Haixing County 海兴县

Setting and landscape

The county lies on the lower Xuanhui River (宣惠河) and has 9.38 kilometres of coastline. Its one hill, Xiaoshan (小山), also called Maliu Shan (马骝山), stands 5 kilometres east of the county town, and the county government calls it the only mountain in Cangzhou. It rises just over 30 metres and runs about 7 kilometres from south to north, 1.5 kilometres wide, before turning west; it was built up by repeated volcanic eruptions 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, late in the Quaternary. The climate is warm-temperate and sub-humid, with a mean of 12.1°C and about 600 millimetres of rain a year.

History

Before 1965 this land was divided between Yanshan (盐山) and Huanghua (黄骅) counties and Wudi (无棣) in Shandong. In November 1964, 51 villages on the left bank of the Sinüsi Jian River (四女寺碱河), now the Zhangwei New River (漳卫新河), were moved from Wudi into Hebei. The State Council approved the new county on 27 March 1965, it was formally set up at Xiaoshan on 26 June, and the seat was later fixed at Suji (苏基). The county government counts Ba Su (巴肃) of the Eastern Han, the Tang chancellor Han Huang (韩滉) and Sun Baoyuan (孙葆元), tutor to the Xianfeng Emperor, among the area's notable people.

What to see

Xiaoshan is a provincial geopark, its slopes scattered with old trees, wells, tombs and tunnels. The provincial wetland and bird nature reserve is so rich in birds that Haixing was named China's home of plovers and sandpipers (中国鸻鹬之乡). The county describes the wetland as an important stopover on the East Asian–Australasian flyway, where more than a million birds rest and feed during each spring and autumn migration. First-class nationally protected species recorded there include the Oriental stork, black stork, scaly-sided merganser, golden eagle and red-crowned crane.

Food and local traditions

The reserve area is known for what are called Haixing's "five famous fresh foods" (五大名鲜): swimming crab, prawns, small mao shrimp (毛虾), mullet (梭鱼) and jellyfish. Xilu bangzi opera (西路梆子) is on the national intangible heritage list, and four items are on Hebei's list: Nanluo opera (南锣戏), Guoqiao martial arts (郭桥武术), traditional box lanterns (盒子灯) and Haixing root carving (海兴根雕).

Getting oriented

Haixing faces the Bohai Sea to the east, with Beijing and Tianjin to the north. The county names the Tianjin–Shantou (津汕), coastal (沿海) and Shijiazhuang–Huanghua (石黄) expressways and the Handan–Huanghua (邯黄) and Huanghua–Dajiawa (黄大) railways among the routes that cross it.

Highlights

• Xiaoshan (Maliu Shan) 小山: Cangzhou's only hill according to the county government, formed by volcanic eruptions 20,000 to 30,000 years ago; a provincial geopark.
• Haixing Wetland and Bird Nature Reserve 海兴湿地和鸟类自然保护区: Provincial reserve on the East Asian–Australasian flyway, visited by more than a million migrating birds each spring and autumn.
• Xilu bangzi opera 西路梆子: Local opera on the national intangible heritage list.
• Five famous fresh foods 五大名鲜: Swimming crab, prawns, mao shrimp, mullet and jellyfish from the reserve area.