Lushan county

Lushan county, situated in the central part of Henan province, is adjacent to Luoyang to the north, Nanyang to the south, and Pingdingshan to the east, with a total area of 2,432 square kilometers. It has jurisdiction over six towns, 15 townships and 558 administrative villages, and has a population of 870,000. It is known for mountains, rivers and farmlands. Lushan was called Luyang in the past. It became a county during the Han Dynasty. It was renamed Lushan during Tang Dynasty. Today it is subordinate to Pingdingshan in Henan province.

Lushan county has an agreeable climate and distinct seasons. It has rich natural resources. Shirenshan Lake and Zhaoping Lake are listed as national scenic spots, and Lushan county is listed as a state-level ecological tourism model county. Its industries give priority to coal, the chemical industry, cement, iron and steel, a mineral dressing, refractory, silk and granite plates. The county is famous in the province for forestry, animal by-products, and edible mushroom production. Long ago, Lushan silk was known as the fabric of fairy maidens. Lushan remains a natural silk production base in the country. It also enjoys ahigh reputation for such special local products as Zhangliang ginger, fist-shape vegetables, Chinese gooseberry, black fungus and scorpion. In recent years, the county has cultivated, from the west to the east, the ecological tourism development zone, a barren hill development zone, fruit demonstration zone, industrial park and green agricultural demonstration park.

Lushan county enjoys convenient traffic conditions with competitive location advantages. Jiaozuo-Zhicheng Railway traverses the county from south to north. It has a larege urban and rural highway network leading to other parts of the country. This makes the county a main hub of transportation to connect the central plain with other places to distribute its products to national markets. The county is building sections within its borders for the Taiyuan-Macao Expressway and Zhengzhou-Shirenshan Expressway. Lushan has attracted dozens of Chinese and foreign investors with its welcoming investment environment and preferential policies.

Lushan is a national ecological tourism demonstration county, with rich tourism resources. It has 2,378 tourism sites, 56.6 percent of the total in Pingdingshan. The county has developed the six major scenic regions of Yaoshan, Zhaoping Lake, Foquan Temple, Huamei Valley, Shibaduo,and Liuyangshan. It has developed 22 rural home inns tourism serice quarters. The county has three travel services with 22 tour guides. It has 17 designated guesthouses and hotels, including three two-star guesthouses (Lushan Guesthouse, Yaoshan Tianli Guesthouse and Yangguang Mansion Hotel).

Jiaxian county

Jiaxian county, situated in the western part of central Henan province, is adjacent to Pingdingshan city. In physical features, it looks saddle-shaped, with high southeastern and northwestern borders and low central parts, comprised mainly of plains and hills. With a total area of 737 square kilometers, the county administers six towns, eight townships, and 374 administrative villages. It has a population of 568,000, including 520,000 rural residents.

Jiaxian has a temperate continental monsoon climate. It has fertile soil to grow diversified plants. The county grows corn, wheat, peanuts, beans and sweet potatoes. Cash crops include largely flue-cured tobaccos and vegetables. The county is famous for its Shan’erxi tobacco leaves. The county is also famous for raising Jiaxian red cattle , known for their tender meat and flexible leather. Jiaxian has rich minerals and plentiful water and electric power resources.

Jiaxian has unique tourism resources, with numerous places of historic interest and scenic beauty. The tombs of Su Shi, Su Zhe and Su Xun, famous men of letters during the Song Dynasty, have been under provincial protection since 1986. In June 2006, the tombs and Jiaxian Confucius Temple and Guangtian Zhiqing Park were approved as historical and cultural relics under national protection. Zhongding Lotus Mountain, one of the three leading Taoist centers in the country, is an ideal scenic spot for Chinese and foreign tourists. Linfeng Stockade offers the only red stone remnants in this region from the Ming and Qing dynastiess. The Confucius Temple, set off with pine and cypress trees, reflect China’s ancient culture. Langmiao Temple offers a unique tea service. The county is also home to the relics of the Yangshao Culture, Longshan Culture and Peiligang Culture periods.

Shilong district

Shilong district, located in the western part of Pingdingshan, is known for the Shilong River. It is adjacent to Baofeng county to the east and north and Lushan county to the west and south. It is 52 kilometers from Pingdingshan, 140 kilometers from Zhengzhou, the provincial capital to the north, 143 kilometers from Luoyang to the west and 159 kilometers from Nanyang to the south.

The district has a population of 56,000 people, including 38,000 urban residents. It has an area of 37.9 square kilometers.

Shilong district has rich resources, particularly minerals. It has 12 varieties of verified minerals and 330 million tons of raw coal reserves in an area of 28 square kilometers – one of the top three coal fields of Pingdingshan. It has 250 million tons of limestone reserves, about one half of the city’s reserves. It has 32 million tons of granite and 60 million tons of clay minerals. In recent years, it has explored using minerals for ceramic clay and bauxite production.