Zhijin County 织金县

Setting and landscape

Elevations run from 861.5 metres to 2,262 metres, and the county town stands at 1,310 metres. The mean annual temperature is 14.1°C with about 1,340 millimetres of rain a year. The county town gathers 108 springs; it was known in the past for its 72 springs and the nickname "little spring city", and it was among Guizhou's first historic and cultural towns. The county town also has 112 old temples, tombs, bridges and pagodas.

History

Under the Qin the area belonged to Ba commandery (巴郡) and under the Han to Zangke commandery (牂牁郡); Yi rulers took over after the Jin. It was Hui prefecture (晖州) under the Tang, Pina (毗那) from the Song to the Ming, and Pingyuan subprefecture (平远州) under the Qing, and took the name Zhijin in 1914. The late-Qing official Ding Baozhen (丁宝桢) and the geologist Ding Daoheng (丁道衡) were born here, and the county promotes itself as "Baozhen's home town, Zhijin of caves".

What to see

Zhijin Cave, 22 kilometres from the county town, is said to contain every type of deposit found in the world's karst caves. It is a national key scenic area, a 5A tourist site and a world geopark. The Zhijin Grand Canyon (织金大峡谷), with caves within caves and natural bridges stacked above one another, was praised by the geomorphologist Williams as karst scenery of the first rank in the world and was among the first national water-conservancy scenic areas. Dongfeng Lake (东风湖), 3 kilometres from Zhijin Cave, is a plateau lake 37 kilometres long. The Caishen Temple (财神庙), a temple to the god of wealth, is an old building the county calls unique in style and rare in the world, and Zhijin old town (织金古城) is listed as one of Guizhou's "ten new landmarks".

Folk traditions include Miao flower-slope gatherings, multi-part love songs, the three-hole xiao (三眼箫) flute and reed-pipe dances, the Yi torch festival, and the Nuo opera of the Chuanqing people (穿青人).

Food and local products

Zhijin describes itself as China's largest base for breeding, growing and trading bamboo fungus (竹荪). Its fragrant red-base bamboo fungus (红托竹荪), known as the "queen of fungi", was served when Premier Zhou Enlai hosted President Nixon and was a main course at the APEC summit in Shanghai.

Highlights

• Zhijin Cave 织金洞: Called the first cave under heaven; national key scenic area, 5A site and world geopark, 22 km from the county town.
• Zhijin Grand Canyon 织金大峡谷: Caves within caves and stacked natural bridges; among the first national water-conservancy scenic areas.
• Caishen Temple 财神庙: Old temple building that the county calls unique in style and rare in the world.
• Red-base bamboo fungus 红托竹荪: Served at Zhou Enlai's banquet for Nixon and at the Shanghai APEC summit.