Chicheng County 赤城县

Setting and landscape

The county averages 945 metres above sea level, and four of its townships border Beijing's Yanqing (延庆) and Huairou (怀柔) districts. Its three main rivers, the Hong (红河), Bai (白河) and Hei (黑河), flow into the Miyun Reservoir and supply more than half of its yearly inflow. The Hei rises in the Heilong Mountain (黑龙山) national forest park in the north-east, and Haituo Mountain (海陀山), at 2,241 metres the main peak of the Dahaituo (大海陀) national nature reserve, rises in the south-west.

History

The first county inside today's borders was Nüqi (女祁县), set up near present-day Diao'e (雕鹗) around the end of the Qin. The Northern Wei kept a garrison town called Chicheng here, and from 1430 the Ming garrisoned the area with guard posts and forts, among them Chicheng, Yunzhou (云州) and Dushi (独石). Chicheng fort became a county in 1693, and Longguan County (龙关县) was merged into it in 1958. During the war against Japan the county was the centre of the Pingbei (平北) anti-Japanese base area.

What to see

The county government counts Great Wall remains from eight dynasties, from the Warring States to the Ming, over more than 400 kilometres. At Dushikou (独石口) it describes the only intact dry-laid stone section of the Ming outer wall, 7 metres high and well preserved for 5 kilometres, below which the old garrison town largely survives. Chicheng Hot Spring (赤城温泉), also called Tangquan (汤泉), lies 7.5 kilometres west of the county seat; it has six vents, with water reaching up to 68°C, and the Kangxi Emperor bathed there for more than 50 days with his grandmother Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.

In Longguan Town the 33.67-metre Chongguang Pagoda (重光塔), a five-storey brick pagoda rebuilt in 1449, has 26 lookout holes on each of its top two storeys and has been a national key cultural relics site since 2013. The Longmen Cliff (龙门崖) inscriptions beside Yunzhou Reservoir include more than 20 carvings from the Yuan and Ming dynasties, one with characters 3 metres square. At Houcheng (后城), Dishuiya (滴水崖), a 600-metre Danxia landform cliff, shelters the Chaoyang Temple (朝阳观) cave shrines begun in 1551. The Haituo Valley (海坨山谷) resort in Dahaituo Township offers camping and hiking, and the Pingbei Anti-Japanese Base Memorial Hall (平北抗日根据地纪念馆), completed in 2012, is at Jiangzhuangzi (姜庄子) in the same township.

Food and local products

Chicheng red peony root (赤城赤芍), a medicinal herb, and Maying watermelons (马营西瓜) carry national geographical-indication certification, and Chicheng green beans (赤城架豆) are a regional brand.

Highlights

• Dushikou Great Wall 独石口长城: Described by the county as the only intact dry-laid stone stretch of the Ming outer wall.
• Chicheng Hot Spring 赤城温泉: Six vents with water up to 68°C, visited by the Kangxi Emperor; national 4A scenic area.
• Chongguang Pagoda 重光塔: Brick pagoda rebuilt in 1449 with lookout holes; national key site since 2013.
• Longmen Cliff inscriptions 龙门崖摩崖石刻: More than 20 carvings from the Yuan and Ming dynasties by Yunzhou Reservoir; Hebei key site since 2008.
• Dishuiya 滴水崖: 600-metre Danxia cliff with the Chaoyang Temple cave shrines of 1551.
• Haituo Valley 海坨山谷: Resort in Dahaituo Township with RV camping and hiking.