Fengcheng, Jiangsu Province, China

🇨🇳 Feng County, or Fengxian, is under the administration of Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, China. The northwesternmost and westernmost county-level division in the province, it borders the provinces of Shandong to the north and west, and Anhui to the south. The county is well known for its about 11,120 acres of the Fuji apple trees.

Etymology

The word "Feng", (豐) has dual meanings: firstly, it was the name of an ancient tributary of the Si River which flowed through the area; and secondly, the area was deemed to be bountiful, while "feng" is also an adjective to describe such a condition in Chinese.

History Feng County was administered as a town under Pei county called Feng yi (豐邑) by the early Han dynasty, before its establishment. Then it was assigned to then Pei Commandery, Yu province until 583, being a part of Pengcheng Commandery (later Xuzhou). It was once disestablished, but was restored in 457. The county was temporarily under the jurisdiction of Shandong province during 1949–53.

Video of chained mother of eight In January 2022, a Chinese blogger published video footage of a mother-of-eight, chained by the neck in a freezing shed in Feng County. According to a government statement released on 23 February, she originated from Yunnan, had been brought by a trafficker to Jiangsu in 1998, where she was sold twice as a bride, and had given birth to eight children between 1999 and 2020. The statement also said that her real name was Xiaohuamei. Her name had previously been reported as Yang Qingxia. The footage sparked outrage on the Chinese Internet and also garnered international attention. Initial attempts by local Xuzhou and Feng County authorities to quell the anger through statements proved to backfire for their clumsiness, for being contradictory, and for not addressing a number of questions arising from the footage. Some observers believed that the wider problem of trafficking women in this area had been enabled by the connivance of local officials. County-level militia was deployed to seal off the home village of Xiaohuamei, and more than 100 people were questioned by police over the public leaking of information related to her case. Xiaohuamei's husband, surnamed Dong, was officially arrested on 22 February, on charges of abuse and suspicion of purchasing an abducted woman. Several high-ranking officials were punished and the Communist Party chief of Feng County was removed from his post.

Administrative divisions Feng County has 14 towns: • Fengcheng (凤城镇) • Shouxian (首羡镇) • Shunhe (顺河镇) • Changdian (常店镇) • Huankou (欢口镇) • Shizhai (师寨镇) • Huashan (华山镇) • Liangzhai (梁寨镇) • Fanlou (范楼镇) • Sunlou (孙楼镇) • Songlou (宋楼镇) • Dashahe (大沙河镇) • Wanggou (王沟镇) • Zhaozhuang (赵庄镇).