Tianquan County 天全县

Setting and landscape

The upper Qingyi River (青衣江) flows through the county, and National Road 318, the Sichuan–Tibet Highway, crosses it from end to end. The county government describes a warm, wet subtropical monsoon climate with about 1,576 mm of rain a year. Six protected areas fall within the county, among them the Labahe Nature Reserve (喇叭河自然保护区), Erlang Mountain National Forest Park (二郎山国家森林公园), the Erlang Mountain scenic area, Giant Panda National Park and the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries World Natural Heritage site.

History

The county traces its founding to 111 BC, when the Western Han set up Xi county (徙县) at today's Shiyang (始阳镇). From the mid-Tang the area was ruled by two hereditary chieftain (tusi) families, the Gao and the Yang. The name Tianquan dates from the Yuan: the old gazetteer of Tianquan Prefecture explains that the rainy area was called 'leaking sky' (漏天), and the character for 'leak' was replaced by quan (全), 'whole'. Chieftain rule ended in 1729, when the Qing created Tianquan Prefecture (天全州), which became a county in 1913.

What to see

The Red Army came through Tianquan in 1935, and the county keeps several Long March sites. At Chengjia village in Renyi (仁义), the headquarters of the Fourth Front Army survives as Qing-style courtyard houses, with the Red Army slogan 'the world belongs to all' (天下为公) still on a wall and a 'Red Army well' beside it. The county government says Zhang Guotao (张国焘), who led his troops south into Tianquan in November 1935, set up his rival party centre here. Jixiang Temple (吉祥寺) in Chengxiang (城厢镇), about 100 metres from the old town, was built in the Kangxi reign, has many murals and housed the county's first library from 1926. Peng Xuefeng (彭雪枫) and Zhang Aiping (张爱萍) of the Red Army's advance regiment read newspapers there in June 1935. On Kuhao Hill (苦蒿山) north of the town, a cemetery holds more than 200 unnamed Red Army soldiers.

Food and local products

The county government's list of specialties includes Tianquan peppercorn chicken (天全椒麻鸡), Tianquan Tibetan tea (天全藏茶), kiwifruit, fragrant rice, morels, bamboo shoots and a 'chieftain's banquet' (土司宴). Caviar is also on the list, and the county government says it has created China's only specialty town themed on caviar.

Highlights

• Labahe Nature Reserve 喇叭河自然保护区: One of six protected areas in the county listed by the county government.
• Erlang Mountain National Forest Park 二郎山国家森林公园: Protected forest park on the mountain whose eastern foot the county occupies.
• Fourth Front Army headquarters site 红四方面军总部旧址: Qing-style courtyard houses at Chengjia village, Renyi, with a 'the world belongs to all' slogan and a Red Army well.
• Jixiang Temple 吉祥寺: Kangxi-era temple with murals near the old town; the county's first library from 1926 and a county-level protected site.
• Tianquan peppercorn chicken 天全椒麻鸡: Listed by the county government among Tianquan's specialties.