Wanzai County

Wanzai County (simplified Chinese: 万载县; traditional Chinese: 萬載縣; pinyin: Wànzài Xiàn) is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Yichun in the northwest of Jiangxi province, China, bordering Hunan province to the west. The name Wanzai literally means "10,000 years". It could also mean "10,000 loads" and could likely be related to its past importance as a center of trade. It is located along the Long He or Dragon River, a tributary of the main river of the province, the Gan River. It has an area of 1,718 km2 (663 sq mi) and a population of 460,000. The Wanzai area was first settled 3,000 years ago. It was a prosperous city in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Like much of Jiangxi it was also important in fostering the Chinese Communist Revolution. Today it is a small city with major industries including firework manufacturing and rice liquor distillation. Most economic activity is agricultural with rice being the major crop. Its position along the 320 National Highway has helped insure steady economic growth and better access to Pingxiang and Yichun in the west and Nanchang in the north. Like much of western Jiangxi, Wanzai is surrounded by forested mountains. This mountainous region of Jiangxi is home to many different dialects of the Gan Chinese language. Yi-Ping, the Wanzai dialect, is both geographically and linguistically between the Nanchang and Yichun dialects.