# Pinghe County

Pinghe County (simplified Chinese: 平和县; traditional Chinese: 平和縣; pinyin: Pínghé Xiàn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Pêng-hô-koān) is a county of the prefecture-level city of Zhangzhou, in southern Fujian province, PRC, bordering Guangdong province to the west.

## Administrative Division

The administrative centre or seat of Pinghe County is Xiaoxi (小溪镇).

### Towns (镇, zhen)

Most of Pinghe's old People's communes, after spending the 80s and even 90s as Townships, have been upgraded to Towns. There are ten towns:
* Xiaoxi (小溪 Sió-khe)
* Wenfeng (文峰 Bûn-hong)
* Shange (山格 Soaⁿ-keeh)
* Nansheng (南胜 Lâm-sèng)
* Banzai (坂仔 Póaⁿ-á)
* Anhou (Mandarin 安厚 Ānhòu, Hokkien 庵后 Am-āu)
* Daxi (大溪 Tōa-khe)
* Jiufeng (九峰 Kiú-hong)
* Xiazhai (Mandarin 霞寨 Xiázhài, Hokkien 下寨 Ēe-chēe)
* Luxi (芦溪 Lô͘-khe)

### Townships (乡, xiang)

There are five townships:
* Wuzhai (五寨 Gō͘-chēe)
* Guoqiang (国强 Kok-kiâng, originally 高坑 Ko-kheng)
* Qiling (崎岭 Kiā-niá)
* Changle (长乐 Tióⁿ-lo̍h)
* Xiufeng (秀峰 Siù-hong)

## Climate

Climate data for Pinghe, elevation 109 m (358 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 30.8 (87.4) | 31.8 (89.2) | 33.7 (92.7) | 36.2 (97.2) | 36.1 (97.0) | 38.7 (101.7) | 39.7 (103.5) | 39.3 (102.7) | 37.6 (99.7) | 35.4 (95.7) | 34.3 (93.7) | 31.1 (88.0) | 39.7 (103.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 19.3 (66.7) | 20.2 (68.4) | 22.4 (72.3) | 26.5 (79.7) | 29.5 (85.1) | 31.9 (89.4) | 34.2 (93.6) | 33.7 (92.7) | 32.1 (89.8) | 28.9 (84.0) | 25.3 (77.5) | 20.9 (69.6) | 27.1 (80.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 13.7 (56.7) | 14.8 (58.6) | 17.1 (62.8) | 21.2 (70.2) | 24.5 (76.1) | 27.2 (81.0) | 28.7 (83.7) | 28.1 (82.6) | 26.7 (80.1) | 23.3 (73.9) | 19.5 (67.1) | 15.1 (59.2) | 21.7 (71.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 10.0 (50.0) | 11.2 (52.2) | 13.5 (56.3) | 17.4 (63.3) | 21.0 (69.8) | 23.8 (74.8) | 24.7 (76.5) | 24.5 (76.1) | 23.1 (73.6) | 19.2 (66.6) | 15.4 (59.7) | 11.1 (52.0) | 17.9 (64.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −1.2 (29.8) | 1.4 (34.5) | 0.8 (33.4) | 9.3 (48.7) | 13.6 (56.5) | 17.3 (63.1) | 21.8 (71.2) | 21.6 (70.9) | 17.0 (62.6) | 10.2 (50.4) | 2.7 (36.9) | −2.9 (26.8) | −2.9 (26.8) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 52.6 (2.07) | 75.2 (2.96) | 124.7 (4.91) | 156.4 (6.16) | 208.8 (8.22) | 277.8 (10.94) | 205.6 (8.09) | 300.0 (11.81) | 195.5 (7.70) | 55.5 (2.19) | 45.5 (1.79) | 45.1 (1.78) | 1,742.7 (68.62) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 8.7 | 12.3 | 15.6 | 15.2 | 17.6 | 18.9 | 14.2 | 17.9 | 12.9 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 7.1 | 152.1 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 77 | 79 | 80 | 79 | 81 | 81 | 77 | 80 | 79 | 75 | 76 | 76 | 78 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 124.0 | 95.4 | 98.7 | 115.1 | 126.7 | 144.3 | 216.5 | 192.0 | 176.3 | 180.7 | 155.5 | 139.2 | 1,764.4 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 37 | 30 | 26 | 30 | 31 | 35 | 52 | 48 | 48 | 51 | 48 | 42 | 40 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||

## Economy

Pinghe County is famous for its pomelos.

## Tulou

Numerous Fujian Tulou, earth buildings of round, rectangular and other shapes, can be found within Pinghe County, primarily in its western part (viz., various villages of Luxi, Xiazhai, Jiufeng and Daxi Towns). One of them, the Xishuang Lou (西爽楼), located in Xi'an Village a few kilometers north of Xiazhai town center, has been described by some researchers as the "largest of the rectangular [tulou] in existence". Unfortunately, only parts of the compound have survived to this day.

## Notable people

* Chen, yi fei (陳義飛), scholar and senior official of Ming dynasty (AD 1368-AD 1644)
* Lai Ching-te (賴清德), president of the Republic of China, born in Taiwan, his great-great grandfather migrated to Taiwan from Pinghe County.