Wuji County 无极县

Setting and landscape

The Hutuo forms the county's boundary with Jinzhou (晋州市) and Gaocheng District (藁城区), and Jinzhou lies across the river to the southeast. On land Wuji meets Shenze County (深泽县) to the east, Xinle (新乐市) to the northwest and Dingzhou (定州市) to the north and northeast.

History

The Western Han set up a county here called Wuji (毋极县, written with a different first character) under the kingdom of Zhongshan (中山国); the present name dates from 697, under Empress Wu Zetian (武则天). The Zhen (甄) family, a leading northern clan from the Eastern Han to the Northern and Southern dynasties, had its origins here. Their burial ground, the Zhen Family Tombs (无极甄氏墓群) in Shi village (史村), Beisu town (北苏镇), became a provincial protected site in 1982 and a national one in 2013. The county government also claims the idioms about rising at cockcrow to practise the sword (闻鸡起舞) and sleeping with a spear for a pillow (枕戈待旦) as part of its heritage.

Food and local products

Wuji helao (饸饹) is a buckwheat noodle, and the Beisu town version is the most famous: the dough goes into a wooden press set over a big iron pot, is squeezed straight into the boiling water and cooks in a single boil, then gets a meat gravy on top. Zhengwan (蒸碗, "steamed bowls") is a sixteen-dish meal served in black coarse porcelain bowls, eight meat and eight vegetable; the meat dishes, such as square-cut pork, crisp-fried pork, pork elbow, meatballs and cabbage rolls, are boiled first and then steamed. Gang-lu shaobing (缸炉烧饼) flatbread and Wuji pagao (扒糕) are other local foods.

Wuji paper-cutting (无极剪纸) was on Hebei's first provincial intangible heritage list in 2006, and the provincial list also includes the whole-sheep banquet skills of Qiji (七汲全羊宴技艺).

Highlights

• Zhen Family Tombs 无极甄氏墓群: Burial ground of the Zhen clan in Shi village, Beisu town; national protected site since 2013.
• Buckwheat helao 饸饹: Buckwheat noodles pressed directly into boiling water and topped with meat gravy; Beisu town's are best known.
• Zhengwan 蒸碗: Sixteen boiled-then-steamed dishes served in black coarse bowls.
• Wuji paper-cutting 无极剪纸: On Hebei's first provincial intangible heritage list in 2006.