Kangping County 康平县

Setting and landscape

The county stretches 73 kilometres east to west and 58 kilometres north to south. Its south-west is formed by outlying ridges of the Khingan (兴安岭) and Yiwulü (医巫闾山) ranges, its north by the Horqin sands and its east by the Liao River floodplain, so the land runs high in the west and low in the east, with hills in the south and sand in the north. The Liao marks the eastern boundary, with Changtu (昌图) across the river; Horqin Left Back Banner (科尔沁左翼后旗) in Inner Mongolia lies to the north, Faku (法库) to the south and Zhangwu (彰武) to the west.

Ten rivers of county level or above cross Kangping, including the Liao, the West Liao and the Xiushui (秀水河). Of its reservoirs, Wolong Lake is described by the county government as the largest lowland freshwater lake in Liaoning. Underground, the county has 76 sources of high-quality natural mineral water of strontium, metasilicic-acid or mixed type.

History

People lived here 7,000 years ago, within the Xinle (新乐) and Hongshan (红山文化) cultural sphere. In the early Qing the land was pasture of the Horqin (科尔沁) Mongols and belonged to Mongol princes. Han Chinese settlers from inside the Great Wall began arriving in 1802 and turned it into farmland, but farmers paid rent to the Mongol land office until Manchukuo took over the Mongol lands in 1938. Kangping County was created in 1880 under Changtu prefecture. After the township system was set up in 1984, four townships were in turn made ethnic townships, and the county was moved from Tieling (铁岭) to Shenyang after 1992.

Food and local products

Kangping sweet potato (康平地瓜) is a Chinese geographical-indication product: an old red-skinned, spindle-shaped variety that the county government says holds about three times the calcium and vitamin C of ordinary sweet potatoes. It is grown mainly around Fangjiatun (方家屯), Haoguantun (郝官屯) and Liangjiazi (两家子). Fish from Wolong Lake are sold as "strontium fish" (锶鱼) because of the high strontium content of the lake water.

Highlights

• Wolong Lake 卧龙湖: Described by the county government as the largest lowland freshwater lake in Liaoning.
• Kangping sweet potato 康平地瓜: Geographical-indication red sweet potato of an old local variety.
• Wolong Lake strontium fish 卧龙湖锶鱼: Wild lake fish named for the strontium-rich water.