Tingqian

In 1983, numerous ancient cultural sites were discovered within its territory, dating back to the Neolithic and Shang-Zhou periods.^[3]: 321 During the Tang dynasty, Wang Xianzhi, a leader of a peasant uprising army, stationed himself in Huangmei and was beheaded at the Yuanpei Hill in Tingqian.^[4] From the end of the Yuan dynasty to the twelfth year of the Zhizheng period (1352), a peasant uprising army led by Xu Shouhui was stationed in Tingqian and suffered defeat.^[3]: 322 In the fourteenth year of the Hongwu period of the Ming dynasty (1381), Tingqian Relay Station was established in the area, known as the "administrative office connecting seven provinces." It served as a transportation hub between Hubei and Anhui and is the origin of the name Tingqian Town.^{[3]: 321 [5]} The Tingqian Relay Station was named so because "travelers stopped there to rest before continuing their journey".^[6] During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period, the Taiping Army engaged in battles with the Qing Army in Tingqian.^[7]

During the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic of China period, "Li Jia" was renamed as a township, and the name "Tingqian Town" first appeared. It belonged to Fengyuan Township and governed 28 villages. Another part of the present territorial area of Tingqian belonged to Zhuobi Town in Xincheng Township, with jurisdiction over 25 villages.^{[8]: 35, 37, 45} During the Republic of China period, Tingqian was once the location of the Huangmei County government. From 1927 to 1931, during the first Chinese Civil War between the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army divided Huangmei into five districts. Tingqian was part of the Eastern District,^[9] with the Soviet Office of the Eastern District located within the Dongsheng Wang Temple in Tingqian Street. Before the Second Sino-Japanese War, the original four townships were transformed into four districts, comprising 38 towns, with Tingqian Town falling under District 3.^{[3]: 322 [8]: 46} During this period, the Nationalist government frequently suppressed the activities of the CCP. In 1934 (23rd year, according to the calendar of the Republic of China), the CCP reinstated its organization in Tingqian, Huangmei, sending Zhou Wangsheng and Zhou Liansheng, among others.^[10] During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Huangmei County government retained the district system, converting towns into townships. The original 38 towns were reorganized into 23 townships, merging Tingqian Town and Gujiao Town into Tinggu Township.^[8]: 45

From August to November 1947, the Second Field Army commanded by Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping advanced into Huangmei after a long march into the Dabie Mountains, establishing the Huangmei County People's Democratic Government.^{[8]: 47–48 [10]: 125–150} The upper half of Huangmei was divided into six districts, with District 3 being Tingqian.^{[8]: 47–48} On May 8, 1949, the establishment of the Huanggang region led to the abolition of the administrative division of Huangmei County during the Republic of China era. Five new districts were created, including Tuqiao, and Tingqian Town's jurisdiction belonged to that district. In August 1952, the entire county was restructured into 12 districts based on natural environments, encompassing 163 townships. Tingqian District was first established as District 3, governing 13 townships: Wangjiangshan, Xiaoping, Tingqian, Chenyuan, Tieniu, Laopu, Tafan, Anren, Guyue, Chaixia, Shicang, Liubi, and Jiangpang. However, in the latter part of 1955, Tingqian District was merged back into the Tuqiao District. In April 1958, the five townships of Wangjiang, Liulin, Tieniu, and Shuima were separated from the Tuqiao District, re-establishing Tingqian District. By the end of the year, the entire county underwent collectivization, and Tingqian District was changed to Shangyou People's Commune. In February 1959, it was renamed Tingqian People's Commune based on the geographic location.^{[11]: 125–150 [12]}

In the reorganization and merger of districts and communes in October 1975, the People's Commune of Tingqian was divided into two communes: one retained the name Tingqian, while a newly established one was called Liulin People's Commune.^[11]: 52 The Tingqian People's Commune had jurisdiction over three administrative areas: Tingqian, Liubi, and Shuima, with 19 production brigades, 273 production teams, 1 natural town, and 284 natural villages.^[3]: 322 On the other hand, the Liulin People's Commune encompassed three administrative areas: Liulin, Laopu, and Wangjiang, with 14 production brigades, 141 production teams, 142 natural villages, and 1 natural town.^[13]

During the dissolution and merger of communes in February 1984, the People's Communes were dissolved, and two communes were merged to form the Tingqian District. It had jurisdiction over six townships, a township-level town named Tingqian, 35 villagers' committees, and 330 villagers' groups, totaling 412 natural villages.^{[11]: 48 [12]} In 1987, all 69 townships and township-level towns were abolished, and 12 districts and 6 district-level towns were transformed into 13 townships and 10 towns. Some territory was separated from the Tingqian District to establish Liulin Township, while the remaining area was restructured into Tingqian Town.^{[8]: 101 [12]}

Upon the establishment of Tingqian Town in 1987, it had 21 villagers' committees, 170 villagers' groups, and 1 residents' committee. These committees were named as follows:^{[8]: 101, 103}

Tingqian Village, Jinzhai Village, Sanqupu Village, Hailuoshan Village, Zhoutangan Village, Deng'ao Village, Changchong Village, Shicang Village, Huzhai Village, Caiqiao Village, Meilong Village, Jiangbang Village, Jiangchong Village, Panhe Village, Liubi Village, Tieniu Village, Tongzhai Village, Jieling Village, Chaixia Village, Dongchong Village, Nanchong Village.

Subsequently, some villagers' committees were renamed. As of 2019, Tingqian Town still administers 21 administrative villages, all of which are administrative villages.^[14]

Tingqian town is situated at the forefront of the Dabie Mountains, historically recognized as a strategic military location.^[3]: 322 It is located in the northeast of Huangmei County,^[2] bordering Erlang and Fuyu Townships in Susong County, Anhui Province, to the east, adjacent to Shanmu Township to the south, Wuzu Temple to the west, and Liulin Township to the north.^[15] The town government is situated at Tingqian Xin Street in Tingqian Village, approximately 170 kilometers from the provincial capital of Wuhan and 18 kilometers from the county seat.^[16] Due to its location on the boundary between Hubei and Anhui provinces,^[17] Tingqian was identified by the Hubei Provincial Government as one of Hubei's border trade "gateways".^[18] However, despite this designation, Tingqian faces geographical disadvantages, being far from urban centers and suburban areas.^[6]

The administrative area of Tingqian Town covers an area of 83.27 square kilometers.^[19] It is located in the northern part of the Dabie Mountains, serving as a transitional zone between the ancient Jiaoshan Mountain Range and the plain areas.^[18] The terrain slopes from north to south,^[20] with the western and northern regions bordering the Gujiao Reservoir being more mountainous, classified under the Huaiyang geoplate.^[21]: 552 In the eastern part, there are undulating hills interspersed with small patches of fields, presenting a relatively flat topography. The central and southern areas consist of hilly terrains and plain regions.^[3]: 322 The highest point within its boundaries is Jishijian Peak (488 meters above sea level), along with other relatively high peaks like Qianjia.^{[3]: 321 [20]} It experiences a subtropical monsoon climate with abundant sunshine and distinct seasons, yet it is moist.^[22][23] However, the mountainous regions have lower temperatures, stronger winds, shorter sunlight exposure, and a frost-free period that is 30 to 50 days less than the plain areas, with seasons often delayed by 15 to 30 days.^[24] As per the 2016 statistics, the average temperature of the town is 17 °C, with July being the warmest month at 27 °C, and January being the coolest at 5 °C.^[25] The average annual rainfall is 1963 millimeters, with May being the wettest month, averaging 310 millimeters, and the driest month is January, receiving 52 millimeters of rainfall.^[26]

Most of the area in Tingqian Town is occupied by farmland.^[27] The primary soils found in this region are red sandy clay soil (distributed in the high and low hilly areas of Tingqian) and fine red sandy clay soil (found in Liubi, Shuima, and Zhaojiazhuang), followed by tidal sandy soil. There is also a small amount of limestone soil and red wusha sandy soil (found in Liubi and Fengshu'ao). Regarding paddy fields, various types are found, including shallow red fine sandy clay fields (in Liubi and Shuima), shallow red sandy clay fields (on high and low hills in Tingqian), shallow sandy clay fields (on dry mountains ranging from 500 to 800 meters), fine red sandy clay fields (in Liubi, Shuima, etc., on low hills, gullies, mounds, bays, and fields), red wusha sandy clay fields (in the major mountain fault zones of Tingqian, Liubi, and Shuima), red bubble yellow mud fields, sandy mud fields, mountain sandy mud fields, limestone mud fields, tidal mud fields, and cold spring fields.^{[3]: 321–322 [21]: 98–101} Except for certain areas like Shuima where limestone-developed soil is alkaline, the rest of the soil in the region is mildly acidic or acidic.^{[21]: 98–99} There are mineral resources such as talcum powder ore, clay ore, mica ore, quartz ore, limestone ore, granite, and feldspar.^{[20][21]: 103}

The ancient Jiaoshan Reservoir, located within the area, was built in 1956 and completed the following year. It serves as a medium-sized key reservoir mainly used for flood control and irrigation, supplemented by aquaculture and power generation. The total storage capacity reaches 56.34 million cubic meters, covering a catchment area of 73 square kilometers, with a designed irrigation area of 108,000 mu (around 18,000 acres).^{[3]: 321–322 [28]} The reservoir has two main canals, the East Canal and the West Canal, spanning the entire town. Additionally, there are seven rivers and four small reservoirs within the Tingqian area.^[20]

The town's primary natural resource configuration revolves around "six mountains, one river, and three portions of farmland".^[29] Tingqian Town strives to develop as an ecological town, with forest coverage exceeding 95%. Over 70% of this forest area is designated as ecological forests, with plans to establish several natural reserves. The harmony between humans and nature, along with the "continuous pine trees for ten miles" scene, has been specially featured in the overseas edition of the People's Daily.^[30]

Tingqian Town is among the 200 provincially supported key poverty-stricken towns designated by the Hubei Provincial People's Government.^[31] In 2012, the town's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 1.26 billion yuan, marking a 16.6% year-on-year increase. Fixed asset investment amounted to 170 million yuan, growing by 106.7% year-on-year.^[32] In 2015, the total fiscal revenue for the town was 4.703 million yuan.^[33]

Agriculture is the primary driving force of the local economy in Tingqian Town. Most of the arable land is scattered on the high mountains in the northern part of the town, sporadically distributed.^[29] Some barren hills are covered with weeds, prompting local villagers to remark "guarding the green mountains, yet poor as can be".^[34] In the 1980s, the town primarily cultivated rice, sweet potatoes, wheat, and potatoes. Notable local specialties included tea leaves, fava beans, Chinese cabbage, ginger, Shuima red dates, Chaixia honey tangerines, and chestnuts.^[3]: 322 The Chaixia honey tangerines gained fame for their sweet taste, while the tea leaves, represented by the Yejiadang Tea Plantation, were well-regarded.^{[11]: 58–59} Also, in the 1980s, Tingqian Town had an area of more than 30,000 mu (around 2,000 hectares) of arable land, with paddy fields occupying the majority, and a small portion designated for dry farming.^{[11]: 58–59} By the late 2002, the town had around 12,750 hectares of cultivated land, with a sowing area of 2,925 hectares for crops.^[35]

Since the beginning of the 21st century, farming hasn't been able to meet the local residents' needs. In 2017, with the aim of lifting villagers out of poverty, Tingqian Town set the development goal of becoming a key oil-tea town and creating a blueberry hub. The local government divided the entire town into three functional areas. Specifically, in the eastern part of Tingqian Town, the blueberry industry is being developed, while in the central and western areas, the focus is on the oil-tea industry, creating an "ecological conservation and development zone". To elaborate, the town aims to construct a 10,000-mu blueberry base centered in Tongzhai Village, establish a 20,000-mu oil-tea base centered in Liubi Village, and create an 8,000-mu yellow tea base centered in Haishan and Jiangchong Villages.^[2][36][37] Additionally, some impoverished households use idle land for planting oil-tea and blueberries in hopes of prosperity.^[29] By 2012, the average annual income of farmers in Tingqian reached 5,558 yuan, an increase of 683 yuan from the previous year.^[32] As of December 2015, there were 37,600 rural residents in the entire town,^[36] with an average disposable income per rural resident of 9,318 yuan.^[33]

The oil-tea planting project in Tingqian Town covers four villages: Liubi, Jieling, Tieniu, and Deng'ao. From 2013 to 2020, the initial phase of the project has seen a total investment of 1.25 billion yuan, planning to use an area of 100,000 mu to plant approximately 8.9 million oil-tea plants and intercrop about 800,000 hickories and ornamental trees.^[38] Starting in May 2010, with the assistance of Jiangsu Jinzhi Company, 10 villages, including Tongzhai, Liubi, Huzhai, Caiqiao, Jiangchong, Changchong, and Shicang, underwent low hill and ridge transformation to establish a blueberry planting base covering an area of 30,000 mu.^[2] The harvested blueberries are sold in supermarkets across China and are in high demand.^[39] Tongzhai Village has been named the "Hubei Blueberry Town"^[22] and was awarded the title of "China Southern Small Berry Demonstration Base"^[40] by the Ministry of Agriculture, becoming a model village for small berries in China. On July 9, 2017, the town held the first Blueberry Picking Festival in Huangmei County.^[41]

Tingqian town

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Location of Tingqian Town in China

Forestry is also a significant feature of Tingqian Town. In the 1980s, the entire Tingqian region (including present-day Liulin Township) had an afforested area of 32,823 mu,^[11]: 58 mostly natural forests.^[6] By December 2015, this number had increased to 73,000 mu (excluding Liulin Township).^[36] The main trees in the area include pine, cedar, and bamboo,^[11]: 58 implementing measures to develop an "ecological forestry city" and constructing Huangmei County's deep processing base for forestry.^[32] Locals have heavily developed economic forests, establishing a 500-mu bamboo base and a 1,000-mu eco-friendly fruit tree base.^[6] Since 2007, Dong Fan, a professor at China University of Geosciences and director of the China Mountaineering Association, has designated Nanchong Village in Tingqian as a field survival experience base for the school. Students are organized here for experiential training activities every semester.^[6][32] Tingqian also relies on forestry and agriculture to develop its tourism industry.

In the livestock industry, Tingqian Town invested 30 million yuan to establish a modern Hu sheep breeding farm, and additionally constructed a poultry farm for 10,000 birds, a Polled goat breeding farm, among others, serving as demonstrations for existing breeding grounds.^[31] The town also vigorously developed the pig farming industry and possessed farms like the Gujiao Pig Farm.^[42] The Gujiao Reservoir produces 100,000 kilograms of fresh fish annually and is one of the major aquatic suppliers in the county.^{[11]: 58–59} In terms of industry, in 1972, areas like Tingqian began operating a phosphate fertilizer plant using a simple method of crushing phosphate rock and mixing it with sulfuric acid to produce phosphate fertilizer.^[43]: 234 In the 1980s, the Tingqian Commune had a total of 16 commune-operated enterprises, including lime factories, agricultural machinery repair plants, phosphate fertilizer plants, orchards, and mulberry fields. Among these, the talcum powder factory's products were once sold to several other provinces, reaching an annual production of 2,000 tons.^[3] By 2017, the entire town had a total of 26 enterprises with 639 employees; there were 6 industrial enterprises, with 1 being of a considerable scale (established in 2012).^[19][32]