Yongqing County 永清县

History

The name dates from 742, when Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang renamed the local county "Yongqing", taken from a phrase meaning lasting peace on the frontier. After the Later Zhou retook the Yijin Pass (益津关) in 959, a second Yongqing County was set up at present-day Bazhou (霸州), and for a time two counties of the same name stood side by side, the northern one under the Liao and the southern one under the Song.

In the modern era Yongqing was folded into Ba County in 1958 and restored as a county in 1961. The county government names the Yuan chancellor Shi Tianze (史天泽), the historian Lei Haizong (雷海宗) and the anti-Japanese war general Lü Zhengcao (吕正操) among its notable natives, and calls the county the birthplace of the Yang family generals (杨家将) story cycle.

What to see

The county holds two sites on the national protection list. The Song-Liao frontier tunnels (宋辽边关古战道遗址) are underground passages the early Northern Song dug against Liao raids; found in the mid-20th century, they spread across five counties, with about 300 square kilometres of the network in Yongqing, and were listed in 2006. The Daxinge Stone Pagoda (大辛阁石塔) is a Liao-dynasty stone pagoda at Daxinge, listed by Hebei in 1982 and raised to national status in 2013.

The Yongqing Costume Museum (永清服装博物馆) in the county's high-tech zone was founded in 2014 by Zhao Bo (赵波), a Hebei intangible-heritage inheritor. It holds more than 2,000 pieces in five display halls and one hall for fashion shows, covering Chinese dress history, cloud collars, Qing court clothing, Republican-era qipao and the dress of China's 56 ethnic groups. The museum treats a Qing yellow kesi silk jacket with a longevity and ruyi pattern as its prize piece.

Food and local products

Dafanzhuang (大范庄) in Biguzhuang Town (别古庄镇) grows Yali pears on the sandy soil left by the old course of the Yongding River (永定河). The county history records pear orchards there in the Tongzhi reign of the Qing, and from 1971 the Tianjin fruit company bought the crop for export through Tianjin port, the origin of the "Hebei Yali pear" (河北鸭梨) label. The county government also lists fruit-stone carving (永清核雕) and clothing among its specialty trades.

Highlights

• Song-Liao frontier tunnels 宋辽边关古战道遗址: Early Northern Song underground passages against the Liao; national protected site since 2006.
• Daxinge Stone Pagoda 大辛阁石塔: Liao-dynasty stone pagoda; national protected site since 2013.
• Yongqing Costume Museum 永清服装博物馆: Founded 2014; more than 2,000 pieces of historic and ethnic dress.
• Dafanzhuang Yali pears 大范庄鸭梨: Grown on the old Yongding River course since the Qing; exported via Tianjin from 1971.