Qianjiadong Reservoir in Jiahe County, photovoltaic panels, mountains and lakes reflect each other. Photo by Huang Chuntao
The former residence of the first founding general Schock. Photo by Li Jinping
Tamanaka Onsen in the castle city.
Jiahe traditional casting process.
Photo by Huang Chuntao
In the forest section of Zhongshui River in Zhuquan Town, Jiahe County, the meandering river reflects the village houses, pastoral mountains and forests, and rural roads.
Photo by Huang Chuntao
(All pictures in this edition are provided by the Publicity Department of Jiahe County Party Committee except for the byline)
Puman rice paddies.
Liang Keting Deng Heming
"In the world of the Yan Emperor, the heavens descended to Jiahe, and Shennong collected it to teach cultivation." Jiahe County, a small city located in a corner of southern Shonan, got its name.
Jiahe County is bordered by Guangdong and Hong Kong in the south and Yonggui in the west, and was known as "Hecang Fort" in ancient times. For thousands of years, the hardworking, brave, kind and simple people of Jiahe have indulged in songs between mountains and water, forged ahead between iron and fire, and composed a thick and brilliant picture of humanistic history.
You listen, the bridal songs are melodious and tactful, the lanterns are witty and funny, and the reputation of "the hometown of folk songs" is sung word by word.
You see, the casting furnace is hot and red, and the iron striker sweats like rain, and the name of "Jiangnan Casting Capital" is sounded with a hammer and a chisel.
You taste, boiled meat lips and teeth are fragrant, poured bottle of wine mellow and refreshing, one meal and one drink polish the "food capital" business card.
"With the power of a good wind, it is time to set sail." Huang Zhong, secretary of the Jiahe County Party Committee, said that this year, Jiahe County has firmly seized the opportunity of the Tourism Development Conference, deeply explored cultural and tourism resources such as farming, casting, hot water, food, folk songs, and red, and strived to polish the cultural tourism brand of "soaking in hot springs, appreciating folk songs, and tasting food".
Treading water and singing, with a long history
The rushing Gongling Water is the main artery that runs through Jiahe and is also the mother river of Jiahe. The 699 square kilometers of land nourished by her are the soil for the development and prosperity of the people of Jiahe.
Panjiang Reservoir, Qianjiadong Reservoir, Guanyinshan Reservoir, Pantou Reservoir, etc. integrate lakes and mountains, attracting tourists to play and watch, but also undertake the functions of irrigation, power generation, aquaculture, etc., nourishing the people of Jiahe.
The hot water rises out of the earth, warms Jiahe, and stimulates cultural tourism. Jiahe County has a long history of hot springs, and it is said that Emperor Yan used hot spring water to breed grain seeds when he taught cultivation in Jiahe. The Han Dynasty's "Huainanzi" contains: "Shennong's taste of a hundred herbs, knowing the sweetness and bitterness of the water spring, so that the people avoided it."
Located in the new area of the county seat, Yuzhong Hot Spring, derived from the white jade layer 3,018 meters deep underground, is rich in more than 20 kinds of trace elements beneficial to the human body, and the hot spring water can be drunk and bathed. In January this year, the construction and operation project of Yuzhong Hot Spring Jiabin Lake area with a total investment of 200 million yuan was launched, which is also the key project of the second Hunan Tourism Development Conference, including improving the quality of supporting facilities, and building new hot spring Jurassic lazy river, electric hot spring wave pool, rainbow slide, large hot spring water village and other Internet celebrity check-in points.
Relying on hot spring resources, Jiahe County vigorously develops the construction of hot spring towns, actively cultivates new formats of "hot spring + industry", promotes the integrated development of hot springs and health care, high-end mineral water, physiotherapy, real estate and modern agriculture, and strives to create a county business card with hot spring cultural tourism characteristics.
Good mountains and good water breed good songs.
Jiahe is the hometown of famous folk songs, wedding songs, lantern plays, labor songs, festive songs... The star-like Jiahe folk songs are the "Book of Poetry" written by the children of Jiahe who live here over the years, and they burst out from the mountains and rivers, reaching the heart, touching the soul, and singing for thousands of years.
"There are orchid flowers in the north, and there are wedding songs in the south". More than 1,300 of the wedding songs, all sung by women in the Jiahe dialect, have been inscribed on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List. The melody of the bridal song is feminine and poignant, and the structure of the tune is flexible and changeable. CCTV director Wang Gang said with deep feelings after collecting wind in Jiahe: "If the folk songs of Tibet are songs in the sky, the folk songs of Jiahe are songs on the ground, wild with wild spirit, flesh and blood and affection..." At present, Jiahe County has 3 inheritance bases for dowry songs and 40 non-governmental dowry teams.
Lantern play, vulgar and elegant. Jiahe lantern opera draws on the nutrition of Jiahe folk songs and other folk arts, and the content reflects the lives of working people, and the repertoire is clear in love and hate, witty and funny, full of the fragrance of earth. In Jiahe, "everyone knows "Xia Luoyang", no village does not perform lantern plays, no class does not learn lantern songs, and everywhere talks about lantern topics."
The Jiahe County Party Committee and the county government regard the protection of cultural heritage as an important measure to enrich the cultural connotation of the county and implement cultural rejuvenation of the county, and arrange special funds every year to carry out the survey, excavation, sorting, evaluation, protection and utilization of intangible cultural heritage.
Red "fire" shines and is passed down from generation to generation
"Jiahe people strike iron, and they are also iron." The words of the first general of the founding country, Xiao Ke, expressed the stoic, hardworking, fearless and fearless character of Jiahe people. Forging used to be called "blacksmithing", and casting was also called "sanding". In Jiahe, the history of blacksmithing has been for thousands of years.
Before 2018, the forging and casting industry in Jiahe County has been in a state of "village ignition and household smoke", and the industrial industry has developed slowly.
In recent years, the transformation and upgrading of Jiahe casting industry has accelerated, and it has deduced a gorgeous butterfly transformation from "low-end" to "high-precision and cutting-edge". At present, there are more than 800 foundry enterprises founded by Jiahe people, with an annual output of 1.5 million tons of castings, accounting for 30% of the share of Jiangnan castings. "Jiangnan Casting Capital", "China's Forging Hometown", "China Foundry Industry Cluster Pilot County", "Hunan Casting and Forging Characteristic Industrial Park" and "Precision Casting Town" and other golden signboards have settled in Jiahe.
At present, Jiahe County relies on Casting Park, Casting Square, Casting and Forging Technology Exhibition Hall, 1958 Cultural and Creative Park and other venues to do a good job in the inheritance of casting and forging traditional skills and the development of industrial tourism souvenirs, create a casting and forging craft exhibition area, and develop industrial tourism.
In harmony with the fiery red casting furnace of Jiahe is the red tourism resources of Jiahe.
This is the hometown of General Xiao Ke, the first general of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and a large number of revolutionary pioneers have emerged, such as Li Guozhu, who was praised by Dr. Sun Yat-sen as "the most ardent revolutionary comrade in Hunan", Li Bifan, a famous anti-Japanese general, and Huang Yishan, Li Yiting, and Li Shaojiu, senior generals of the Red Army.
Jiahe also gave birth to the first local organization of the Communist Party of China in Chenzhou, the Jiahe County Special Branch of the Communist Party of China, which carried out a vigorous peasant movement, gave birth to the armed forces of the Hunan Uprising, and preserved the former site of the temporary court of the Red Sixth Army Regiment's Western Expedition to Guangfa Market, and the site of the Xiqiling Battlefield (Red Army Tomb) of the Red Sixth Army Regiment's Fukou during the Long March.
"Make good use of red resources, inherit good red genes, and pass on red rivers and mountains from generation to generation." In the past year, Jiahe County has deeply cultivated the red hot soil, dug deep into the red story, and comprehensively developed red bases such as Xiao Ke's former residence, martyr's cemetery, martyr Yin Zishao's tomb, and the former site of the temporary court of the Red Sixth Legion's Western Expedition to Guangfa Market. Use red stories such as "Red Army Tomb", "Red Army Tree" and "Red Army Hospital" to inspire the people of Jiahe to forge ahead.
The gourmet scenery is a welcome to guests
"Hospitality Jiahe" is not a slogan, but the attitude of life engraved in the bones of the people of Jiahe. Whenever guests enter the door, a glass of "poured wine" and a piece of "fried meat" make the people's tongues and spirits refreshed. The hospitable children of Jiahe greet guests from all over the world with the most sumptuous food, the most beautiful scenery and the most warm hospitality.
Jiahe cuisine, famous in Siye, "the whole country eats in Guangzhou, Hunan eats in Jiahe" is widely spread.
Jiahe dishes have authentic raw materials and deep heritage, and the dishes are fresh, fragrant, hot and spicy. Classic dishes such as fried meat, boiled meat, braised dog meat, ginger blood duck, blood enema, and whole pig banquet are well-known inside and outside the province, and special products such as inverted tank wine, Xiangjia fish, and three-flavored chili are famous far and wide, and the morning wine culture enjoys a good reputation in the surrounding areas. 7 dishes such as ginger blood duck and blood enema were highlighted by CCTV's "Walking Around China" column. In 2022, Jiahe County was rated as one of the top ten Hunan cuisine counties in Hunan Province.
Jiahe people are especially good wine. Inverted tank wine is Jiahe's unique process of brewing wine, because the wine is poured into the dregs or water wine into the dregs during the brewing, so it is called "inverted tank wine". The inverted wine is brown and yellow, rich in aroma and mellow in the mouth. Shook once praised: "Water is hometown sweet, wine is good to pour the jar." ”
Jiahe also vigorously develops the selenium-rich industry, strives to build characteristic selenium-rich agricultural brands, establishes 38 selenium-rich agricultural product breeding bases, and creates a number of agricultural product brands with unique local characteristics of Jiahe, such as "Sanwei Food", "Hecangxiang Rice", "Jiajin Tea Oil" and "Green Shell Egg". Academician Yuan Longping, the father of the world's hybrid rice, endorsed the Jiahe agricultural brand and personally inscribed and named "Jiahe Selenium-rich Rice", "Zhaihou Gongmi" and "Jiahe Selenium-rich Agricultural Products".
The food is heartwarming and the scenery is pleasing to the eye. Jiahe Mountain has beautiful water and pleasant climate, including natural landscapes such as Zhuquan Yongyue, Xianren Ferry, Bingxian Cave, Jinping Wancui, Shiyan Tengkong, Shunyuan Haoyin, Niulan Cave, and other cultural landscapes such as Tongliang Qiandu, Pujishu Bell, Pudu Bridge, Fengxian Archway, Mo Rock Carvings, Aofeng East Pagoda, Huangjia Suspension Bridge and so on.
The ancient county town of Jiahe Hecang Fort is praised by experts as a "living fossil" for studying the ancient city culture, and the traditional architectural features here are relatively well preserved, and the historical imprint of prosperous commerce and trade is very thick. Zhuquan Pavilion, Fenghe Ancient Market, Ancient Street, Ancient Theater and Lei Gongjing Ancient Village still vaguely reveal the simple and deep life of the old town.
Jiahe has 11 national-level ancient villages, which are winding and simple. Among them, Lei Gongjing Ancient Village is the inheritance base of the wedding song, and most of the ancient houses here were built in the Ming Chongzhen to Qing Dynasty Guangxu period, with unique Jiangnan ancient residential characteristics.
Nowadays, Jiahe has formed a unique immersive experience tourism pattern of "listening to red stories, appreciating Jiahe folk songs, tasting Jiahe food, visiting traditional ancient villages, and soaking in health and health hot springs", and continues to polish the brand image of "good songs, good water, and hospitality Jiahe". On the new journey of cultural and tourism integration, Jiahe has a hot ambition and sonorous pace, and continues to compose a new splendid chapter.