Shangyi County 尚义县

Setting and landscape

The land tilts from northwest to southeast, from grassland on the plateau down to hill country, at an average of about 1,400 metres. The highest point is Daqing Mountain (大青山) at 1,919 metres and the lowest 880 metres. Among its 24 rivers are the Dongyang (东洋河), Yuanyang (鸳鸯河) and Yinzi (银子河). Winters are cold: the yearly mean is 4.0°C, the coldest month averages −14.3°C and the warmest 19.8°C, with about 418 millimetres of rain a year.

History

The site of Rouxuan (柔玄镇), one of the six frontier garrisons of the Northern Wei, is at Tuchengzi village (土城子村) in Sangongdi (三工地). Farming settlement spread and villages formed from the Qianlong to the Guangxu reigns. In 1934 Song Zheyuan (宋哲元), governor of Chahar, set up an administrative office here and named it from the phrase "崇尚礼义" ("honour propriety and righteousness"), the same phrase that gave Chongli (崇礼) its name. It became a county in 1936 and passed to Hebei in 1952.

What to see

The Sitai site (四台遗址) lies on a slope south of Sitai Mongol Camp village (四台蒙古营村) in Shijing (石井). Found from potsherds in 2004, it has yielded house sites, farming tools and jades about 10,000 years old, which Xinhua describes as evidence for the start of settled life and of dryland farming. Chagan Nur National Wetland Park (察汗淖尔国家湿地公园) has recorded 202 bird species, according to a list published with Shangdu County (商都县) in Inner Mongolia, including the oriental stork, great bustard and relict gull. Other scenic areas include the Daqingshan scenic area, rated national 4A, and the Shirenbei geopark (石人背地质公园), and the eastern section of the Grassland Skyway (草原天路) road runs through the county. The county holds a sheep show (赛羊会) and a Naadam festival.

Food and local products

The county is building production chains around oats and potatoes. Shangyi oats are listed as a national "famous, special, quality and new" farm product and Shangyi white radish is a provincial regional brand. Local foods include beef and mutton, chewy youmian (莜面), made from naked-oat flour, and huma (胡麻) flaxseed oil.

Highlights

• Sitai site 四台遗址: Settlement site with house remains, farming tools and jades about 10,000 years old.
• Chagan Nur National Wetland Park 察汗淖尔国家湿地公园: Wetland with 202 recorded bird species, including the oriental stork and relict gull.
• Daqing Mountain 大青山: The county's highest mountain at 1,919 metres, with a national 4A scenic area.
• Shangyi oats 尚义燕麦: Listed as a national 'famous, special, quality and new' farm product.