Dingxi 定西市

Setting and landscape

The Tao River (洮河) runs north through the west of the prefecture, and the Wei River (渭河) rises in Weiyuan County (渭源县) in the centre before flowing east. Elevations range from 1,420 to 3,941 m. Forest parks include Guiqing and Zheyang mountains (贵清山, 遮阳山) in Zhang County (漳县) and Lianfeng and Shouyang mountains (莲峰山, 首阳山) in Weiyuan.

History

The Qin set up Longxi Commandery in 279 BC with its seat at Didao (狄道), today's Lintao (临洮). Prehistoric remains here include the Majiayao (马家窑), Qijia (齐家), Siwa (寺洼) and Xindian (辛店) cultures, and the area was a stop on the ancient Silk Road. Tibetan forces took Minzhou (岷州) in 761 and ruled the region for more than 300 years. The city government also calls it the western start of the Warring States Qin Great Wall and the ancestral home of the Li surname. Dingxi became a prefecture-level city in 2003.

In Min County (岷县), the Erlang Mountain hua'er festival (二郎山花儿会), on the first national intangible heritage list in 2006, grew out of Ming-dynasty temple fairs. Each year in the fifth lunar month, 18 local dragon gods are carried in procession; on the 17th day they are borne up Erlang Mountain, south of the county town, while crowds compete in singing Tao-Min hua'er (洮岷花儿) folk songs.

What to see

The Majiayao site (马家窑遗址) in Lintao, first excavated in 1924 and a national key cultural relic since 1988, gave its name to the Majiayao culture; pottery of its Majiayao phase is mostly orange-yellow, painted in black with waves, spirals and frogs. In Weiyuan, the Baling Bridge (灞陵桥) over the Qingyuan River (清源河), first built under the Ming and rebuilt in 1919–1921 as a covered timber cantilever arch, is known as 'the first bridge on the Wei River'. The Weiyuan Tower (威远楼) in Longxi County (陇西县) and the Wang family tombs (汪氏家族墓地) of Zhang County are also national key relics.

Food and local products

The city government calls Dingxi a 'thousand-year home of medicinal herbs', and Min County angelica (岷归) and codonopsis (党参) are especially well known; Longxi, Weiyuan and Min counties are titled China's home of astragalus, codonopsis and angelica. Anding District (安定区) is titled China's home of the potato, and Dingxi wide noodles (定西宽粉) are a registered national geographical indication trademark.

Getting oriented

The city government sits in Anding District. Dingxi, 90 km from Lanzhou, calls itself the provincial capital's gateway; the Longhai, Baoji–Lanzhou high-speed and Lanzhou–Chongqing railways cross it.

Highlights

• Majiayao Site 马家窑遗址: Neolithic to Bronze Age site in Majiayao Village, Taoyang Town (洮阳镇), Lintao County; the Majiayao culture was first found and named here.
• Weiyuan Baling Bridge 渭源灞陵桥: Timber arch 40 m long with a span of 29.6 m and a tiled gallery of 13 bays on top; a national key cultural relic since 2006.
• Erlang Mountain Hua'er Festival 二郎山花儿会: Min County's song gathering on the 17th day of the fifth lunar month, when 18 dragon gods are carried up Erlang Mountain.
• Guiqing Mountain 贵清山: Listed by the Dingxi government among the city's natural landscapes with Zheyang Mountain and the Wei River source; a forest park in Zhang County.