Lieshan District 烈山区

Setting and landscape

The ground tilts gently from northwest to southeast, broken by more than a dozen hills. Mount Lieshan (烈山), 123.3 m high, is named for a crack in its rock. Longji Mountain (龙脊山) reaches 362.9 m at Pingding Peak (平顶山), where the Dafang Temple (大方寺), said to date from the Eastern Han, stands. Qinglong Mountain (青龙山), the largest, is a 2,000-metre ridge that looks from above like a river mussel or a sleeping green dragon.

Huajia Lake (化家湖), northwest of Longji Mountain and ringed by hills on three sides, is described by the district as the largest natural lake in the Huaibei area. South Lake (南湖) formed where coal mining made the land sink, and was named a national wetland park by the Ministry of Construction in 2005; wild geese and cranes stop there on migration.

History

Remains around Huajia Lake span the middle and late Dawenkou culture (大汶口文化) to the Shang and Zhou, with Han tombs nearby; the site is an Anhui provincial protected site, and local legend places the mansion of Hua Yuan (华元), a minister of the state of Song, here. The area once belonged to Xuzhou (徐州), the state of Su (宿国) and Xiang County (相县); after 1949 it came under Suixi County (濉溪县) and then Huaibei. It became a county-level unit of Huaibei in 1980, and Lieshan District was formed in January 1984.

What to see

The Four Seasons Pomegranate Garden (四季榴园), a 4A scenic area in Liuyuan village, Lieshan Town (烈山镇), holds a Ming–Qing pomegranate orchard of 587 old trees averaging 150 years, the oldest over 400. In 2023 this group of old trees joined the first national list of the 100 most beautiful ancient tree groups. The garden takes in Tashan (塔山), about 300 m high, which rises in pagoda-like steps of bare rock, and the ruins of Tashan Temple (塔山寺) at its foot are linked to Zhang Guolao (张果老) of the Eight Immortals. The site also has a China Pomegranate Museum (中国石榴博物馆).

The Huaibei National Mining Museum (淮北国家矿山博物馆) on the east shore of South Lake opened on 28 May 2011 and is based in Lieshan because Huaibei's mining began here. Its lower floor is laid out as a mine roadway with early and modern coal faces.

Food and local products

The Tashan pomegranate became a national geographical-indication product in December 2012; its soft-seeded fruit has large arils, thin skin and a high sugar content. Huangying jujubes (黄营灵枣) and Hecun apples (和村苹果) are also protected geographical-indication products.

Highlights

• Four Seasons Pomegranate Garden 四季榴园: 4A scenic area with a Ming–Qing orchard of 587 old pomegranate trees.
• Huajia Lake 化家湖: Described by the district as the largest natural lake in the Huaibei area; Dawenkou to Shang–Zhou remains on its shores.
• South Lake Wetland Park 南湖湿地公园: Mining-subsidence wetland named a national wetland park in 2005.
• Huaibei National Mining Museum 淮北国家矿山博物馆: Opened 28 May 2011 with a mock mine roadway on its lower floor.
• Tashan pomegranate 塔山石榴: Soft-seeded pomegranate; geographical-indication product since December 2012.