Suixi County 濉溪县

History

In the Spring and Autumn period the state of Song set up the town of Zhi (铚邑) on the site of today's Linhuan; a Linhuan County was set up there under the Sui and Tang and abolished in 1265. Suixi County itself was carved out of the western part of Su County (宿县) on 1 July 1950 and was moved under Huaibei on 12 January 1977.

The county seat, Suixi Town (濉溪镇), began as a Ming-dynasty village market; trade on the Sui River made it prosper, and liquor making grew with it. A brick town wall finished in 1903 was completely pulled down after 1947.

What to see

The Liuzi Canal Site (柳孜运河遗址) in Liuzi village, Baishan Town (百善镇), belongs to the old course of the Tongji Canal (通济渠). Digs in 1999 and 2012 uncovered Tang and Song channels, embankments, stone bridge piers and roads, and nine wooden boats. It became a national protected site in 2001 and entered the World Heritage List in 2014.

Linhuan Ancient Town (临涣古镇) lies 37 km southwest of the county seat on the north bank of the Hui River (浍河). Its rammed-earth wall, a square 5,818 m around, is a national protected site, as is the Wenchang Palace (文昌宫), first built in the Tang, where the Huaihai Campaign (淮海战役) General Front Committee, made up of Deng Xiaoping, Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi and others, was based in November 1948. Linhuan's tea houses go back to the Ming; the ten that remain line South Street (南大街), brewing Lu'an tea stalks (六安茶棒) in water from the Longxu Spring (龙须泉).

The Shuangduiji battlefield (双堆集战场旧址) was the second main battlefield of the Huaihai Campaign, where fighting from 23 November to 15 December 1948 ended with the capture of Huang Wei (黄维). In Suixi Town, the 650-metre flagstone Old Street (濉溪老街) keeps nine Qing to Republican-era buildings of grey brick and wood, some with Western touches.

Food and local products

The Kouzi liquor pits (口子窖池) in the Xiaotongju workshop (小同聚坊) off Houda Street (后大街) date from the late Yuan or early Ming and are still in use; together with a chrysanthemum-heart starter (菊花心曲), they give Kouzi liquor its style. Linhuan is also known for its pickled wrapped melon (酱包瓜).

Highlights

• Liuzi Canal Site 柳孜运河遗址: Tongji Canal remains with Tang–Song channels, stone bridge piers and nine wooden boats; World Heritage List 2014.
• Linhuan Ancient Town 临涣古镇: Rammed-earth walled town on the Hui River with a tea-house tradition going back to the Ming and the Wenchang Palace.
• Shuangduiji battlefield 双堆集战场旧址: Second main battlefield of the Huaihai Campaign, November–December 1948; provincial protected site since 1981.
• Suixi Old Street 濉溪老街古建筑群: 650-metre street paved with bluestone in 1921, lined by nine Qing to Republican-era buildings.
• Kouzi liquor pits 口子窖池: Fermentation pits from the late Yuan or early Ming, still in use.