Mancheng District 满城区

Setting and landscape

The land falls from northwest to southeast: outlying ridges of the Taihang in the northwest, a transition belt from mountains to plain in the middle, and an alluvial plain at the foot of the mountains in the southeast. Heights range from 16.5 metres to 1,052 metres, and mountains make up 54 percent of the area. The Longmen (龙门水库) and Malianchuan (马连川水库) reservoirs lie in the northwest, and the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion passes through. The Cao (漕河), Jie (界河) and Longquan (龙泉河) rivers cross the district, but all stopped flowing after the 1990s.

History

Under the Western Han the area belonged to the kingdom of Zhongshan (中山国), and Beiping County (北平县) was set up here in 201 BC. The Mancheng name first appears in 742, when the Tang renamed Yongle County (永乐县). The county was merged away more than once, re-established by the Jin in 1188, and became a district of Baoding in May 2015.

What to see

The Mancheng Han Tombs (满城汉墓), on the east slope of the main peak of Mount Ling (陵山) at 196 metres, belong to Liu Sheng (刘胜), Prince Jing of Zhongshan, and his wife Dou Wan (窦绾); they are a national protected site and a 4A scenic area. Two more national sites are the family cemetery of Zhang Rou (张柔墓), the Yuan-dynasty Duke of Cai, west of Gangtou (岗头村), and the Fangshun Bridge (方顺桥), a three-arch stone bridge 32.8 metres long that the district dates to the Western Jin Yongjia reign, earlier than the Zhaozhou Bridge.

Mount Baoyang (抱阳山), 3 kilometres west of town, became a provincial scenic area in 1988 and is scattered with old Buddhist temple sites and stone inscriptions. The Shenxing persimmon valley (神星柿子沟) runs for 18 kilometres through persimmon orchards, and Longtan Gorge (龙潭峡谷), 20 kilometres north, is a 4-kilometre ravine called the "Little Guilin of the North".

Food and local products

Mancheng grows mopan persimmons (磨盘柿), large fruit averaging 250 grams that are eaten fresh or made into dried persimmons, vinegar and wine; the national forestry administration named it the home of the mopan persimmon in 2001, and a persimmon festival has been held since October 2002. Strawberries, the district's leading farm industry, were recognised as a quality production base in 1986 and given a geographical indication in 2016. The Honggangshan peach (红岗山桃) was selected by villagers of Zhaijiazuo (翟家佐村) in the early 1980s; it averages 350 grams and ripens from late July to late August.

Highlights

• Mancheng Han Tombs 满城汉墓: Tombs of Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan, and his wife Dou Wan on Mount Ling; national protected site and 4A scenic area.
• Fangshun Bridge 方顺桥: Three-arch stone bridge dated by the district to the Western Jin; a national protected site.
• Mount Baoyang 抱阳山: Provincial scenic area since 1988, with Buddhist temple sites and stone inscriptions.
• Mancheng mopan persimmon 满城磨盘柿: Large persimmons averaging 250 grams; Mancheng was named the home of the mopan persimmon in 2001.