Gutian County (古田县; pinyin: Gǔtián Xiàn; Foochow Romanized: Kŭ-chèng Gâing), also known as Edible Mushroom County[1], is a county lying in the southwest of Ningde, Fujian province, China. It is also known as "the town of the former worthy", as Zhuxi, a famous Chinese scholar once lived there. In earlier English documents it is also known as Kutien or Kucheng.
Contents |
The county was set up in the Tang Dynasty in 741 AD. Since Zhuxi, one of the famous scholars in China, lived there, it is also called "the town of the former worthy."
In 1895 the county was the site of a massacre of Christian missionaries.
The Minjiang River (Fujian) runs through Gutian, covering a distance of 35 km.
There are a number of scenic areas in Gutian.
Gutian has jurisdiction over 8 towns and 7 villages. It has a total population of 430,000.
Gutian county is known as "The Land of Fungi" (食用菌之乡). Fungal exports include snow fungus (Tremella fuciformis) (白木耳) and shiitake (Lentinula edodes) (香菇). Other exports include perch (鲈鱼), carp (鲤鱼), honey peaches (水蜜桃), reddish slab stones (桃花红石板材) and Younai plums (油柰).
Gutian's transportation systems include railways, highways and seaways. Waifu (外福) Railway is 33.2 km long. Abundant water resources have led to the building of the first national underground hydropower station, Gutian Xishui Hydroelectric Power Station, which has the largest volume in the Huadong district.
Gutian is the original home of many countrymen residing abroad. The number of overseas Chinese from this area amounts to more than 200,000, many now resident in Sitiawan, Perak in Malaysia. It is also a "national model county", which is famous for its culture, physical education and broadcasting TV programs.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||