Dàyǔ

Dayu lies at the northern foot of the Dayu Mountains, near the headwaters of the Zhang River. Beyond the ridge is Guangdong, and the road over Meiling joins the waters that flow toward the Gan and Yangtze with those of the Pearl River basin. Plum trees beside the pass gave it the name Meiguan, the Plum Pass.

The Tang official Zhang Jiuling widened the difficult mountain road in 716. In the centuries that followed, officials, migrants and merchants crossed the ridge between Jiangxi and Lingnan, transferring cargo between boats and overland carriers. Under the Ming and Qing the road remained a major commercial route, and the county town served as the seat of Nan'an Prefecture. Travellers left poems celebrating the plum blossoms along the old road.