Chenzhou (郴州) sits in the far south of Hunan, where the Nanling mountains run down to the border with Guangdong, and its single written character means 'city in the forest'. The area was called Guiyang Commandery until it was renamed in 735 during the Tang dynasty, and for much of its history it was the gate through which Hunan opened onto the south. Its rivers split two ways: some run north into the Xiang and the Yangtze, others south toward the Pearl River, so the region has always belonged to both sides of the watershed. Today the prefecture is a base for tungsten and other non-ferrous metals, and its lakes and Danxia hills, such as Dongjiang Lake, Gaoyiling and Mangshan, have become its best-known landmarks. Most of its people still live in rural towns and villages rather than the two urban districts.
Mangshan holds one of the largest primeval forests at its latitude on the Hunan-Guangdong border. The Mangshan pit viper and horned toad were described to science from specimens collected here, and Yao villagers live beside the park and reserve.
Dongjiang Lake is a large reservoir on the upper Lei River whose cold water and dam-born mist have made it famous. The water stays at eight to twelve degrees Celsius, and when the dam gates open it shatters into fog that now draws visitors to a 5A scenic area.
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Gaoyiling is a Danxia landform of red rock on the border of Suxian District and Zixing City. Erosion has carved the rock into ridges and bluffs across 50.5 square kilometres, Dongjiang Lake lies nearby, and the area holds a national AAAA rating.
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Rucheng is a border county where Hunan, Guangdong and Jiangxi come together and its rivers drain toward three watersheds. Its Lianxi Academy remembers Zhou Dunyi, once the local magistrate, and the county lives on forestry, tungsten, iron and coal.
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Yizhang sits in the mountains on the Guangdong border, where the routes south have long crossed the Nanling. In 1928 Zhu De's uprising survivors found refuge here before marching on to Jinggangshan, and the Guangzhou-Beijing highway still crosses the town.
ReadMangshan is a primeval forest on the Hunan-Guangdong border whose species include snakes and toads found only there.
Dongjiang Lake is a large reservoir on the upper Lei River whose cold water and dam-born mist have made it a celebrated landscape.
Gaoyiling is a Danxia landform area of red rock on the border of Suxian District and Zixing City.
Rucheng is a border county where Hunan, Guangdong and Jiangxi meet, its rivers draining toward three watersheds.
Yizhang is a mountain county on the Guangdong border where the routes south once crossed the Nanling.
