Xixiangtang District 西乡塘区

Setting and landscape

The district lies south of the Tropic of Cancer on hills and terraces, and the Zuo (左江), You (右江) and Yong rivers all pass through it. The climate is south-subtropical and monsoonal: warm, humid and rainy, with little frost and no snow.

Luoxiu Mountain (罗秀山) in the northwest takes its name from Luo Xiu (罗秀), a Western Jin Taoist said to have become an immortal there. The Nanning prefectural gazetteer records the Eastern Jin alchemist Ge Hong (葛洪) making elixirs on the mountain, and the district government says the Huixin edition of the Platform Sutra (六祖坛经), a key Chan Buddhist text, was compiled there.

History

In 1381 Xuanhua County (宣化县) created a western rural district called Xixiang, "west countryside". Relay stations on the routes west from Nanning were called pu under the Ming and renamed tang in the early Qing. The second station on the water route, Xixiang Ertang (西乡二塘) at the old Xixiangtang street, came to be called Xixiangtang, and the district is named after it. The traveller Xu Xiake (徐霞客) reached Nanning in the eighth month of 1637 and spent nearly a month around Shuijie (水街), praising its food; the diary he kept is the only complete surviving account of his Nanning visit.

What to see

Shuijie is called the first street of Nanning's opening as a trading port, and the century-old Yuedong Guild Hall (粤东会馆) is known as the port's merchant hall. The Huang family houses (黄氏家族民居) and Chendong old village (陈东老村) represent the dwellings of Nanning's native residents. Other sights include the Longmen Shuidu (龙门水都) scenic area, Nanning Zoo, Luxianshan leisure sports park (芦仙山), Tangren cultural park (唐人文化园) in converted factory buildings, and Zhongliang (忠良村) in the Meili Nanfang (美丽南方) area, a national key rural-tourism village.

Guangxi University (广西大学), described by the district as the oldest and largest comprehensive university in Guangxi, is here, as are Guangxi Minzu University (广西民族大学) and the Guangxi Academy of Sciences.

Food and local products

The district's farm specialities include Shuangding "dingha" pigeons (双定顶哈鸽), Jinling chickens (金陵鸡), Tanluo (坛洛) pigs, citrus and Wanda bitter melon (万大苦瓜).

Getting oriented

Xixiangtang faces Jiangnan District (江南区) across the Yong River to the south and borders Xingning (兴宁区) to the east, Long'an (隆安) and Fusui (扶绥) to the west and Wuming (武鸣) to the north. Nanning Railway Station, Nanning West high-speed station and the terminals of metro lines 1, 2 and 3 are in the district, and Jiangbei Avenue (江北大道) runs for nearly 20 kilometres across it.

Highlights

• Shuijie 水街: Century-old street called the first street of Nanning's opening as a port; Xu Xiake praised its food in 1637.
• Yuedong Guild Hall 粤东会馆: Century-old merchant guild hall of the Nanning trading port.
• Luoxiu Mountain 罗秀山: Named after a Western Jin Taoist; linked to Ge Hong and the Huixin edition of the Platform Sutra.
• Chendong old village 陈东老村: Represents the dwellings of Nanning's native residents.
• Guangxi University 广西大学: Described as Guangxi's oldest and largest comprehensive university.