Xun County 浚县

Setting and landscape

Plain makes up 82 per cent of the county and hills the rest; the highest point is 231.8 metres. The county government sums up the land as six hills, three rivers and 32 slopes, with the Huolong Ridge (火龙岗) in the west and a great sandy hollow in the east. The Wei River crosses the whole county and the Qi River (淇河) flows south along its western boundary.

History

The area was called Li (黎) under the Shang. Liyang County (黎阳县) was set up in the early Western Han, its seat northeast of Dapi Hill (大伾山). The Liyang old city site, now a national key protected site (2019), was a town from the Western Han to the Northern Song until Yellow River floods destroyed it between 1023 and 1028. Liyang Granary (黎阳仓), built in 583 under the Sui, went out of use after the Yellow River shifted course in 1194. In 1115 the Song raised the area to Xunzhou, with its seat on top of Fuqiu Hill (浮丘山); in 1369 it became Xun County and the seat moved to the flat ground northeast of the hill.

What to see

The Xun section of the Grand Canal and the Liyang Granary site are World Heritage. The street plan of the old town (浚县古城) survives, and its city wall, begun in 1369, still runs 768 metres along the Wei River with two arched gates, Guanlan (观澜门) and Yunshu (允淑门). At the town centre stands Wenzhi Pavilion (文治阁), a Qing tower about 20 metres high; wall and pavilion are a national key protected site. Dapi and Fuqiu hills are covered with temples, and the county government lists the Northern Wei giant stone Buddha as the earliest in China and the largest in the north. According to the Hebi city government, Wang Yangming (王阳明) wrote poems and lectured on Dapi Hill.

National intangible heritage here includes the clay craft nigugu (泥咕咕), shehuo (社火) folk performances, Xilu Dapingdiao opera (西路大平调) and the first-month temple fair, which the Hebi city government dates back over 1,700 years.

Food and local products

Wangqiao village (王桥村) is known as the home of tofu, with a traceable history of 300 years; its tofu is made mostly by hand in seven steps, from bean selection to pressing, and the skin lifted from the pot is eaten cold or rolled round minced meat and fried. Shantang (善堂) peanuts, Xiaohe (小河) Chinese cabbage and Xinzhen (新镇) chives are listed as national noted farm products.

Highlights

• Xun County Old Town 浚县古城: Walls begun in 1369 run 768 metres along the Wei River; Wenzhi Pavilion stands at the centre.
• Dapi Hill 大伾山: Temple hill with a Northern Wei giant stone Buddha; Wang Yangming lectured here.
• Liyang Granary site 黎阳仓遗址: Sui granary built in 583, now World Heritage as part of the Grand Canal.
• Nigugu clay whistles 泥咕咕: Clay craft on the national intangible heritage list.
• Wangqiao tofu 王桥豆腐: Made mostly by hand in seven steps in Wangqiao village, with a traceable history of 300 years.