Yuanling stands in the north of Huaihua City, located in the northwest part of Hunan Province, China. It is home to 670 thousand residents on an area of 5852 square kilometers, and has jurisdiction over 21 towns, 369 villages and 35 neighborhood committees.
Yuanling is an ancient city with a history of thousands years. Photo: Hao Tao
As a cultural mecca, Yuanling remains alive for its rich cultural connotations and long course of history. It has been over 2000 years from it being a prefecture-level city in Qin and Chu Dynasty or a county in Han Dynasty (BC 202). Yuanling was once the hub of politics, economy, culture and military in Xiangxi and has been served as the administrative divisions at different levels. It is said that when the first emperor of Qin ordered the burning of Confucian classics, an official named Fu Sheng risked great danger to hide over Confucian classics in Eryou Mountain in Yuanling, which helps to preserve China’s culture heritage of pre-Qin Dynasty. Eryou Mountain is the place where the saying “One is so knowledgeable as if he’s read all the books in Eryou Mountain” originated. There are over a hundred historical and cultural relics such as Qianzhong County Site and Longxing Temple built in Tang Dynasty and 41 national cultural relics. Chenzhou Nuo Opera and traditional dragon boat of Yuanling have been listed as the National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Eryou Mountain is the place where the saying “One is so knowledgeable as if he’s read all the books in Eryou Mountain” originated.
Longxing Temple Photo:Deng Haoran
As a mysterious place in Xiangxi, Yuanling remains its mystique for famous legends and unique culture and customs, like the Panhu Legend, Kuafu Chasing the Sun, Chenzhou Nuo Opera, Eryou Legend, “Land of Buddha” Plage, Central Qian Enigma, Wushe Mountain tea culture, Niuhua culture, Wa ethnic group and traditional dragon boats.
Kuafu Mountain Forest Park Photo: Liu Ke
Yuanling is the hometown of Chinese traditional dragon boat.
As a breathtakingly beautiful place, Yuanling is noted for its impressive natural scenery and has developed many attractions such as Jiemuxi National Nature Reserve, Wuqiangxi National Wetland Park, Yuanling National Forest Park and Wuxi Lake. What’ more, Yuanling has abundant water resources and is privileged with Yuan River and You River, along with 911 streams and rivers flowing through this place. The harmonious blend of mountains and waters makes Yuanling a heaven for leisure, fishing, vacation and recreation.
Jiemuxi National Nature Reserve
Hujiaxi traditional village
As a precious land with abundant resources, Yuanling is the largest county among the six provinces in central China, and enjoys the fame as one of the top ten hydro-power bases and ecological tea counties in China, one of the top ten forestry counties in Hunan Province. Additionally, it is the hometown of organic and famous teas. Jietan tea, Wuqiangxi Fish and Xiangxi Black Pig are National Geographical Indication products. Jietan Tea, historically offered as tribute since the Tang Dynasty, is the only green tea variety in Hunan Province authorized by the government as China’s regional public brand. Chenzhou’s mining industry has a history of over 140 years in gold extraction, which is the fifth largest producer of gold in China and the largest producer of antimony in the world.
Chenlongguan Ecological Tea Garden Photo: Liu Ke
The beautiful scenery of You River.
As a blessed place for starting up business, Yuanling has successfully earned the establishment of National Sanitary County, National Greening Model County, National Green Energy Demonstration County, and has been approved as a National Pilot County for New Urbanization, one of the first batch of Provincial Innovative Counties, a Demonstration County of Ecological Civilization Construction in Hunan Province, and established the Hunan (Yuanling) Taiwan Industrial Park.
In recent years, Yuanling County has set its sights on the bright blueprint of “three highs and four news” and has firmly implemented the strategy of “five news and four cities”, striving to draw a grand blueprint of “constructing four districts, creating sub-centers, and advancing into the top 30 counties” presented at the 13th Party Congress of Yuanling County. With full dedication, Yuanling aims to build a cluster area for high-quality industrial development, a model area for rural revitalization, a demonstration area for ecological civilization, and an experimental area for social governance, so as to make Yuanling a sub-center of strategic importance for Huaihua in its integration with the Western Land-Sea New Corridor. By 2025, Yuanling’s comprehensive economic strength is expected to advance into the top thirty in Hunan.