Taonan 洮南市

History

A Qing prefecture (府) was set up here in 1904, and the county became a city in 1987. Before that, Utai (乌泰), the twelfth-generation Jasagtu (札萨克图) prince, built a residence here in 1903 at the settlement then called Shuangliu (双流镇), modelled on princely mansions in Beijing and built by craftsmen brought from the Shenyang palace. In 1905 the Guangxu Emperor gave it a gold plaque reading Tian'en Diju (天恩地局) to encourage land reclamation, and the name stuck.

What to see

Two historic buildings of the old town stand on the north side of Xinglong Street West (兴隆街西路). The Wu Dashuai building (吴大帅府) is a three-storey, 22.5-metre Gothic-style commercial block that the general Wu Junsheng (吴俊升) built in 1927–1928 with a reward from Zhang Zuolin (张作霖); the city government calls it Taonan's first tall building, and it has been a Jilin provincial protected site since 2007. On 4 June 1928, while accompanying Zhang back to Fengtian (奉天), Wu was killed by a Japanese bomb at the railway bridge north of Huanggutun (皇姑屯) in Shenyang. On the same street, the Tian'en Diju compound faces south around a courtyard of grey-brick halls; Communist leaders including Tao Zhu (陶铸) and Li Fuchun (李富春) worked there in 1946, and it became a history museum in 2008.

Angdai Mountain (昂岱山) in Najin (那金镇) is a 480.4-metre spur of the Greater Khingan; its Mongolian name means "mountain of game". The scenic area includes the Qunchang Reservoir (群昌水库) on the Najin River, a martyrs' cemetery, and a stone forest on the summit.

Food and local products

Heishui (黑水镇), in the south of the city, grows Taonan Heishui watermelons (洮南黑水西瓜). The city government says the pools of standing water there look black and gives their Mongolian name, "Hala husu", meaning black water. The melons are large and thin-skinned; a geographical-indication registration for the Heishui watermelon name was applied for in 2008 and approved by the national industry and commerce administration.

Highlights

• Wu Dashuai building 吴大帅府: Gothic-style block built 1927–1928 by Wu Junsheng; provincial protected site since 2007.
• Tian'en Diju 天恩地局: Courtyard compound begun 1903, named by an imperial plaque in 1905; history museum since 2008.
• Angdai Mountain 昂岱山: 480.4-metre Greater Khingan spur with a summit stone forest.
• Taonan Heishui watermelon 洮南黑水西瓜: Geographical indication applied for in 2008 and approved.