Ningjin County 宁晋县

Setting and landscape

The land falls gently from north-west to south-east, with only about 12 metres between the highest point (36.5 m, at Mijiazhuang (米家庄)) and the lowest (24.4 m). Eleven rivers, among them the Xiao (洨河), Fuyang (滏阳河) and Old Zhang (老漳河), gather here, and the county has long been called the "lower end of nine rivers" (九河下梢). The south-east is a flood-retention depression that was once open water: Ningjin Marsh (宁晋泊), the northern part of the old Dalu Lake (大陆泽). The marsh lost its steady supply when the Hutuo River (滹沱河) moved north in 1839 and later dried up entirely.

Three fault zones cross the county, which lies in the North China earthquake region. On 22 March 1966 two earthquakes of magnitude 6.7 and 7.2 struck near Dongwang (东汪), flattening every house in a 137-square-kilometre zone; the county government counts it among the larger earthquakes of the past hundred years.

History

In the Western Han, in 196 BC, the counties of Yangshi (杨氏县) and Yingtao (廮陶县) were set up here under Julu commandery (巨鹿郡). The name Ningjin dates from 742, under the Tang, and was chosen for its meaning of peace and good fortune. Between 1820 and 1913 the first character was written differently to avoid the personal name of the Daoguang emperor. The county seat was laid out in the shape of a resting phoenix, following a local legend, and the county calls it the "phoenix city". Tales of Yao (尧) handing power to Shun (舜) and of the archer Ji Chang (纪昌) learning to shoot are also told here, and three villages in the county are named Jichangzhuang (纪昌庄).

Food and local products

Wheat and maize are the main crops. The county lists Xuehua pears (雪花梨), Ya pears (鸭梨) and edible fungi as its local specialities. It has also been named China's home of wire and cable (中国电线电缆之乡).

Getting oriented

The county seat is in Fenghuang Town (凤凰镇), and the county government puts Ningjin 50 kilometres from Shijiazhuang. The Beijing–Guangzhou railway, National Highway 107 and the Beijing–Hong Kong–Macau expressway run along its western side, while the Qingdao–Yinchuan expressway and National Highway 308 cross it. Neighbours are Zhao County (赵县) and Jinzhou (晋州) to the north, Xinhe (新河县), Jizhou (冀州区) and Xinji (辛集) to the east, Longyao (隆尧县) and Julu (巨鹿县) to the south, and Baixiang (柏乡县) to the west.