Qingyang overview 庆阳

About Qingyang

Its cultural identity is particularly visible in stitched sachets and paper cutting: small works of cloth, thread and paper carry animal and auspicious motifs. Regional museum interpretation provides useful context before a trip to Northern Grotto Temple, where monumental sandstone Buddhas offer a very different scale of local craftsmanship.

Qingyang was called Qingzhou in earlier times and is commonly known as Longdong. The name Qingyang dates from 1117, when a military prefecture called Qingyang Jun was established on the north bank of the confluence of the Malian and Rouyuan rivers; the ancients regarded a river's north bank as its yang side, giving the area its name. The present prefecture-level city was created in 2002, when Qingyang Prefecture was dissolved and its former seat became Xifeng District.

The city lies on the Longdong Loess Plateau, bounded by the Liupan Mountains to the west, Yangquan Mountain to the north and the Ziwu range (子午岭) to the east, with basin-like terrain in the center and south. Its main rivers include the Honghe (洪河), Ruhe (茹河), Puhe (蒲河) and Malian River (马莲河).

In the third month of 1490 by the Chinese calendar, a shower of stones fell on Qingyang, ranging in size from goose eggs to water chestnuts and killing more than 10,000 people; residents in the city fled to other places in its aftermath. In 1936 the Communist Party established the Longdong Liberated Area (陇东解放区) within the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region. Local traditional culture also includes shadow puppet theater and folk music and song.

What to look for

• Qingyang’s stitched sachets, with coloured thread and animal or auspicious designs.
• The carved sandstone Buddhist figures at Northern Grotto Temple outside the urban centre.

Location & getting there

Getting to Qingyang

Use Qingyang railway station on the Yinchuan–Xi’an line for the Xifeng urban base. Arrange a separate road transfer for Northern Grotto Temple; the cliff site lies outside the city-centre museum area.