Yingjiang District 迎江区

History

In 1217, under the Southern Song, the Anqing prefect Huang Gan (黄干) moved the prefectural seat from Qianshan (潜山) to Shengtang Hill (盛唐山) at the Yicheng ferry and began building a city wall, completed in 1260. From 1760, when the Anhui provincial administration returned here from Jiangning (江宁), until 1938, the area served as both provincial capital and prefectural seat. The district itself dates from April 1949 and has carried the Yingjiang name since July 1980; in 2005 it took over Xinzhou (新洲乡), Changfeng and two other rural areas from the former suburban district.

Setting and landscape

The Yangtze enters at the mouth of the Wan River (皖河口), turns sharply east at the old south gate of the city, and splits around a mid-river island before rejoining. Low ground with a web of waterways fills the centre of the district, while river flats and sandbar islands line the river. Xinzhou, a 54-square-kilometre island, is described by the district as the largest island on the Anhui stretch of the Yangtze. Changfeng (长风镇) takes its name from Li Bai's poem "Changgan xing" (长干行) and its line "I will not call it far, but come to meet you all the way to Changfengsha" (相迎不道远，直至长风沙).

What to see

Yingjiang Temple (迎江寺) on the riverside road was founded in 974 and rebuilt in 1619. Its river-facing gate carries the temple name in the hand of the Guangxu Emperor, and its halls hold nearly 500 Buddhist images. Inside the temple stands Zhenfeng Pagoda (振风塔), built in 1568: an eight-sided, seven-storey tower 64.8 metres high with 168 steps and more than 600 brick-carved Buddhas on its third to fifth floors. It became a national protected site in 2006.

Shitaishi Mansion (世太史第), a Ming house bought and rebuilt in 1864 by Zhao Yun (赵畇), whose family produced four generations of Hanlin scholars, is where the Buddhist leader Zhao Puchu (赵朴初) was born in 1907. Restored between 2001 and 2013, it is a national protected site. The Taiping Ying Wang's Mansion (太平天国英王府) on Renjiapo Street (任家坡街) housed the Taiping forces in Anqing and later became Li Hongzhang's (李鸿章) residence; the walls of its east hall carry four painted murals. Daobashi Historic Street (倒扒狮历史文化街区) is named after a Ming memorial arch with lions carved head-down on its pillars; the 440-metre street opened in January 2020 with rows of Ming- and Qing-style buildings. The district also lists the oldest and largest mosque in Anhui.

Highlights

• Yingjiang Temple and Zhenfeng Pagoda 迎江寺与振风塔: Riverside temple founded in 974 with a 64.8 m pagoda of 1568 inside it.
• Shitaishi Mansion 世太史第: Birthplace of Zhao Puchu, a national protected site since 2006.
• Taiping Ying Wang's Mansion 太平天国英王府: Mansion used by the Taiping forces in Anqing, later Li Hongzhang's residence, with four painted murals.
• Daobashi Historic Street 倒扒狮历史文化街区: 440 m old street named after a Ming arch with downward-climbing lions.
• Xinzhou Township 新洲乡: 54 km2 island listed by the district as the largest on the Anhui Yangtze.