Scenic Area of Graceful Farming and Reading Culture

　　The Scenic Area of Graceful Farming and Reading Culture is situated in Gengdu Village, Hezhen Town, Jiangshan City, in the western part of Jiangshan. It is located at the junction of Hezhen, Tanshi, and Daqiao towns. Covering an area of 3.52 square kilometers, the scenic area consists of the natural villages of Gengdu, in front of Hutang Ridge, and Dashishan Di, at the foot of Dashishan Mountain. It is recognized as a Zhejiang Provincial Green Demonstration Village, a Zhejiang Provincial Forest Village, and a Quzhou Municipal Comprehensive Well-Off Demonstration Village. It is also a National AAA-level Tourist Attraction.

　　The natural village of Gengdu can be traced back to the late Yuan Dynasty, boasting a history of seven to eight hundred years. On a small hill northeast of Hutang Reservoir, archaeological excavations have uncovered a Western Zhou cultural site. Legend has it that Gengdu was originally called Gangtou. Due to generations of ancestors valuing the tradition of farming and reading, a scholar from the late Qing Dynasty proposed changing the village’s name from Gangtou to Gengdu. In the northwest corner of the village stands the Kanghuang Hall, built during the Southern Song Dynasty. Every year on the 22nd day of the seventh lunar month, the Kanghuang Temple Fair attracts tens of thousands of worshippers and pilgrims from Changshan, Kaihua, and Yushan in Jiangxi. The village is also home to over ten ancient trees under first, second, and third-level protection, including camphor and maple trees. Many myths and legends are still passed down in Gengdu, such as “Kanghuang Saves Lives,” “The Filial Son of Hutang,” “Immortals Playing Chess,” “The Azure Dragon Emerges from the Mountain,” and “Five Bowls of Offering.”

　　To the west, the scenic area backs onto Dashishan Mountain, the watershed between the Qiantang River system in Zhejiang and the Gan River system in Jiangxi. Dashishan Mountain, with an elevation of 300 meters, serves as a natural barrier for Gengdu Village in western Jiangshan. From the top of Dashishan, one can look westward to see the mountains of Yushan County in Jiangxi, and eastward to glimpse Tiger Mountain in downtown Jiangshan, over thirty li away. To this day, Dashishan still features sites such as the Chessboard Stone where immortals were said to play chess, the Dragon Cave (a limestone karst cave), and a spring-fed pool. The eastern entrance of the scenic area leads to Hutang Lake, which has a water storage capacity of 230,000 cubic meters and a surface area of 80,000 square meters.

　　Source: Quzhou Municipal Bureau of Tourism