Luhe District 六合区

Setting and landscape

The south and centre are plain, while the north is low hill and ridge country averaging 20 metres above sea level; across the district there are more than sixty hills and 56 reservoirs and lakes. A divide running from Yeshan (冶山) in the north-east to Zhimaling (芝麻岭) near Zhuzhen (竹镇) splits the district between the Yangtze basin to the south and the Huai basin to the north. The district has 46 km of Yangtze frontage. Locals still say the first syllable of the name as Lù, the old reading, although the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (现代汉语词典) dropped it from its sixth edition.

History

The ancient name is Tangyi (棠邑), which the district's local-history office traces in written records to 571 BC, making it one of the earliest administrative seats in today's Nanjing. The name Luhe dates from 584 under the Sui. From 1966 to 1971 Luhe County was the seat of a short-lived Luhe Prefecture; it came under Nanjing in 1975 and merged with Dachang District (大厂区) in 2002 to form the present district.

What to see

Jinniu Lake (金牛湖), which the Nanjing culture and tourism bureau calls the city's largest artificial lake, covers 25,000 mu and was the sailing venue of the Nanjing Youth Olympics; the Jinniu Lake Wildlife Kingdom (金牛湖野生动物王国) is a 4A park. Guizishan Stone Pillar Forest (桂子山石柱林) in Yeshan is the core of Luhe National Geopark, with basalt columns left by volcanic activity. The Yuhua Stone Geopark (雨花石地质公园) in Hengliang (横梁街道) preserves a section of the Yuhuatai Formation gravels, which the bureau counts among the key exposures of the geopark's Yuhua stone (雨花石) beds; the district government names Luhe as the main source of these pebbles. Pingshan Forest Park (平山森林公园), a 4A site, is in the northern outskirts.

Food and crafts

The district government describes Luhe as the place where the Jiangsu folk song "Jasmine Flower" (茉莉花) was collected, and Yeshan farmer painting (冶山农民画) is on the provincial intangible-heritage list. Local foods named by the Jinniu Lake resort include Luhe pig's head meat (六合猪头肉), huozhuzi (活珠子), Donggou fried tofu (东沟油炸干), brine goose (盐水鹅) and Maji huoshao flatbreads (马集火烧连子).

Highlights

• Jinniu Lake 金牛湖: Nanjing's largest artificial lake, 25,000 mu; Youth Olympics sailing venue.
• Guizishan Stone Pillar Forest 桂子山石柱林: Basalt columns of volcanic origin; core of Luhe National Geopark.
• Yuhua Stone Geopark 雨花石地质公园: Section of the Yuhuatai Formation gravels at Hengliang.
• Yuhua pebbles 雨花石: Luhe is their main source.
• Yeshan farmer painting 冶山农民画: Provincial intangible heritage.