Hanyuan County 汉源县

Setting and landscape

The name goes back to the Sui dynasty and refers to the source of the Han River, today's Liusha River (流沙河), a tributary of the Dadu. The county government describes Hanyuan Lake as the largest artificial lake in southwest China, 72 km long and up to 7 km wide, with water from the snows of Gongga (贡嘎). With about 1,450 hours of sunshine a year, Hanyuan promotes itself as the first sunshine city of the Panxi region (攀西).

History

The county government cites the Fulin culture (富林文化) and the Maiping (麦坪遗址) and Taoping (桃坪遗址) sites, and the old Southern Silk Road and Tea Horse Road routes through the county. The county took the name Hanyuan in 618, was renamed Qingxi (清溪县) under the Qing and became Hanyuan again in 1914. At Qingxi (清溪古镇) three old roads met, and silk, tea and salt passed through on their way to Tibet and Yunnan. In 1935 Long March units under Zuo Quan (左权), Liu Yalou (刘亚楼) and Zhang Aiping (张爱萍) passed through the Qingxi gorge and feinted at Fulin (富林镇) to cover the main army's crossing of the Dadu at Anshunchang.

What to see

The Dadu River Gorge National Geopark (大渡河峡谷国家地质公园), named in 2001, covers a gorge 17 km long and narrowing to little more than 20 m. Jiaoding Mountain (轿顶山), a 3A area on an eastern spur of the Daxiangling range (大相岭), is flat-topped and ringed by cliffs, rising to 3,552 m, with views north to the clouds around Emei and south to the Gongga snow peaks. The Huahai Guoxiang (花海果乡) orchard area is rated 4A, and at Mount Fojing (佛静山) in Jiuxiang (九襄镇) the Longfo Temple (龙佛寺) was rebuilt in 1993.

Food and local products

Hanyuan Sichuan pepper (汉源花椒) is a geographical-indication product protected under the EU–China agreement, and Hanyuan pepper oil is a GI product too. Hanyuan jar-preserved pork (汉源坛子肉), a braised pork once stored in jars by farm households to make it keep, is also a Chinese GI product. Hanyuan golden pears (汉源金花梨) won a gold medal at a national agricultural fair, and the county is known for sweet cherries.

Getting oriented

The G5 Beijing–Kunming and S66 expressways cross the county, which has long been a route towards the Kangding and Xichang regions.

Highlights

• Hanyuan Lake 汉源湖: Described by the county as southwest China's largest artificial lake, surrounding the new county town.
• Dadu River Gorge National Geopark 大渡河峡谷国家地质公园: Named in 2001; the gorge is 17 km long.
• Jiaoding Mountain 轿顶山: Flat-topped, cliff-ringed summit of 3,552 m with views to Emei and Gongga.
• Qingxi Ancient Town 清溪古镇: Meeting point of three old roads on the Tea Horse Road.
• Hanyuan Sichuan pepper 汉源花椒: GI product listed under the EU–China geographical-indication agreement.