Anyang 安阳市

History

The Shang king Pan Geng (盘庚) moved his capital to the banks of the Huan River (洹河), known as the move to Yin (殷); the city government says twelve kings then reigned there for 254 years without moving again. The city describes Yinxu (殷墟) as the first capital in Chinese history both recorded in texts and confirmed by oracle bones and excavation, and its oracle-bone inscriptions (甲骨文) are on the Memory of the World register. At Youli (羑里) in Tangyin (汤阴), tradition says, the Shang held Ji Chang (姬昌), father of the Zhou founder, and he wrote the Zhouyi (周易) there. Cao Cao (曹操) was buried at Gaoling (高陵) in Yindu District (殷都区), and the Song general Yue Fei (岳飞) was a native of Tangyin.

What to see

Yinxu, a World Heritage site of about 30 square kilometres on both banks of the Huan in Yindu District, takes in the palace and temple area, royal tombs and the Huanbei Shang city (洹北商城). The Houmuwu ding (后母戊鼎), which the city calls the heaviest ancient Chinese bronze yet known at 832.84 kilograms, was unearthed at Wuguan village (武官村) in 1939. Across the river from the palace area, the Yinxu Museum (殷墟博物馆) shows bronzes, jades, pottery and oracle bones, and the city holds the National Museum of Chinese Writing (中国文字博物馆). In the old city, Tianning Temple Pagoda (天宁寺塔), or Wenfeng Pagoda, first built in 952, widens towards the top like an umbrella.

Tangyin has Youli and the Yue Fei Temple (岳飞庙), rebuilt in 1450. Hua County (滑县) holds a World Heritage section of the Grand Canal, known as the Wei River (卫河), and the canal town of Daokou (道口古镇), with more than 1,000 rooms of old shops and houses. In Linzhou (林州), local people spent ten years building the Red Flag Canal (红旗渠), more than 1,500 kilometres long, along the Taihang cliffs, and the Taihang Grand Canyon (太行大峡谷) is a national geopark.

Food and local products

Bianfen cai (扁粉菜), ladled from iron pots of stock with pig's blood, tofu and bok choy and topped with chili oil, is a well-known breakfast. Fenjiang fan (粉浆饭) is made from the liquid left after making mung-bean starch sheets and noodles, simmered with millet, soybeans, peanuts, cabbage and lard; it tastes sour, savoury and sweet. With blood cake (血糕) of buckwheat and pig's blood, sliced and fried, and pizha (皮渣), it makes up 'Anyang's three treasures'. In Hua County, shops selling Daokou chicken (道口烧鸡) line the streets.