Sheqi County 社旗县

Setting and landscape

The county borders Biyang (泌阳县) to the east, Wancheng District (宛城区) to the west, Fangcheng (方城县) to the north and Tanghe (唐河县) to the south. The county sums up the ground as six parts ridge, four parts plain and a little hill: ridges cover about 55 percent of the land, plains line the Tang River and the country north and west of the seat, and low hills rise only in the northeast; the highest point is 711 metres. Thirteen rivers fan out southward to the Tang River and on to the Han; two of them, the Zhao (赵河) and Pan (潘河), curve around the county town and meet south of it.

History

Local tradition ties the name Shedian to Liu Xiu (刘秀), later Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han, who is said to have obtained a wine-shop banner on credit here to raise troops against Wang Mang (王莽). In the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing the town grew into what the county calls the great market town of southern Henan and served as a land-and-water transfer point on the Tea Road (万里茶道). The State Council approved the county on 13 November 1965; the first character of the old name, Sheqi (赊旗), was replaced by a homophone so the name reads "socialist banner". Before that, the area was split among Nanyang, Tanghe, Fangcheng and Biyang counties.

What to see

The Shan-Shaan Guild Hall (社旗山陕会馆) in Shedian was paid for by merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi living in the town and took from 1756 to 1892 to complete. It faces south and runs 195.2 metres from north to south; it was listed as a national key cultural relic in 1988 and the county government calls it the "first guild hall under heaven". The county describes the 72 old streets of the county town as the largest Qing building complex in the Central Plains. Shedian Ancient Town (赊店古镇) and Jiuxiang Town (酒乡小镇) are both national 4A scenic areas, and the county holds a Guan Yu (关公) culture festival and the Shedian storytelling fair (赊店书会).

Food and local products

The liquor maker Shedian Laojiu (赊店老酒) is a mainstay of the county's farm-produce processing industry; its Yuanqinghua strong-aroma baijiu has topped that category in Henan's "ten famous liquors" ranking for ten years, according to the county, and the Ministry of Commerce recognised the Shedian brand as a China Time-honoured Brand in December 2023. The county is also a national base for quality mung beans.

Highlights

• Shan-Shaan Guild Hall 社旗山陕会馆: Merchant guild hall built from 1756 to 1892; national key cultural relic since 1988.
• Shedian Ancient Town 赊店古镇: Old trading town with 72 streets, a transfer point on the Tea Road; national 4A scenic area.
• Shedian Laojiu 赊店老酒: Local liquor brand recognised as a China Time-honoured Brand by the Ministry of Commerce in 2023.