Hualong District 华龙区

History

In the Spring and Autumn period the state of Wei (卫国) had its capital in this area, and the rulers of other states met for covenants at Qicheng. Modern Hualong is much younger. Oil flowed from the Zhongyuan Oilfield's discovery well in September 1975, and in September 1983 the State Council created Puyang city to support the oilfield's development. The city's urban area took the name Hualong District in 2002.

The name comes from Puyang's title "dragon capital of China" (华夏龙都). In 1987 archaeologists at Xishuipo (西水坡) in Puyang uncovered burials with a dragon and a tiger laid out in shells, dated to about 6,400 years ago; the shell dragon is known as the "First Dragon of China".

What to see

The Qicheng site in Qicheng village (戚城村) was a Wei border town and a fief of the Sun family, later of Kong Kui (孔悝), a grandson of Duke Ling of Wei through his daughter, so it is also called Kong Kui's City. The Spring and Autumn Annals and the Zuo Commentary record seven covenant meetings of the states here. It was on Henan's first list of provincial protected sites and joined the national list in 1996. A scenic area built around it from 1991 covers 760 mu. Among the district's historic remains, the district government lists Kong Kui's City along with the tomb of Zilu (子路坟), the disciple of Confucius, the Kuaikui Terrace (蒯愦台) and a covenant terrace (会盟台).

Dongbeizhuang village in Yuecun town (岳村镇) holds Hualong's one national AAAA scenic area, the Dongbeizhuang Acrobatics Culture Park (东北庄杂技文化园区). The district government calls the village a home of Chinese acrobatics and pairs it with Wuqiao (吴桥) in Hebei as the art's two homes, north and south.

Dongbeizhuang acrobatics entered the national intangible-heritage list in 2008. According to the national heritage centre, the craft took shape here at the end of the Yuan and start of the Ming and has been passed down in the village for more than 500 years; its main performing groups are the Liu, Qiao and Li family troupes. Under the Qianlong emperor the Qiao troupe toured more than twenty countries, including Japan and India. Well-known acts include the double rocking board, straw hats, stacked chairs for women performers, the swaying ladder, bowl balancing and the flying fork. Thirteen acrobat families still live in the village, which holds more than a thousand acrobatic props and relics.

Highlights

• Qicheng site 戚城遗址: Spring and Autumn Wei town where seven covenant meetings are recorded; national protected site since 1996.
• Dongbeizhuang Acrobatics Culture Park 东北庄杂技文化园区: The district's national AAAA scenic area, in the acrobatics village of Dongbeizhuang.
• Dongbeizhuang acrobatics 东北庄杂技: National intangible heritage since 2008; formed in the late Yuan and early Ming, with the Liu, Qiao and Li family troupes as its main performers.