Liuyang

The "Home of Fireworks", famous nationwide for its weekend fireworks shows on the Liuyang River, with azaleas and cool summers on Dawei Mountain, and the hometowns of Tan Sitong and Hu Yaobang and the Autumn Harvest Uprising rendezvous site.

Liuyang is a county-level city administered by Changsha in Hunan, located east of Changsha on the Hunan–Jiangxi border, with its urban area about 70 km from central Changsha. It is known as the "Home of Fireworks"—its firework-making craft is national intangible cultural heritage—and the weekend fireworks shows along the Liuyang River in town are its biggest draw. Dawei Mountain in the northeast is the source of the Liuyang River, with high-mountain azaleas in spring and cool air in summer. It is also the hometown of Tan Sitong, Hu Yaobang, Wang Zhen and others, and the site where the Autumn Harvest Uprising forces joined up, so revolutionary and cultural sights are concentrated here. The area divides into three parts: the city (fireworks shows, Tan Sitong's Former Residence, the Liuyang Confucian Temple and Daowu Mountain); the southeast (Hu Yaobang's Former Residence, the Wenjiashi Rendezvous Site, Dayao Fireworks Town and Shishuang Temple); and the mountains of the north and northeast (Zhouluo, the Shen Family Mansion, Guandu Ancient Town and Dawei Mountain). The best times to visit are Apr–May and Sep–Nov; summer is good for cool mountain retreats, and the fireworks markets are liveliest around Chinese New Year. Getting there: intercity express buses and expressways connect Changsha directly with Liuyang, and the Changsha–Liuyang intercity railway is under construction; township sights are spread out, so driving is recommended. Allow 2–3 days. Liuyang steamed dishes, fennel cakes and fermented black beans are local specialties. Check official sources for fireworks show schedules, and expect traffic jams when the shows end.

Top sights

• Liuyang Sky Theatre Fireworks Show – A large fireworks show on the banks of the Liuyang River, the city's flagship attraction. On weekend nights, the whole city turns out. Liuy…
• Daweishan National Forest Park – A high-altitude forest park on the border between Hunan and Jiangxi, with a main peak of about 1,600 meters at Qixing Ridge. Azaleas cover…
• Former Residence of Hu Yaobang – A brick farmhouse in the style of eastern Hunan at Cangfang Village in Zhonghe Town, along with a biography exhibition hall. It is the cent…
• Former Residence of Tan Sitong – The old family house known as the Dafu Residence, on North Zhengzheng Road in the city. It was the childhood home of Tan Sitong, one of the…
• Liuyang Confucian Temple – One of the better-preserved Confucian temple complexes in Hunan, famous for preserving ancient Confucian ritual music known as Liuyang Anci…
• Zhouluo Scenic Area – A gorge scenic area at the source of the Laodao River, with streams, waterfalls and bamboo groves. It is a summer escape for water play nea…
• Site of Wenjiashi Joining Forces of Autumn Harvest Uprising – In 1927, the forces of the Autumn Harvest Uprising converged at Liren School and decided to head for Jinggang Mountain. It is a must-see fo…
• Shishuang Temple – An ancient Chan Buddhist temple founded in the Tang dynasty and the origin of the Yangqi lineage of the Linji school. Visitors can see a th…
• Dayao Fireworks Town & Li Tian Temple – One of the birthplaces of Liuyang fireworks, with a temple honoring the fireworks ancestor Li Tian, a fireworks museum and a wholesale mark…
• Former Residence of Wang Zhen – The former residence and memorial hall of the founding general Wang Zhen in Beisheng Town, combining an eastern Hunan vernacular house with…
• Tomb of Tan Sitong – Tan Sitong's tomb on the hillside southeast of the city, with stone horses, ceremonial pillars and the inscription “Enduring Through the Ag…
• Taoshuwan Liu Family Mansion – A Qing-dynasty cluster of great mansions in Jingang Town, with courtyards, light wells and halls linked one after another. It is a well-pre…
• Former Xiang-E-Gan Provincial Soviet Government Site – Jinshou Hall in Dawei Mountain Town (formerly Zhangfang), the seat of the Xiang-E-Gan Soviet Area. It is a well-preserved ancestral-hall-st…
• Daowu Mountain – A famous Buddhist mountain on the northern outskirts of town, carrying the legacy of the Tang-dynasty Xinghua Chan Temple. A summit reservo…
• Shenjia Mansion – A large Qing-dynasty residential complex in Longfu Town with hundreds of rooms, one of the largest surviving old mansions in eastern Hunan.
• Guandu Ancient Town – An old-street town on a small river in eastern Liuyang, with flagstone lanes, wooden shopfronts, an ancient wharf, red heritage sites and l…

Itineraries

• Changsha, Shaoshan, Yueyang and Liuyang – Three days in Changsha's city center, round-trip high-speed rail trips to Shaoshan and Yueyang, then a night in Liuyang…