Pingtang County

Pingtang County (Chinese: ; pinyin: Píngtáng Xiàn) is a county in the southwest province of Guizhou, China. It is a high mountain valley and is inhabited mainly by members of the Buyei and Miao ethnic minorities, who together make up 55% of the county's population. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12159294&dopt=Abstract]

In June 2002, a 270 million-year-old stone inscribed with six Chinese characters, reading "中国共产党亡" ("the Communist Party of China collapses"), was discovered at the Zhangbu Scenic Spot in Zhangbu village (掌布乡). ^{[http://www.gz-tour.com/images/zrfg/duyun/image/pt/cb-jxs.jpgphoto]} Called the "hidden words stone" (), it is reputed to date from the Permian period. It was split in half after having fallen from a cliff. Each character is approximately one square foot in size. Since 2002, the stone has been visited by numerous members of China's governmental elite. ^{[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYuAtBEfKrs video]} The sixth character, ("collapses"), has not been reported in the Chinese media, although it is clearly visible in photos of the inscription.

Towns and townships

The towns and townships under the jurisdiction of Pingtang County include:

=Towns=

*平湖镇 (pinyin: zhèn)
*摆茹镇 (pinyin: zhèn)
*通州镇 (pinyin: zhèn)
*Yazhou (牙舟镇; pinyin: Yázhōu zhèn)
*大塘镇 (pinyin: zhèn)
*Kedu (克度镇; pinyin: Kèdù zhèn)
*Tangbian (塘边镇; pinyin: Tángbiān zhèn)
*者密镇和四寨镇 (pinyin: zhèn)

=Townships=

*白龙乡 (pinyin: xiāng)
*Xintang (新塘乡; pinyin: Xīntáng xiāng)
*卡蒲毛南族乡 (pinyin: xiāng)
*西凉乡 (pinyin: xiāng)
*卡罗乡 (pinyin: xiāng)
*Gudong (谷洞乡; pinyin: Gǔdòng xiāng)
*Zhangbu (掌布乡; pinyin: Zhǎngbù xiāng)
*Shuchang (鼠场乡; pinyin: Shǔcháng xiāng)
*甘寨乡和苗二河乡 (pinyin: xiāng)

External links

* [http://www.maplandia.com/china/guizhou/pingtang/ Map of Pingtang County]
* [http://www.moblog.com.sg/group/blog.asp?pg=5&gid=7FA19F48-99DE-4F33-A8A6-A97ADAF54355&tid=BBDE091C-291F-495D-B87B-1529556AB9A5 Article about Hidden Words Stone]
* [http://renminbao.com/rmb/articles/2005/5/25/36068.html Article about Hidden Words Stone]