Liuhe County 柳河县

Setting and landscape

The land is high in the south-east and south-west and slopes down to the north-east. Almost all of the county drains to the Huifa River (辉发河), a tributary of the Second Songhua River; only the Hani River (哈泥河) in the south-east flows to the Hun River (浑江) and the Yalu. The main rivers are the Yitong (一统河), Santong (三统河), Wuji (乌鸡河), Liangshui (凉水河) and Hani. Forest, part of the Changbai forest region, covers 54 percent of the county, and its main non-metallic deposits are limestone, basalt, peat and volcanic cinder.

History

In the early Qing the area was a sealed imperial hunting ground where settlers were barred and only tribute ginseng, game and mountain produce were gathered. From 1873 the Shengjing (盛京) military governor opened it to farming. Liuhe County was created on 4 August 1902 and named after its seat, Liuhe town, which took its name from the Liushu River (柳树河) east of the town. It came under Jilin province in 1954 and under Tonghua city in 1986.

What to see

Luotong Mountain City (罗通山城) is a national key cultural relic site, listed in 2001, on the 906-metre main peak of Luotong Mountain, 25 kilometres north-east of the county seat. Its eastern and western enclosures run about 7.8 kilometres in all, built of dressed limestone from the mountain itself or using sheer cliffs as walls. Built in the Wei and Jin period, the middle period of Goguryeo (高句丽), it has the typical features of a Goguryeo mountain fortress and remained in use under the Jurchen Jin dynasty. The county's second national site is the group of stone-slab dolmen tombs on the upper Huifa River (辉发河上游石棚墓). Luotong Mountain is also the county's only 4A scenic area, and the Shisanhu (十三户) peony valley is known for its herbaceous peonies.

Food and local products

Liuhe rice is a national regional public brand, and the county calls itself China's home of volcanic-rock rice. Wild grapes from Liuhe carry a national geographical indication, and the county makes wine from them. Forest-grown ginseng covers most of the county's ginseng fields, and the county names Yunling Wild Ginseng (云岭野山参) as the leading example among its ginseng processors. Local performing traditions include Guandong Lü opera (关东吕剧), Hui dragon lanterns and Luotong Mountain errenzhuan (二人转) duets.

Highlights

• Luotong Mountain City 罗通山城: A Goguryeo-type mountain fortress on a 906-metre peak, a national key cultural relic site since 2001.
• Liuhe wild grapes 柳河山葡萄: A Chinese geographical-indication product.
• Liuhe rice 柳河大米: Named a national regional public brand in China's agricultural brand catalogue.