Cixian 磁县

Setting and landscape

The land steps down from west to east in roughly equal thirds of mountain, hill and plain. The western Taihang ranges stand 300 to 1,000 metres high; the middle belt is gullied hill country; the east is a piedmont plain laid down by the Zhang (漳河) and Fuyang (滏阳河) rivers.

The Zhang runs 55 km through the county, 15 km of it within the Yuecheng Reservoir (岳城水库), which was built between 1959 and 1970 and holds 1.3 billion cubic metres. The Fuyang, the county's only river that flows all year, leaves the Dongwushi Reservoir (东武仕水库) and carries water on to Handan.

History

A county was set up here in 222, under the Wei of the Three Kingdoms. In 590 the Sui created Cizhou (慈州), named after Mount Ci (磁山) 90 li to the west, which yielded lodestone; in 1113 the Song changed the written form to Cizhou (磁州). The county government counts 134 Eastern Wei and Northern Qi imperial tombs here, among them Tianzizhong (天子冢).

What to see

The Tomb of Prince Lanling (兰陵王墓), 5 km south of the county town, belongs to Gao Su (高肃), grandson of Gao Huan and a Northern Qi general who wore a fierce mask in battle because his handsome face did not frighten the enemy; his stele became a nationally protected relic in 1988. The music celebrating his relief of Luoyang, the Lanling Wang Ru Zhen Qu (兰陵王入阵曲), travelled to Japan and was brought back through Japanese experts in 1986. The Northern Dynasties tomb group (北朝墓群), over a hundred tombs, was declared a national key protected site by the State Council in 1989.

The China Cizhou Kiln Museum (中国磁州窑博物馆) stands on Cizhou Road in the county town. Its display, "The Art of Black and White", centres on the ware's black-on-white decoration, which matured in the Song, Jin and Yuan; it runs from Northern Dynasties pieces to Republican wares and ends with the production process.

Food and local products

The county government calls Cizhou menzi (磁州焖子) a dish found only in Cixian: minced pork and egg with vegetables, scallion, ginger, star anise and five-spice are mixed with starch, rolled inside a thin egg pancake and steamed. Once cool and set it is sliced and eaten dipped in vinegar, mustard and sesame oil.

Getting oriented

Handan city lies 33 km to the north, and Anyang County (安阳县) in Henan borders Cixian on the south. The Beijing–Hong Kong–Macau Expressway (京港澳高速) and National Highway 107 cross the county.

Highlights

• Tomb of Prince Lanling 兰陵王墓: Tomb of the masked Northern Qi general Gao Su, 5 km south of the county town; his stele was listed as a national protected relic in 1988.
• Northern Dynasties tomb group 北朝墓群: More than a hundred tombs of Northern Qi royals and ministers; national key protected site since 1989.
• China Cizhou Kiln Museum 中国磁州窑博物馆: County-town museum of Cizhou ware, whose display "The Art of Black and White" follows the kiln from the Northern Dynasties to the Republic.
• Yuecheng Reservoir 岳城水库: Reservoir on the Zhang River, built 1959–1970, holding 1.3 billion cubic metres.
• Cizhou menzi 磁州焖子: Pork-and-egg roll in an egg pancake, steamed, sliced cold and dipped in vinegar, mustard and sesame oil.