Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture 临夏回族自治州

Setting and landscape

Elevations run from 1,563 to 4,585 m, and about nine-tenths of the land is dry upland; the Taizi (太子山), Lianhua (莲花山) and Jishi (积石山) mountains rise within it. The Yellow River enters from the northwest and crosses the north of the prefecture for 124 km, dammed at Liujiaxia (刘家峡), Yanguoxia (盐锅峡) and Bapanxia (八盘峡); the Liujiaxia Reservoir covers more than 140 km². The prefecture government lists Cretaceous dinosaur footprints at Liujiaxia and the ancient-animal fossils of Hezheng (和政) among its natural treasures, and the Linxia World Geopark (临夏世界地质公园) among its world-level attractions.

History

Linxia's old names are Fuhan (枹罕), a county from the Qin, and Hezhou (河州); the Former Liang created Hezhou in 344, which the prefecture government counts as the first prefecture-level unit here. The government also calls Linxia a core area of the Majiayao (马家窑) culture and the place where the Qijia (齐家) culture was discovered and named, and notes that the Book of Documents traces Yu the Great's river works to Jishi. Linxia lay on the southern Silk Road, the Tang–Tibet road and the Tea Horse Road, and held one of the four great Ming tea-horse offices.

Its national intangible heritage includes the Lianhua Mountain and Songmingyan (松鸣岩) hua'er song festivals, Linxia brick carving and Bonan knife forging (保安腰刀).

What to see

The Bingling Temple Grottoes (炳灵寺石窟), cut into cliffs on the north bank of the Yellow River in Yongjing County (永靖县), were formally founded in 420 under the Western Qin, the date of an ink inscription in Cave 169. Thirty-four caves and 149 niches survive, and the site joined the Silk Roads World Heritage listing in 2014. In Linxia City (临夏市), the Bafang Shisan Xiang (八坊十三巷) quarter grew up around eight mosques after Arab and Persian merchants and clerics settled in Hezhou from the Tang; its lanes keep 41 courtyard houses, among them a mansion that mixes Hui brick carving, Han woodcarving and Tibetan painting.

Food and local products

The prefecture government groups Hezhou cuisine into ten famous dishes, snacks, pastries, noodle bowls and banquets. The dishes include Dongxiang hand-held mutton (东乡手抓羊肉) and stir-fried free-range chicken (临夏爆炒草鸡), Hezhou baozi (河州包子) lead the pastries, the snacks include fazi mianchang (发子面肠) and Guanghe sweet fermented grain (广河甜醅), and Heyan mianpian (河沿面片) is among the noodle bowls.

Getting oriented

Linxia City (临夏市) is the prefecture capital.

Highlights

• Bingling Temple Grottoes 炳灵寺石窟: In Taping Village, Wangtai Town (王台镇), Yongjing; 694 stone figures and 82 clay figures survive.
• Bafang Shisan Xiang 八坊十三巷: Its Da Gongguan mansion at No. 80 is now the Bafang folk museum.
• Liujiaxia 刘家峡: Reservoir on the Yellow River in the north of the prefecture, nicknamed the 'pearl of the plateau'.