Hongjiang District is situated at the foot of the Xuefeng Mountain in southwestern Hunan Province, at the confluence of the Yuanshui River and the Wushui River. It currently administers two townships and four subdistricts, covering a land area of 115 square kilometers. Provincial Highway 334, the Shaoyang-Huaihua Expressway of the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, and the Baotou-Maoming Expressway run through it. It is one hour’s drive away from the Huaihua South Railway Station, 70 minutes’ drive away from the Zhijiang Airport, and 30 minutes’ drive from the Anjiang High-Speed Railway Station. Hongjiang has a long history. In ancient times, it was called “Hongxi” and also known as “Xiongxi”. It was part of the “Wuxi” (Five Creeks) region and has long been a material distribution center in southwest China and was historically renowned for tung oil, timber, and white wax. It is known by such prestigious titles as “Thoroughfare of Seven Provinces”, “Little Nanjing”, “Pearl of Western Hunan”, and “Metropolis of Southwest China”. At present, Hongjiang District is a Hunan Provincial All-for-One Tourism Demonstration Zone and a key area for high-quality tourism products in Western Hunan. The Hongjiang Ancient Commercial Town is among the first batch of Hunan’s Top 10 Characteristic Cultural and Tourism Towns. As a national key cultural relics protection unit (6th batch) and one of China’s Top 10 Ancient Towns, Hongjiang Ancient Commercial Town is praised as a living fossil of the embryonic emergence of capitalism in China. Hongjiang boasts abundant cultural and tourism resources and a profound historical heritage. On the basis of revitalizing existing resources, it has been actively developing a number scenic spots, such as the Hengyan Bamboo Sea, industrial heritage sites, and relics of the boat and raft gangs, and accelerating the development of cultural resources into tourism products, aiming to become a tourism destination with concentrated scenic spots and unique features.
Commercial Culture
Hongjiang Ancient Commercial Town, a national 4A tourist attraction, is a rare gem in China and even around the world, irreplaceable and non-reproducible; it is like a version of Along the River During the Qingming Festival (a famous traditional Chinese painting depicting urban life in the Northern Song Dynasty) that showcases the marketplace society during the Ming and Qing dynasties. With its grand scale, unique architecture, and profound cultural connotations, it is known as “China’s No.1 Ancient Commercial Town”. Currently, it preserves over 380 ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties and the Republic of China periods, including guildhalls, money shops, commercial firms, foreign firms, workshops, stores, brothels, newspaper offices and opium dens, covering a total area of more than 300,000 square meters. In June 2006, Hongjiang Ancient Commercial Town was listed as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit; in April 2007, it was named one of the New Eight Scenic Spots of Xiaoxiang; in November 2007, it won the title of China’s Top 10 Ancient Towns; in October 2008, it established a sister-ancient-town relationship with Lijiang, Pingyao and Fenghuang; in October 2010, it won the Silver Award of An Ancient Town/Village Influencing China’s Cultural Tourism issued at the first China International Cultural Tourism Festival, ranking among the top three together with Fenghuang and Lijiang; in 2014, it was rated as a national 4A tourist attraction.
Chan Meditation Culture
As a national 4A tourist attraction, Songyun Mountain National Forest Park is an eco-tourism area in Hunan Province. Adjacent to the Hongjiang Ancient Commercial Town, it is known as the First Mountain in Western Hunan and Little Nanyue Mountain. With an altitude of only over 400 meters, Songyun Mountain Scenic Area boasts the spectacular scene of sea of clouds all year round. It only takes a 10-minute drive from the urban area to the viewing platform of the mountain. Covering a total area of 3,349.67 hectares with a forest coverage rate of 92%, it was awarded the title of National Forest Park in September 2010. Its forest tourism resources are complete in variety, high in quality, rich in rare species, abundant in landscape resources and unique in location advantages. It covers five major types of landscapes: biological landscape, geomorphic landscape, hydrological landscape, humanistic landscape and astronomical landscape. Within the scenic area, there are two ancient temples: Miaoyin Temple (built in the Northern Song Dynasty) and Daxing Temple (built in the Ming Dynasty). With grand and magnificent architecture, exquisitely carved beams and painted rafters, and a simple and elegant style, the temples are ideal for Chan culture-themed leisure activities.
Modern Agriculture Base
Maotouyuan Starry Sky Town is a national 3A tourist attraction. Located in Maotouyuan Village, Guihuayuan Township, this scenic area is a rural tourist attraction integrating farming experience, leisure and sightseeing, parent-child study tour, and vegetable and fruit picking. It is also a five-star rural tourism demonstration area and popular science education demonstration base in Hunan Province. The town is rich in citrus and pomelos, among which Hongjiang sugar pomelos are full of juice and sweet and refreshing, and are the main local agricultural products. Huangtuzhai by the Gongxi River is the most representative rural tourist spot in the town.
Cultural and Creative Base
Hong Porcelain Industrial Heritage Cultural and Creative Expo Park. Hongjiang once had a glorious industrial history. Its industrial development started in the Qing Dynasty, with industries such as tung oil refining and textile manufacturing; it gradually grew in the Republic of China period, when industries like machinery, knitting, papermaking, ceramics, cigarette manufacturing, and daily chemical products began to take shape; after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it further thrived, with processing and manufacturing industries developing rapidly. Hongjiang gradually became a light industry base in the area bordering five provinces, with pillar industries including ceramics, papermaking, pharmaceutical and chemical engineering, and food processing, and high-quality local specialty products as the leading force in its processing industry system.
In 1998, the total industrial output value of the district reached 354 million yuan, ranking eighth in the province, which marked the peak of Hongjiang’s industry during the planned economy era. Hongjiang Porcelain Factory was founded in July 1954, covering an area of 250,000 square meters. Composed of an old factory area and a high-grade porcelain factory area, it had more than 2,000 employees and was a national large second-class enterprise specializing in the production of high-grade export daily-use fine porcelain. During the planned economy period, Hongjiang Porcelain Factory was the source of great pride for Hongjiang people. The annual production capacity of the enterprise reached over 60 million pieces, with foreign exchange earnings of more than 8 million US dollars and annual sales exceeding 100 million yuan. At present, the construction of Hong Porcelain Industrial Heritage Cultural and Creative Expo Park has been launched, with planning, design and park infrastructure construction being implemented to fully transform the industrial heritage into a cultural and creative base.
Leisure and Sightseeing
Miyanjian Taiji Landscape Amusement Park. Hongjiang is rich in water resources where the Yuanshui River and Wushui River converge, creating a water surface of 4,400 hectares. From below the Hongjiang Ancient Commercial Town, the Yuanshui River meanders around verdant hills on both banks, forming a miraculous “mountain-and-river Taiji diagram”. This entire Taiji landscape stretches for nearly a hundred kilometers, arguably the largest Taiji pattern in the world. The best viewpoints for this scene are Miyun Peak and Miaoyin Temple. Miyanjian rises 630 meters above sea level and dominates a 10‑kilometre radius on the north bank of the Yuanshui River. Overlapping peaks, towering ancient trees and drifting mists create scenery of otherworldly beauty. The Miyun Guan, a century‑old Taoist temple, impresses with its imposing scale and magnificent architecture and is a vibrant site of worship. Vast seas of bamboo stretch like a painted scroll. Construction of the Miyanjian Taiji Landscape Amusement Park is currently under way.
Ecological Health Care
Luci Bamboo Sea Personalized Care Park. The Hengyan Bamboo Sea Scenic Area, known as the “Second Largest Bamboo Sea in China” in southwest Hunan, is located in the Hengyan Township, Hongjiang District. It covers a total area of 33 square kilometers, with the core scenic area spanning 20 square kilometers. The total forest area within the scenic area is 46,000 mu (approximately 30.67 square kilometers), including 19,000 mu (about 12.67 square kilometers) of green spaces such as public welfare forests and lawns. The forest coverage rate exceeds 95%, among which there are 28,000 mu (around 18.67 square kilometers) of moso bamboo, and the water area is 1,350 mu (about 0.9 square kilometers). The air is fresh with a high content of negative ions. Currently, efforts are made to develop the Hengyan Bamboo Sea into an ecological, cultural and tourism resort.
(Translated by Yang Hong)