Jingning County 静宁县

Setting and landscape

The land tilts from northwest to southeast between 1,600 and 2,245 metres, with flats along the Hulu and more than a thousand loess ridges and mounds. The climate is warm-temperate, between semi-humid and semi-arid, with a mean temperature of 7.1°C and about 450.8 mm of rain, most of it in summer. The Ministry of Agriculture rates the county among the best apple-growing areas of the Loess Plateau, and Jingning apples (静宁苹果) are a national geographical-indication product.

History

The area lay on the Song frontier against the Western Xia (西夏). In 1011 a Longgan fortress was built at today's Longde as a defence against the Xia, and in 1093 Longgan County (陇干县) was set up at Waidibu (外底堡), today's county town, as the seat of the Deshun Army (德顺军). Deshun prefecture was renamed Jingning (静宁州) in 1304 and became a county in 1913. The Long March entered Jingning on 10 September 1935, and Mao Zedong's former quarters at Jieshipu (界石铺) are now a memorial museum.

What to see

The Jingning Confucian Temple (静宁文庙), inside the grounds of Jingning No. 1 Middle School, dates from 1543 and faces south, with the Lingxing Gate, Ji Gate and Dacheng Hall in line from south to north; it became a national key protected site in 2019. The site of ancient Chengji (成纪故城遗址), on the boundary of Zhiping (治平) and Lidian (李店), was added to the national list in 2013.

Food and local products

Jingning roast chicken (静宁烧鸡), also called braised chicken, has been made for nearly a century; it has a glossy reddish-brown skin, holds the China Time-honoured Brand title and is on Gansu's intangible heritage list. Jingning flatbread (静宁大饼), a crisp guokui (锅盔) in oil and sugar versions, has been baked by Hui and Han families in the town since the Qing Tongzhi reign. Jiangshui (浆水), a fermented liquid of boiled celery or cabbage leaves, is drunk cool or used as noodle broth, and niangpi (酿皮) are steamed sheets of the batter washed out of wheat dough, dressed with mustard, garlic, sesame paste, chilli oil and vinegar.

Getting oriented

Pingliang is 110 km to the east and Lanzhou 220 km to the west. Neighbours are Longde (隆德县) and Xiji (西吉县) in Ningxia, Qin'an (秦安县) to the south, Tongwei (通渭县) to the west, Huining (会宁县) to the northwest and Zhuanglang (庄浪县) to the southeast. The Qingdao–Lanzhou Expressway (青兰高速) and national roads 312 and 566 cross the county.

Highlights

• Jingning Confucian Temple 静宁文庙: Ming temple from 1543, a national key protected site since 2019.
• Chengji ancient city site 成纪故城遗址: National key protected site since 2013.
• Jieshipu Mao Zedong former residence memorial 界石铺毛泽东旧居纪念馆: Memorial to the Long March, which reached Jingning in September 1935.
• Jingning roast chicken 静宁烧鸡: Nearly a century old; on Gansu's intangible heritage list.
• Jingning flatbread 静宁大饼: Crisp guokui in oil and sugar versions, baked since the Qing Tongzhi reign.
• Jingning apples 静宁苹果: National geographical-indication product.