Administrative status
Poyang County is part of Shangrao (prefecture-level city)[1]. It administers one subdistrict, 14 towns and 15 townships, plus the Agricultural Science Institute and Raozhou Prison as township-level units[4]:
- Subdistrict: Raozhou
- Towns: Poyang, Xiejiantan, Shimenjie, Sishilijie, Youdunjie, Tianfanjie, Jinpanling, Gaojialing, Huanggang, Shuanggang, Guxiandu, Raofeng, Lefeng, Raobu
- Townships: Houjiagang, Lianhuashan, Xiangshuitan, Jiantianjie, Zhegang, Yaquhu, Yinbaohu, Youcheng, Zhuhu, Baishazhou, Tuanlin, Changzhou, Sanmiaoqian, Lianhu, Lutian
The county government sits in Poyang town. Registered population was 1.58 million and resident population 1.17 million in 2021[4].
Produce
Poyang's "three treasures" are silver fish, liao hao (Artemisia selengensis) and chunbulao, a mustard green grown around East Lake in the county seat that turns into ordinary mustard a few li beyond it and is usually pickled[7][6]. Silver fish from Zhuhu are slender, translucent and highly prized[7], and doucong (fried tofu rolls) from Youdunjie is a local speciality[7]. The county also produces tea, Poyang Lake rice and freshwater fish[12].
Cuisine
A 2021 food competition, "Tasting Raozhou", selected ten signature dishes: chunbulao braised with yellow catfish, stir-fried liao hao with cured pork, three-colour lake fish, northern Poyang steamed pork with rice flour, brined mandarin fish, cured pork and dried-vegetable casserole, silver fish with shredded vegetables, Poyang crayfish, fish head stewed with doucong, and fermented black bean steamed chicken. The ten signature snacks are scallion shortbread, Poyang rice noodles, pig-blood thick soup, Tianfanjie rice dumplings, fried dough sticks wrapped in glutinous rice, white sugar cakes, yellow catfish with rice noodles, Shuanggang sea-cucumber cakes, fermented rice cakes and filled sugar candy[5]. Entries were judged on local character and the original taste of local ingredients, and lake fish dominated the list[5]. Scallion shortbread was named a Chinese famous snack in 2018, and its craft is listed in Shangrao's fifth batch of municipal intangible heritage[7].
Customs and intangible heritage
Poyang is known as a "home of Chinese folk drama" and a "home of Chinese migration culture"; bodiless lacquerware, Raohe opera and Poyang yugu are its best-known intangible heritage[12]. Raohe opera, also called Raohe diao, is a school of Gan opera and a provincial intangible heritage item[8]. Poyang yugu is a branch of Jiangxi daoqing that blends Raohe opera, Poyang folk tunes and fishing songs[9]. Traditional fishing customs of Poyang Lake cover nets, hooks, traps and other gear, together with the opening and closing of the lake, boat building, boat launching, fishing seasons and festival rites[9].
The lacquering technique of Poyang bodiless lacquerware entered the third national intangible heritage list in 2011[11]; the wares are light, strong and lustrous, and are ranked with Jingdezhen porcelain and Beijing cloisonne as China's three traditional crafts[8]. Waxieba in Lianhu township was a gathering point for migrants during the Ming and Qing "Jiangxi filling Huguang" movement, remembered in the saying "Datong trees in Shanxi in the north, Waxieba in Jiangxi in the south"; the county seat has a Waxieba migration culture museum[12]. The Zhangwang Temple, founded in 758, holds a fair formerly called saishen hui on the 23rd day of the eleventh lunar month for three days, with a procession of Zhang Xun and Lady Liu on the eighth day of the first lunar month[10].