Fuling District 涪陵区

Setting and landscape

The district borders Fengdu (丰都县) to the east, Wulong (武隆区) and Nanchuan (南川区) to the south, Banan (巴南区) to the west, and Changshou (长寿区) and Dianjiang (垫江县) to the north. Most land lies between 200 and 800 metres. The northwest is low hill and valley country with broad river valleys; the higher southeast is karst, cut by narrow valleys. The Wuling Mountains (武陵山脉) extend into the district. Summers are long and hot with frequent midsummer drought; autumns are short and often drizzly.

History

Fuling was anciently called Zhi (枳). From the Western Zhou to the mid Warring States period the Ba state (巴国) held it, and many of its early kings were buried here; around 308 BC Qin made it Zhi County. The Xiaotianxi Ba tombs (小田溪巴人墓群), on the west bank of the Wu River about 15 kilometres southeast of the city, have yielded more than 700 royal Ba objects in seven digs since 1972, among them gold-inlaid chime bells and willow-leaf swords. The name Fuling was first applied to this area in 346, when a Fuling commandery was set up across the Wu River from the relocated Zhi county town. The present district dates from December 1997.

What to see

Baiheliang (白鹤梁) is a natural rock ridge in the Yangtze, about 1,600 metres long, carved with around 175 inscriptions and 18 stone fish; the earliest, a pair of carp, predate 764. The fish eyes served as a zero mark for low water, and the carvings record more than 60 dry years across 1,200 years. The ridge went on China's tentative World Heritage list in 2006. Facing flooding by the Three Gorges Dam, the carvings were preserved in place inside the Baiheliang Underwater Museum (白鹤梁水下博物馆), which visitors enter by a 91-metre lift to underwater galleries.

The Wuling Mountain Great Rift Valley (武陵山大裂谷), a national 5A scenic area about 45 kilometres southeast of the city, has relief of up to 1,380 metres from valley floor to summit and a gorge walled by cliffs up to 300 metres high. The district also lists the 816 Project (816工程) and Dianyi Cave (点易洞) among its sights.

Food and local products

Fuling is the birthplace of zhacai (榨菜), preserved mustard stem. The district government dates the product to 1898, when the merchant Qiu Shou'an (邱寿安) wind-dried local mustard stems, salted them, pressed out the brine, mixed in spices and sealed them in jars. He opened a workshop in 1899 and named the product after the pressing, zha.

Highlights

• Baiheliang Underwater Museum 白鹤梁水下博物馆: Keeps the Baiheliang low-water carvings in place beneath the Yangtze.
• Wuling Mountain Great Rift Valley 武陵山大裂谷: National 5A area with up to 1,380 metres of relief and cliffs up to 300 metres high.
• Xiaotianxi Ba tombs 小田溪巴人墓群: Tomb group on the Wu River that has yielded over 700 royal Ba objects.
• Fuling zhacai 涪陵榨菜: Pressed, salted mustard stem first made by the Fuling merchant Qiu Shou'an in 1898.