Guangling County 广灵县

Setting and landscape

The county town is laid out with the Mucaojian River (木槽涧河) as its central axis, an old and a new district facing each other across it. Recorded temperatures in the basin range from −34.0 °C to 38.2 °C, with an annual mean of 7.0 °C.

History

Under the Han dynasty the area was Pingshu County (平舒县), which the Northern Qi abolished. The Later Tang of the Five Dynasties set up Guangling County (广陵县), and under the Jin dynasty the name was rewritten with different characters as Guangling (广灵县).

What to see

Shuishen Tang (水神堂), the Water God Hall, stands on Hushan hill (壶山) in Huquan town (壶泉镇) and became a national key cultural relics protection site in 2006. The name covers two shrines, the Fengshui Shenci (丰水神祠) and the Dashi An (大士庵); the surviving buildings are Ming and Qing, and the complex faces south and covers 7,600 square metres. The Lingying Pagoda (灵应宝塔), a seven-storey hexagonal brick tower 17.5 metres high, dates from the Qianlong reign of the Qing, and the Hu Spring (壶泉), a well-known local spring, rises beneath the Shengmu Hall (圣母殿).

The Shengquan Temple grottoes (圣泉寺石窟) and the Ximazhuang site (洗马庄遗址) are Datong municipal heritage sites. The Zhao Great Wall (赵长城) is another of the county's sights.

Food, products and crafts

Millet, donkey meat and sunflower seeds are the county's noted farm products, and Guangling millet was supplied to the Beijing Summer and Winter Olympics. Dried tofu is another local product.

Guangling dyed papercut (广灵染色剪纸) entered the national intangible heritage list in 2008. Its shapes took form in the early Tang and its distinctive style in the Ming. Designs are smoked, carved with a knife, cut and then dyed in bright colours, showing zodiac animals, flowers and birds, opera masks and legends; the Zhang family who started the tradition has now passed it down four generations. Local people decorate doors, windows, walls and furniture with the cuts. The county also keeps Guangling yangge (广灵秧歌) dancing and has a papercut art museum that it describes as the earliest built and largest in China.

Getting oriented

National Highway 239 and the Guangning Expressway (广宁高速) both pass through the county.

Highlights

• Shuishen Tang 水神堂: Ming and Qing shrine complex on Hushan hill with a Qianlong-era seven-storey brick pagoda; national key site since 2006.
• Guangling dyed papercut 广灵染色剪纸: Knife-carved, dyed papercut founded by the Zhang family; national intangible heritage since 2008.
• Guangling millet 广灵小米: Local millet supplied to the Beijing Summer and Winter Olympics.
• Shengquan Temple grottoes 圣泉寺石窟: Datong municipal heritage site.