Tongwei County 通渭县

Setting and landscape

The county sits on the Loess Plateau, with ground higher in the north-west and lower in the south-east, many gullies and serious soil erosion. The climate is temperate and monsoonal, in the semi-humid to semi-arid zone, with wide swings in temperature. Neighbours include Qin'an (秦安县) and Gangu (甘谷县) to the south-east and south, Longxi (陇西县) to the west and Anding (安定区) to the north-west.

History

The county government dates the first county here to 114 BC. The name comes from a fort built in 1068 by the Song general Yang Wenguang (杨文广) in the Chazhu valley (擦珠谷): it was called Tongwei, "reaching the Wei", because the Niugu River (牛谷河) flows on to the Wei River. The fort became a stockade in 1072 and a county in 1106. The present county town was begun in 1739 on the old town site and finished in 1748.

Between August 1935 and October 1936 Red Army units on the Long March passed through most of the county's villages. At Bangluo (榜罗镇) the Politburo Standing Committee decided to make northern Shaanxi the end point of the march, and Mao Zedong first recited his poem "The Long March" (《七律·长征》) at the primary school on Wenmiao Street in the county town.

What to see

The Bangluo meeting site is a national key cultural relic protection unit and a 4A scenic area. Bangluo town lies in the south-west, 34 km from the county town, where Tongwei, Longxi, Gangu and Wushan (武山) counties meet. The Tongwei hot spring (通渭温泉) rises in the Tangchi river valley (汤池河) 8 km south-west of the town, with surface water at 53.9°C, and is mentioned in the classical Commentary on the Water Classic (《水经注》).

The practice of calligraphy and painting has never died out here, and a local saying holds that "a home without calligraphy and paintings is not a Tongwei home". The Yuexin International Calligraphy and Painting Village (悦心国际书画村) is a 4A scenic area. The Qin Jia and Xu Shu Poetry Park (秦嘉徐淑诗词公园), on the southern hills south of the Niugu River, honours the Eastern Han husband-and-wife poets Qin Jia (秦嘉) and Xu Shu (徐淑), whom the county credits with helping five-character verse mature. Tongwei xiaoqu songs (通渭小曲) and Tongwei shadow-play singing (通渭影子腔) are national intangible heritage.

Getting oriented

The Baoji–Lanzhou high-speed railway, the Tongwei–Dingxi expressway and National Highway 247 cross the county.

Highlights

• Bangluo meeting site 榜罗镇会议革命遗址: Where the Long March leadership chose northern Shaanxi as its destination; a national protected site and 4A scenic area.
• Tongwei hot spring 通渭温泉: Spring in the Tangchi valley 8 km south-west of the county town, with surface water at 53.9°C.
• Yuexin International Calligraphy and Painting Village 悦心国际书画村: A 4A scenic area named in the county's account of its calligraphy and painting culture.
• Qin Jia and Xu Shu Poetry Park 秦嘉徐淑诗词公园: Park on the southern hills dedicated to two Eastern Han poets.