Lingbi County 灵璧县

Setting and landscape

The county is low and flat, tilting from north-west to south-east, mostly about 20 m above sea level; plains make up nearly nine-tenths of it, on thick soils laid down by Yellow River floods. The hills are low, eroded remnants of the Xu–Huai range: 54 peaks, 24 of them over 100 m, topped by Lingjue Mountain (灵觉山, 189.7 m) in the west of Xialou town (下楼镇). The New Bian River (新汴河) crosses the county from west to east.

History

Lingbi became a county in 1086, under the Song, when Lingbi town was split off from Hong County (虹县). The county explains the name as a place of spirited hills and rivers with stone like a jade disc (璧). It came under Anhui in 1667.

The Bawangcheng site (霸王城遗址), north-west of Yinji town (尹集镇) on the old Sui River (濉水), is a square earthen enclosure about 900 by 990 m whose walls still stand nearly 1.5 m high on three sides. It has yielded Qin and Han cord-marked tiles, Chu ant-nose coins and bronze arrowheads, and is linked with Xiang Yu's (项羽) victory in the battle of the Sui River in 205 BC. Tradition also makes Zhong Kui a native of Lingbi in the Tang.

What to see

The Lingbi Stone Culture Park (灵璧奇石文化园), a national 4A area on the Bian River (汴水) in the south-west of the county, is laid out as a Suzhou-style garden; its Bianyang Tower (汴阳楼) houses the Lingbi Museum, and with the stone market and Stone Town around it forms a complex of nearly 500 mu. Qingyunshan National Geopark (磬云山国家地质公园), east of Yugou town (渔沟镇), covers about 42 square kilometres of limestone karst, with cliff inscriptions and Song-dynasty stone-quarrying pits. The Yu Ji Culture Park (虞姬文化园) holds the tomb of Yu Ji (虞姬墓), with a Republican-era stele beside it.

Food and local products

Lingbi stone, also called chime stone (磬石), was given the title of first stone under heaven by the Qianlong Emperor. The Song poet Fang Yan (方岩) wrote that a Lingbi stone rings like bronze and has the colour of jade. It is a Chinese geographical indication product. Lingbi is also named a home of Chinese folk art for its Zhong Kui paintings.

Getting oriented

The county seat is Lingcheng town (灵城镇). The Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway passes 20 km away, the Beijing–Taipei and Xuzhou–Mingguang expressways cross the county from north to south, and the Suzhou–Huai'an railway (宿淮铁路) runs east to west.

Highlights

• Lingbi Stone Culture Park 灵璧奇石文化园: 4A garden park on the Bian River with the Lingbi Museum in its Bianyang Tower.
• Qingyunshan National Geopark 磬云山国家地质公园: About 42 square kilometres of limestone karst east of Yugou town, with Song quarry pits.
• Bawangcheng site 霸王城遗址: Square earthen enclosure near Yinji town linked with the battle of the Sui River in 205 BC.
• Lingbi stone 灵璧石: Chime stone and geographical indication product, praised by the Song poet Fang Yan.