Daguan District 大观区

History

The district is named after the Daguan Pavilion (大观亭), one of the "Eight Views of Yicheng" (宜城八景), which the district government ranks alongside the Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼) in Wuchang. Under the Qing, the area belonged to the seat of Huaining County and the rural Lushui township (渌水乡).

Daguan District was created on 23 April 1949 on the basis of the old Daguan town office. It was renamed Chengxi District (城西区) in May 1952 and Xishi District (西市区) in September 1955, and took back the Daguan name in 1960 and again in 1980. In May 2005 Shilipu (十里铺乡), Haikou (海口镇) and Shankou (山口乡) were moved into the district from the former suburban district, now Yixiu (宜秀区), and from Huaining County.

What to see

The district has two 4A scenic areas: the Linghu scenic area (菱湖风景区) and Duxiu Garden (独秀园). Two groups of buildings are national protected sites: the Tomb of Chen Duxiu (陈独秀墓), and the Red Building of Anhui University (安徽大学红楼) together with the Jingfu Academy (敬敷书院). The district government calls the Red Building a landmark of higher education in Anhui.

Other old sites include the Anqing drum tower (安庆谯楼), described by the district government as the landmark of Anhui becoming a province, and the Fenyan Pavilion (焚烟亭), which commemorates Anhui military governor Bai Wenwei (柏文蔚) burning opium in Anqing. The provincial list also covers the Fuzicheng site (夫子城遗址) and the tomb of Yan Fengying (严凤英墓). The old houses around the Daguan Pavilion site are listed as a national historic and cultural block.

Setting and landscape

Deep-water frontage on the Yangtze runs for 11 kilometres within the district. The climate is monsoonal, and the plum-rain season from late June to mid July, with long spells of rain and little sun, is one of its defining features. Anqing Petrochemical (安庆石化) is among the large enterprises based here.