Heshui County 合水县

Setting and landscape

Heshui borders Fu County (富县) in Shaanxi to the east, Qingcheng (庆城县) to the west, Ning County (宁县) to the south, and Huachi (华池县) and, in Shaanxi, Zhidan (志丹县) to the north. The county government describes the Ziwu Ridge as the best-preserved and most typical natural secondary forest on the Loess Plateau; 2,061 square km of its 23,000 square km lie in Heshui, home to more than 150 wild animal species, among them sika deer, foxes and wild boar. National roads G309 and G211 and the Qingdao–Lanzhou and Yinchuan–Baise expressways cross the county.

History

The Western Han set up Lüepan Dao (略畔道) here. A Heshui County was created in 596 under the Sui, with its seat at today's Qingcheng, and Lepan County followed in 617; in 742 the Tang renamed Panjiao County (蟠交县) as Heshui, and in 1071 the Song abolished Lepan and folded it into Heshui. In September 1949 the county seat moved from Laocheng (老城镇) to Xihuachi (西华池镇). The county counts 648 archaeological sites, including Yangshao and Qijia culture remains, and 32 revolutionary sites such as the scene of the Taibai uprising (太白起义) and the Baojiazhaizi meeting site (包家寨子会议旧址).

What to see

In 1973 a skeleton of the Huanghe stegodon (黄河剑齿象) was dug up at Banqiao (板桥) in the county; the county government calls it the earliest, largest-boned and most completely preserved specimen of its kind. Some 103 km of the Qin Straight Road (秦直道), the Qin road from Yunyang (云阳) in today's Xianyang to Jiuyuan (九原) in today's Baotou, survive in the county, and the county links it with sites such as the Northern Wei Baoquan Temple (保全寺) and the Anding Temple grottoes (安定寺石窟).

More than 3,000 carved stone images from the Northern Wei onward survive in the county. The county museum holds over 2,900 relics, including more than 160 statues whose style the county compares with the North Grottoes (北石窟) of the same period. Other named sights are the Lianhua (莲花寺) and Cuifeng (翠峰寺) temples, the Ziwu Huaxi valley (子午花溪谷) and the Red Earth Forest (红土林).

Food and local products

Local products listed by the county include white melon seeds, black wood-ear fungus, morels and deer antler, alongside apples and dairy goats. Folk arts include shadow puppetry, which the county presents as typical of the eastern Gansu style, paper-cuts, embroidery and scented sachets; the county also calls itself the place where Daoqing (道情) singing gave rise to Long opera (陇剧).

Highlights

• Huanghe stegodon fossil 黄河剑齿象: Skeleton unearthed at Banqiao in 1973.
• Qin Straight Road 秦直道: About 103 km of the Qin road survive in the county.
• Ziwu Ridge 子午岭: Natural secondary forest on the Loess Plateau; 2,061 square km lie in Heshui.
• Baoquan Temple 保全寺: Northern Wei site listed by the county along the Qin Straight Road.