County-level Cultural Relic Protection Units in Huilai County

1. Stone-carve Slogan of Great Nanshan Revolution

Stone-carve slogan of Great Nanshan Revolution is located at the Northwest of Yanling village, Huilai county, Jieyang. The slogans are carved on the cliffs of the ancient Yanling pathway throughout Chaoyang, Puning and Huilai counties. Within the region of Yanling village, there are 10 slogans engraved on the giant rock of the cliffs, which were done by the hands of Weng Qian during the period of 1930-1932. These slogans were designated to propagandize Chinese peasant rebellion, Chinese soviet government, freedom of marriage and gender equality during that special period. They are the historical evidences of Great Nanshan Revolution that led by Peng Pai, with a very good historical value for studying the revolution during that period. In August 1985, this relic was identified as the key cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong province, approved by Guangdong provincial government. In 1996, it had been approved by Jieyang people’s government and announced to be the Patriotism Education Base of Jieyang.

2. Jinghai Old Castle Wall

As early as the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, there were fishermen had already settled in Jinghai area. During the period of Emperor Toghon Temür of Yuan Dynasty, 18 villages from nearby regions were harassed by sea pirates and decided to settle their village here. Their new settlements were situated in this area as oval shape. In 1369AD, Guangdong military administration bureau of Ming Dynasty set up local garrison in Jinghai, called Jinghai Garrison, which attached to Chaozhou Garrison. Garrison commanders and 1,121 soldiers were deployed to Jinghai Garrison to defend the harassment of sea pirates and control nearby territorial sea. In 1549, a castle was built in Jinghai on imperial order and was completed after 13 years’ construction. Later, this castle was reconstructed twice in 1699AD and in 1727AD during Qing Dynasty. The perimeter of castle wall is 1,670 meters and its height is 4.6 meters. If we look at the cross section of the castle wall, two sides are made of chipped ashlars and the middle section is made of consolidated clay. There are embrasures and observation holes on the walls. There is a 4-meter width carriaga road built on the top of the walls. Four castle gates were constructed on its north, east, south and west directions, along with stone plaque and Chinese inscriptions of good blesses, respectively. The castle fortifications like barbicans and gate towers were built to fortify each castle gates. There are rectangle extensional platform at the corners of the castle, but only the ones at southeast and northeast corners still remained. In 1952, the south castle gate and its attached walls were demolished, but other three castle gates were preserved until now. After more than 460 years of history, Jinghai Old Castle still maintained its original appearance, it is one of few well-preserved ancient castle walls of the eastern Guangdong region. It has certain value for studying ancient Chinese architectures and military installations, and even the township planning of Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. In May 2010, it was listed to be the sixth batch of provincial-level cultural relic protection units of Guangdong.

3.Aojiao Cannon Fortress

The fortress is located in Aojiao village of Shenquan town and was built in 1717 during Qing Dynasty. Its gate is facing south. The fortress faces the sea on the south with the hills for a background. Its wall is made of seashell-powdered tabia, which has strong resistance against erosion. On the top of the walls, there are battlements, cannon shot hole, supply channels. The west wall had been fortified to be higher and thicker for protecting and sustaining cannons. The cannon platform connects the ground by the stairway. In front of the walls, there is a shell hole damaged by invaded Japanese gunboat in 1938. The fortress is situated near high hills, with good visibility of overseeing vessel traffic. This cannon fortress, together with Xidong fortress and Shenquan fortress (destructed) can form cross fire to defend Huilai county. According to the historical document, this fortress had been appointed with one military officer and 18 soldiers, and equipped with 6 cannons, ammo depot, barracks and watch towers. The cannon fortress had been included into provincial-level cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong province in December 2012. It was also recognized as one of eight Huilai’s new scenic spots in 2020.

4. Chishan Garden

The garden is situated inside Dongfu village, Huahu town, Huilai county. It was originally founded in 1342 in Yuan Dynasty and reconstructed in 1553 in Ming Dynasty. It contains Chishan Garden, Zhenwu Taoism Temple, shrine and houses. Chishan garden has three walk-in entrances, with the width of 13.5 meters. Zhenwu Taoism Temple has two walk-in entrances, with the width of 7.9 meters, whose first walk-in entrance is Kuixing Pavilion. The shrine has four walk-in entrances, with the width of 16.4 meters. On its left and right sides, there are houses and Qingyun alley, with total width of 52.32 meters and the depth of 42.9 meters. The architecture is unique in the shape and magnificent in its overall style. During the war of liberation, Chishan Garden had been the undercover contact location and secret gathering site for Dongjiang Special Party Committee and Southeastern China Guerrillas. The garden still preserves many cultural relics such as plaques, inscribed stone tablets, incense burners from Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, as well as the original stone banisters. They are precious for studying ancient Teochew architectures and stone-carved artworks. In December 2015, the garden had been announced to be included into the eighth batch of provincial-level cultural relic protection units of Guangdong province.

5. Bao’nei Stockaded Village

The village is located in Huahu town, Huilai county. It was originally built in 1645 in Qing Dynasty, for the purpose of defending Japanese pirates harassment. The stockaded village is almost a round shape, whose length is 130 meters and its width is 128 meters. In the north and the east of the village, there are two stone-made arch-shaped village gates, whose outer gate frame has groove in the middle and the inner gate frame is made of stone. The foundation of the walls are stacks of stone blocks, extending from ground level to one meter beneath the walls. There are six watch towers in the village, all attached with stone-made staircases. The central area is a bit higher in altitude, where contains a round-shape stone with diameter of 0.3 meters, local villagers call it the Stone of Belly Button. This village also has the nickname of Tripod Village. Families with different family names are inhabited peacefully here, their houses are made of shell-powdered, tiles and wooden materials. The village has certain historical value for the study of the ancient settlement of the Qing Dynasty. In December 2015, it was included into the list of the eighth batch of provincial-level cultural relic protection units of Guangdong.  

6. Cape Fountain

Cape Fountain is located in Shenquan Town, at the south of Huilai County. The town is facing the sea with hills on its back. Its climate is like spring all the year round and its landscapes are charming. During the revolution period, Chinese literary giant Mr. Guo Moruo had visited here and written down a poem to express his heroic passion, which enhancing the fame of this scenic spot.

Cape fountain is a spring hole founded by local people near the beach during Song Dynasty.  Because the waters of surrounding areas are all salty, only this spring can provide endless clean spring waters, so people call it the Tu Fountain. During the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, a child prodigy named Su Fu wrote a lone couplet for this fountain. Later in the Qing Dynasty, the county magistrate of Huilai rebuilt the fountain, and set up a pavilion and a stone tablet near the fountain, Su’s lone couplet was inscribed on the tablet. Su’s lone couplet had attached a sense of legendary to Cape Fountain, but also attracted numerous poets and writers to arrive here and wrote the second half of the couplet, even Chinese literary giant Mr. Guo Moruo was among one of them. Cape Fountain is a tourism scenic spot with long history and unique cultural heritage.

On the sea surface not far from the southwest of Cape Fountain, people often witness mirage appearing during spring and summer seasons. The mirage at Huilai county has been identified as one of three mirage sites of China. When the mirage appears, many fascinating and wonderful scenery are projecting to the sky above the sea, some disappear very soon, some last for a few hours. Visitors come here and carry the wishes of witnessing the fantasy of mirage. Whenever the mirage appears, the crowds will rush to the Sea God Palace in the Shenquan harbour.

Cape Fountain’s historical background and the spectacular mirage has greatly boosted the tourism attraction of this place. In April 2019, it was included into the list of the ninth batch of provincial-level cultural relic protection units of Guangdong.