Guan County 冠县

History

In the Spring and Autumn period the area was Guanshi (冠氏), a town of the state of Jin, with its seat at what is now Donggucheng (东古城). Guanshi County was created in 586 under the Sui from parts of Guantao (馆陶) and Qingyuan (清渊) counties; the Yuan made it Guanzhou, and the Ming fixed the name Guan County. The writer Yuan Haowen (元好问) lived and wrote in the old county town.

In 1887 French missionaries at Liyuantun (梨园屯) pulled down a Jade Emperor temple to build a church, stirring local anger; the Boxer leader Zhao Sanduo (赵三多) later led fighters against the church from Jiangjiazhuang (蒋家庄) before Qing troops put the rising down.

What to see

The Xiaocheng site (萧城遗址) at Beiguantao (北馆陶), which the county overview calls a Song–Liao Chanyuan (澶渊) ancient city, is the county's only nationally protected monument; the old city of Beiguantao is protected at provincial level. In the old county town, now Qingquan (清泉), the town-god temple was honoured by the Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋) as the "first town god under heaven", and Cha boxing (查拳) is said to have begun there.

Liulin (柳林) is the home town of Wu Xun, the late-Qing educator who begged to fund schools. At Lanwo (兰沃), the pear orchard of Hanlu village (韩路村) was registered in 2006 as "China's first pear garden" and is rated 3A; the Guanzhou pear orchard (冠州梨园) is also rated 3A, and Lanwo holds a pear-blossom festival and a picking festival. Revolutionary sites include the former site of the Communist Party committee for northwestern Shandong, the Wangcun branch and the Sixty-Two Martyrs Memorial.

Food and local products

Guan County calls itself the home of the Chinese white poplar and of the Ya pear (鸭梨), and Lanwo's Tang pear (堂梨) once headed Shandong's trio of famous fruit. The county describes itself as China's largest base for growing and trading lingzhi mushrooms (灵芝). Langzhuang dough figurines (郎庄面塑) are national intangible heritage, and the county keeps the traditional opera form Sigu xian (四股弦).

Getting oriented

The Handan–Jinan railway, with a station at Guan County, the Jinan–Liaocheng expressway and national highway G309 cross the county.

Highlights

• Xiaocheng site 萧城遗址: Ancient city site at Beiguantao, the county's only national protected monument.
• Wu Xun's home town 柳林镇: Liulin, home of the late-Qing educator who begged to fund schools.
• Guanzhou pear orchard 冠州梨园: 3A-rated orchard in Lanwo, a township that holds pear-blossom and picking festivals.
• Langzhuang dough figurines 郎庄面塑: National intangible heritage craft of Beiguantao.
• Lingzhi 灵芝: Guan County describes itself as China's largest lingzhi growing and trading base.