Qinyang 沁阳市

Setting and landscape

The Qinyang government places the city on the south-eastern edge of the Loess Plateau. Bo'ai County lies to the east, Jiyuan (济源) to the west, and Wen County and Mengzhou to the south. The urban area sits east of the centre of the 623.5-square-kilometre territory, on the south side of the Qin River (沁河).

History

Before the Qin the place was called Yewang (野王), and it became Yewang County in 205 BC. The Sui renamed it Henei County (河内县) in 596, and from 1368 it was the seat of Huaiqing prefecture. In 1913 the governor of Henan argued that the name Henei, "inside the river", no longer fitted because the Yellow River had shifted east, and proposed Qinyang instead, citing the Qin River north-east of the prefectural city and an old town of that name. It became a county-level city on 27 September 1989, after 2,195 years as a county.

What to see

Shennong Mountain (神农山), a national 5A scenic area, world geopark and national macaque reserve, lies in the southern Taihang 34 kilometres north-west of Jiaozuo city and covers 96 square kilometres. The Qinyang tourism bureau describes it as the place where the Yan Emperor Shennong (炎帝神农) tasted herbs and sacrificed to heaven; an altar stands on the 1,028-metre main peak, Zijinding (紫金顶).

In the city, the Zhu Zaiyu Memorial (朱载堉纪念馆) on Zizhi Street occupies the former music office of the Ming princes of Zheng (郑藩王乐府旧址), a national key protected site since 2001. Its four halls cover Zhu Zaiyu (1536–1611), a descendant of the first Ming emperor who first worked out twelve-tone equal temperament. The Sansheng Pagoda (三圣塔), built in 1171 under the Jin, stands in the courtyard of the Qinyang Museum and is on the fifth national list of protected sites.

Food and local products

Huaifu naotang donkey meat (怀府闹汤驴肉) is sliced cooked donkey with a clear broth poured over it. The broth, the naotang, is made from a long-kept master stock with more than ten spices, among them Sichuan pepper and star anise, boiled hard and then simmered for over 50 minutes. It began in a lane of old Qinyang still called "Donkey-Slaughter Lane" (杀驴胡同), and the technique was listed as provincial intangible heritage in June 2009.

Huaibang (怀梆), on the first national intangible heritage list in 2006, grew out of rain-prayer performances and took shape in the early Ming; singers keep the beat on jujube-wood clappers.

Highlights

• Shennong Mountain 神农山: National 5A scenic area and macaque reserve, described as where the Yan Emperor Shennong tasted herbs.
• Zhu Zaiyu Memorial 朱载堉纪念馆: In the former music office of the Ming princes of Zheng, a national key protected site since 2001.
• Sansheng Pagoda 三圣塔: Jin-dynasty pagoda of 1171 in the Qinyang Museum courtyard; national key protected site.
• Huaifu naotang donkey meat 怀府闹汤驴肉: Sliced donkey meat with a clear spiced broth; provincial intangible heritage since 2009.
• Huaibang opera 怀梆: National intangible heritage since 2006, named after old Huaiqing prefecture.