Shanglin County 上林县

History

Shanglin was set up as a county in 621, the fourth year of the Tang Wude reign. The Zhicheng site (智城遗址), described as the remains of a Tang-dynasty Zhuang capital, became a national key cultural relics protection site in 2006, and in 2023 Shanglin was named a Guangxi "thousand-year-old county" of place-name heritage.

East of the county town, the rammed-earth walls of the Ming Nandan garrison city (南丹卫城址) still form a near-circle about 3,150 metres round and about 4 metres high. The garrison moved here in 1404, to Binyang (宾阳) in 1443 and back to Sanli (三里镇) in Shanglin in 1579. The Ming traveller Xu Xiake (徐霞客) spent 54 days here, by the county government's account his longest stay anywhere, and left more than 14,000 characters of notes. At Shinanhai (石南海) in Tanghong Township (塘红乡), finds of bronze knives, pottery and stone axes exposed in 1972 date from the Neolithic to the Warring States period.

What to see

Dalong Lake Scenic Area (大龙湖景区), a national 4A area in Xiyan Town (西燕镇), is a reservoir built in 1958 among stone peaks and is listed among China's ten great karst reservoirs. The lake holds 16 natural karst caves; the largest, Dalong Cave (大龙洞), runs more than 10 kilometres on 12 levels. Its main draw is a boat trip on the lake.

Guming Village (鼓鸣寨), another national 4A area, is the hamlet of Gumin (古民庄) in Xiangxian Town (巷贤镇), 25 kilometres from the county town. Most of its 158 houses date from the Qing and Republican periods. They are courtyard houses with rough-stone footings, rammed yellow-earth walls and grey tiles, and the county tourism bureau calls it the best-preserved and largest Zhuang rammed-earth village in Guangxi.

Food and local products

Shanglin rice and Shanglin star anise are national geographical indication products. Shanglin glutinous rice wine (上林糯米酒) is brewed from glutinous rice with a starter made after the autumn harvest; the rice is steamed, mixed with the starter, fermented and aged, and the wine is sealed in jars until it turns syrupy and very sweet. Its brewing technique entered the ninth batch of Guangxi's intangible heritage list in 2023, and the wine was sent as tribute to the Tang court.

Getting oriented

The county seat is about 95 kilometres from the city of Nanning. Shanglin borders Heshan (合山) to the northeast, Xincheng (忻城) to the north, Mashan (马山) to the northwest, Wuming (武鸣) to the southwest and Binyang (宾阳) to the southeast.

Highlights

• Dalong Lake Scenic Area 大龙湖景区: 1958 karst reservoir with 16 caves; Dalong Cave runs more than 10 km on 12 levels.
• Guming Village 鼓鸣寨: 158 Qing and Republican-era rammed-earth Zhuang houses in Gumin hamlet.
• Zhicheng site 智城遗址: Tang-dynasty Zhuang capital site; national key protected site since 2006.
• Nandan garrison city site 南丹卫城址: Ming rammed-earth garrison walls about 3,150 m round, east of the county town.
• Shanglin glutinous rice wine 上林糯米酒: Sweet jar-aged rice wine; brewing technique on Guangxi's heritage list since 2023.