Location

Anyuan County sits in the south of Jiangxi Province, with its geographical coordinate being 24°52′18″～25°36′52″north latitude and 115°9′52″～115°37′13″east longitude. It adjoins counties of Huichang and Xunwu on the east, Dingnan on the south, Xinfeng on the west, Yudu and Ganxian on the north, with a width of about 48.8 km from east to west and a length of 84.6 km from south to north. In 2015, the whole county has a territory of 2,374.59 km2, accounting for 6% of Ganzhou City and 1.4% of Jiangxi Province separately. The Anyuan people's Government is located in Xinshan Town, 172 km away from Ganzhou City and 586 km to Nanchang City, the capital of the province. 

Evolution

Historic Anyuan is also called Lianjiang on account of limpid water in Lianjiang River. According to records, prior to its setup, Anyuan County was affiliated to Yangzhou in the period of Emperor Yu in Xia Dynasty, based on geographical works Yu Gong. It was successively subordinate to Wu state in Spring and Autumn Period, to Chu state in the Warring States Period, to Jiujiang Prefecture in the Qin Dynasty, and to Yudu County, Yuzhang Prefecture in the Han Dynasty. In 544 A.D. (the 10th year of Datong Emperor’s reign in the Liang Dynasty, during the Southern Dynasties), Anyuan County was established within the jurisdiction of Nankang Prefecture, its name derived from the river of Anyuan, remaining unchanged since. After establishment, the county went through twists and turns of disintegration, incorporation and subordination. In 1310 A.D. (the 3rd year of Zhida Emperor’s reign in the Yuan Dynasty), Anyuan County was rebuilt subordinate to Ganzhou Lu(Prefecture), kept unchanged within the same jurisdiction to this day.

Iconic Specialty

The historic county Anyuan, millennium-old, set up in 1471, embraces 18 towns and townships with a total population of about 400,000, sprawling on 2,375 km2. Acclaimed as the place of origin of Gannan Tea Picking Opera, national intangible cultural heritage, Anyuan also has the reputation as "home to Chinese couplet", the first in Jiangxi Province, also the fifth nationwide. A large variety of cultural relics and historic sites have been discovered in Anyuan, among which, the most renowned include over 1,000 year-old Wuwei Temple, national key protected cultural relic, Dongshengwei, the largest Hakka square enclosure houses nationwide, as well as Yong Town Lounge Bridge, age 360.

As a culturally distinguished county, Anyuan boasts deep-seated background and distinctive traits.  It acts as the seedbed for national intangible cultural heritage Gannan Tea Picking Opera, hence winning the title as "home to Chinese Tea Picking Opera art", in addition to "home to Chinese couplet", the first in Jiangxi Province, also the fifth nationwide. Anyuan is where Hakka people inhabit, who have a culture of long standing, therefore, boasting cultural relics and historic sites. Its best-known spots are the following trio, all being national key protected cultural relics, for instance, Wu Wei Temple Pagoda, erected in the 4th year of Shaosheng Emperor’s reign in Song Dynasty (1097), Dongshengwei, the largest Hakka square enclosure houses in southern Jiangxi, constructed in the 22nd year of Daoguang Emperor’s reign in Qing Dynasty (1842), and Yong Town Lounge Bridge, set up in the 9th year of Shunzhi Emperor’s reign in Qing Dynasty (1652).

A paradise for backpackers, Anyuan is blessed with mind-blowing scenery, for example,Sanbai Mountain in its territory, accredited as national forest park, also national scenic spot, and AAAA national tourist attraction, being the source of Dongjiang River for drinking water supply to Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Overflowing with fresh air, the Forest Park has the anion content per cm3 climb as high as 70,000 units. The natural green oxygen bar has developed into the only tourist attraction nationwide of “source-thanking” significance to Hong Kong fellow citizens. Beyond, the county has abundant, charming tourism resources in countryside, hot spring, red revolution education and many more.

An ecological haven, Anyuan is embellished with green mountains and graceful rivers, with forest coverage of the whole territory amounting to 84.3%, four times the national average, and 20% higher than the provincial average. The orchard area of the whole county adds up to 300,000 mu(roughly 666.7 m2 per mu), including 260,000 mu of ecological navel orange garden, meaning its ecological industry is highly effective. The fresh-air county has a pleasant climate, with surface water being alkalescent(weakly alkaline) by nature, making a marvellous hangout for leisure and health care enthusiasts.

A Red-All-Over county in the Soviet area in revolutionary era, Anyuan has been upholding a glorious tradition to inspire forthcoming generations Looking back, Anyuan has witnessed a vital turning point in the history of the people's army construction, thanks to being an eventful front line in the “anti-encirclement and annihilation” struggle of the Central Soviet Area, and a major cradle of the Soviet spirit. During the Soviet period, Anyuan acted as a constituent of the trio Hui-Xun-An Central County Committee(three counties, Huichang, Xunwu and Anyuan). On October 22, 1927, the rest of Nanchang Uprising army conducted "Tianxin army consolidation" in Tianxin Wei, led by Zhu De, Chen Yi, and others. The feat was counted as the beginning of the well-known "four consolidations in Gannan", also a significant turning point for our army shifting from defeat to victory, one of the sources of army-building thoughts in the people's army. According to the 1932 statistics by then Jiangxi provincial CPC committee, of the whole population 100,100 in Anyuan County, 12,618 joined the Red Army, with another 12,052 providing assistance to the front line combat. On average, one in eight became a Red Army fighter, with traceable 2,136 ending up being martyrs. Anyuan natives have contributed a great lot to the revolution leading to victory.