Mountain (峰顶山); Shanggao (上高) and Yifeng (宜丰) border it to the east, Yuanzhou (袁州) to the south and Tonggu (铜鼓) to the north.

History and traditions

The Three Kingdoms state of Wu founded Yangle County (阳乐县) here with its seat at Luocheng (罗城, now a town); it was renamed Kangle (康乐) in 280, reverted to Yangle in 622, when the seat moved below Longshan (龙山), and took the name Wanzai in 921 from the Wanzai township of the time.

Three Wanzai traditions entered the national intangible-heritage list in 2008. Wanzai nuo drama, locally called "tiaoxiao" (跳魈), took shape around the late Yuan and early Ming as an exorcism rite; its chief deity is Ouyang Huang (欧阳晃), a general of the Yang Wu state. By 1940 the county had 17 nuo troupes and 9 nuo temples, the oldest at Shajiangqiao (沙江桥) in Tanbu town (潭埠镇), built in the early Ming. The "open-mouth" form has seven plays, with male, female, painted-face and clown roles (生、旦、净、丑) and full singing, speech, acting and combat.

Desheng drum music (得胜鼓) combines suona tunes with gongs and drums in nine sections that retell the Tang victory over the An Lushan rebellion; it formed in the Northern Song and is played at weddings, birthdays and festivals. Firework making began around the mid-18th century, and by the Daoguang reign (1821–1850) Wanzai fireworks were sold in both north and south China.

What to see

Wanzai Old Town (万载古城), covering 237 mu, keeps more than 60 shopfronts from the Ming, Qing and Republican periods and over 30 clan halls of different surnames along flagstone streets, according to Xinhua. Zhushan Cave (竹山洞) is visited by boat along a 3,985-metre underground river lined with stalactites. The Sanshiba (三十把) scenic reserve protects ten thousand mu of old-growth forest. At Xianyuan (仙源), the former seats of the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi provincial Party committee and soviet government are listed as national key cultural relics.

Food and local products

Wanzai is promoted as China's home of lilies: fields of Longya lily (龙牙百合) are turned into lily cakes, lily noodles and drinks. In the old town, evening teahouses serve Wanzai big-bowl tea (万载大碗茶) with local snacks, and visitors can try ramie cloth (夏布) weaving.

Highlights

• Wanzai Old Town 万载古城: More than 60 old shopfronts and over 30 clan halls on flagstone streets.
• Zhushan Cave 竹山洞: Visited by boat along a 3,985-metre underground river.
• Wanzai open-mouth nuo drama 万载开口傩: National intangible heritage since 2008; rite honouring the Yang Wu general Ouyang Huang.
• Desheng drum music 万载得胜鼓: Suona, gong and drum suite in nine sections on the Tang defeat of the An Lushan rebellion.
• Longya lily 龙牙百合: Made into lily cakes, noodles and drinks.