Anze County 安泽县

Setting and landscape

The county government gives elevations between 750 and 1,500 metres. The Qin River, a first-order tributary of the Yellow River and described by the county as Shanxi's second-largest river, runs 109 kilometres through the county from north to south. Anze has the national-level Shanxi Anze National Forest Park (山西安泽国家森林公园), two provincial forest parks including Hongyeling (红叶岭, Red Leaf Ridge), the Fucheng (府城) wetland park and the Hongnisi (红泥寺) provincial nature reserve. The provincial Anze Forest Park (安泽森林公园) takes in five scenic areas: Mayi Temple (麻衣寺), Huanghualing (黄花岭), Qingsongling (青松岭), Antai Mountain (安泰山) and Zhaogedui (赵圪堆).

History

The name joins the first characters of two place names, Anji (安吉) in the north and Zequan (泽泉) in the south; the county was also called Yueyang (岳阳) for lying on the sunny side of the Taiyue range. It took back the name Anze in June 1914 because Hunan already had a Yueyang County, and Gu County (古县) was split off from it in 1971. The county government names the philosopher Xunzi (荀子, 313–238 BC) as a native. During the war against Japan the Taiyue administrative office, the Taiyue military district command and the Taiyue arsenal were all based here, and on 26 April 1942 Deng Xiaoping (邓小平) convened the Shicao Meeting (石槽会议) at Shicao in Anze. In 2007 Anze became the first county in Shanxi to be certified as a 'thousand-year-old county' by United Nations place-name experts.

What to see

The Linfen city government lists two national 3A scenic areas in the county: the Xunzi Cultural Park (荀子文化园) and the former site of the Taiyue administrative office at Xiaoli village (小李村太岳行署旧址). The county also names Mayi Temple, Hongyeling, Huanghualing, Qingsongling, Hongnisi, Antai Mountain and the Duanyu River (段峪河) among the scenic areas it is developing.

Food and local products

Wild forsythia (连翘) is the best known of the county's medicinal plants: it grows over more than 1.2 million mu, and the county government puts its wild stock at a quarter of China's total output. Anze forsythia is a Chinese geographical-indication product. The forests also yield pine mushrooms, wood ear fungus and morels. The main crops are maize, wheat, millet, sorghum and soybeans, and the county government calls Anze a provincial base for quality maize.

Highlights

• Xunzi Cultural Park 荀子文化园: A national 3A scenic area in Anze, listed by the Linfen city government; the county names Xunzi as a native.
• Shanxi Anze National Forest Park 山西安泽国家森林公园: One of two national forest parks in Linfen prefecture.
• Former Taiyue Administrative Office at Xiaoli 小李村太岳行署旧址: A national 3A scenic area on the site of the wartime Taiyue administration.
• Anze forsythia 安泽连翘: Wild medicinal forsythia; a Chinese geographical-indication product.