Minquan County 民权县

Setting and landscape

Minquan sits on the southern flank of the Yellow River alluvial fan, sloping gently from about 70 metres in the north-west to 60 metres in the south-east. The old Yellow River bed divides it: high floodplain to the north, sandy and alkaline land to the south. The county government calls the Shengan forest belt (申甘林带) "Henan's Saihanba" and one of Asia's ten great planted shelter forests, and the Minquan Yellow River Old Course Wetland (黄河故道湿地) is recognised as a protected area for the critically endangered Baer's pochard (青头潜鸭).

History

The area was the town of Dai (戴邑) in the Xia and Shang periods and Waihuang county (外黄县) under the Qin. Until the early Republic the land belonged to Sui and Qi counties; the county was set up in 1928 with the approval of Feng Yuxiang (冯玉祥), then chairman of the Henan government, and named after "people's rights" (民权), one of Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People. Minquan counts the philosopher Zhuangzi (庄子), the pre-Qin thinker Wenzi (文子) and the Southern Dynasties writer Jiang Yan (江淹) among its natives.

What to see

Wanggongzhuang (王公庄), 25 kilometres north-east of the county town, is known as "China's first tiger-painting village"; more than 900 people there work in painting and related trades, and the AAAA scenic area has a gallery street and an art exhibition hall. The Twin Top-Scholar Pagoda (双状元塔) in Shuangta (双塔), 25 kilometres west of town, honours the brothers Song Xiang (宋庠) and Song Qi (宋祁), who passed the imperial examination together in 1024. Other sites are the Kuiqiu Assembly Terrace (葵丘会盟台) linked to Duke Huan of Qi (齐桓公), the old Baiyun Chan Temple (白云禅寺), and the Liguan tunnel-warfare site (李馆地道战旧址) in Beiguan (北关), a provincial protected site whose wartime tunnels ran about 25 kilometres.

Food and local products

Grapes were planted on the old Yellow River bed from the 1950s, and the Minquan winery opened in 1958; the county is called a "home of wine". Minquan was named "home of Chinese river crabs" in 2009, and its lotus root, river crabs, peanuts, grapes and Chinese yam carry national ecological-origin protection; the peanuts and grapes are also national geographical-indication farm products.

Getting oriented

The county lies where Shangqiu, Kaifeng and Heze (菏泽) meet. The Longhai Railway stops at Minquan Station and the Xuzhou–Lanzhou high-speed line at Minquan North, north-east of the county town; the Lianyungang–Khorgas Expressway and National Highway 310 also cross the county.

Highlights

• Wanggongzhuang 王公庄: AAAA-rated village of tiger painters with a gallery street and exhibition hall.
• Minquan Yellow River Old Course Wetland 黄河故道湿地: Henan's only wetland of international importance; a protected area for Baer's pochard.
• Twin Top-Scholar Pagoda 双状元塔: Built for the Song brothers who passed the imperial examination together in 1024.
• Liguan tunnel-warfare site 李馆地道战旧址: Provincial protected site of wartime tunnels about 25 km long.
• Minquan wine 民权葡萄酒: Grapes grown on the old Yellow River bed since the 1950s; winery founded 1958.