Jingyuan County 靖远县

Setting and landscape

The county is split into two separate tracts, north and south of Pingchuan District (平川区). The ground, higher in the west, lies between 1,300 and 3,017 metres. The land divides into three zones: gravity-irrigated land along the Yellow River, high-lift irrigation districts, and arid and semi-arid mountain areas. The mean annual temperature is 10.7°C and rainfall 226.7 mm. The county is nicknamed "south of the Yangtze beyond the frontier" (塞上江南).

History

A county was first set up here in 114 BC under Emperor Wu of the Han. Older traces include the Neolithic Miaowashan site (庙洼山遗址) and the Wujiachuan rock art (吴家川岩画), made by Spring and Autumn-period nomads. Known in the Tang for millet, the area was renamed Suzhou (粟州, "millet prefecture") in 634.

The Ming officer Fang Gui (房贵), a native of Hefei (合肥), founded the Jinglu Garrison (靖虏卫) in 1436 and built its walled town. In 1438 he also brought water wheels from his home region to lift Yellow River water; each wheel has 32 spokes, 32 paddle boards and 32 buckets. In October 1936 units of the Red Army's Fourth Front Army forced a crossing of the Yellow River at Hubaokou (虎豹口).

What to see

Faquan Temple (法泉寺) is the largest cave-temple complex in the county. Founded under the Northern Wei, it stands where springs rise below a red cliff, and keeps 36 caves with Buddhist sculpture and murals from the Tang onward.

The Bell and Drum Tower (钟鼓楼) stands in the centre of the county town. Fang Gui built it in 1438; it burned in 1866 and was restored in 1987–1990. In 1988 a farmer in Beitan (北滩) dug up an inscribed silver plate of the Eastern Roman period, 31 cm across, whose central figure most scholars identify as the Greek god Dionysus; the plate is now held by the Gansu Provincial Museum.

Food and local products

Sanfan (糁饭) is rice or millet boiled until nearly soft, then stirred together with flour into a sticky mass; a local saying holds that good sanfan takes 360 stirs. Saozi noodles (臊子面) are long wheat noodles served in a broth of diced pork belly, potato, tofu and glass noodles, and are eaten at every celebration.

Getting oriented

The county town lies 70 km from Baiyin and 120 km from Lanzhou (兰州). The Beijing–Lhasa Expressway (京藏高速), national roads G109 and G247, and the Zhongwei–Lanzhou high-speed railway (中兰高铁) cross the county, with high-speed stations at Jingyuan North and Beitan.

Highlights

• Faquan Temple 法泉寺: Northern Wei cave temple with 36 surviving caves of sculpture and murals.
• Bell and Drum Tower 钟鼓楼: Built by Fang Gui in 1438 in the centre of the county town.
• Yellow River water wheels 靖远水车: Wooden lifting wheels used along the river since 1438.
• Sanfan 糁饭: Rice or millet stirred with flour into a sticky staple.
• Saozi noodles 臊子面: Long noodles in pork-belly broth, eaten at celebrations.