Pingluo County 平罗县

What to see

Sand Lake (沙湖), 42 km from Yinchuan (银川), became a national 5A scenic area in 2007. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism describes it as some 45 square kilometres of water beside 22.5 square kilometres of desert, with reed beds, birds and lotus. The county government calls it the largest freshwater lake in Ningxia and says bird species there rose from 178 in 2011 to more than 210 after fish farming and fields were returned to lake and wetland; grey herons raise chicks in the reeds in early spring, and swans and red-crested pochards are regular visitors.

The Yuhuang Pavilion (玉皇阁) stands on the west side of North Street in Pingluo town. A White Dragon Temple on the site was rebuilt as a Taoist pavilion to the Jade Emperor early in the Guangxu reign, after residents credited it with rain that ended a drought. In 1934 troops under Ma Hongkui (马鸿逵) held the pavilion in a battle against Sun Dianying (孙殿英), and Ma had it enlarged in 1939 to mark the victory. Its halls rise on an earthen platform 98 metres long, facing south, and the top of the three-storey building stands 27 metres above the ground. It was listed at regional level in 1963 and as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 2013.

Tianhewan National Wetland Park (天河湾国家湿地公园) lies on the Yellow River, and its ditches, lakes and streams all connect to the river. Xinhua reports that tens of thousands of birds stop there each year on migration routes that link western China with East Asia and Australia; tundra swans, egrets and common cranes are among them.

History

On 3 January 1739 a magnitude-8 earthquake struck Pingluo and the Yinchuan area, destroying towns and villages across the Yinchuan plain and killing more than 50,000 people; Chinese Wikipedia records it as the largest in the region's history.

Highlights

• Sand Lake 沙湖: 5A scenic area since 2007 where a 45-square-kilometre lake meets 22.5 square kilometres of desert.
• Yuhuang Pavilion 玉皇阁: Taoist temple on a 98-metre earthen platform, a national protected site since 2013.
• Tianhewan National Wetland Park 天河湾国家湿地公园: Yellow River wetland used by tens of thousands of migrating birds each year.