Xinxiang County 新乡县

History

The county was created in 586, under the Sui, from parts of Huojia and Ji counties, with its seat at Xinle city (新乐城). It was abolished in 1073 and restored in 1090. In May 1949 the county town was split off and enlarged to form the city of Xinxiang, and in 1953 the county government moved from Xiaoji (小冀) into the city. The county was merged into the city in 1959 and restored in 1961. In the 1950s and 1960s it became known across China for high cotton and grain yields, and Mao Zedong visited the county in 1958; the county government records his inspection of Qiliying town (七里营镇).

What to see

The Wei River (卫河) begins in the county at the Hehe sluice (合河闸) in Hehe township (合河乡). The river grew out of the Yongji Canal (永济渠) dug under the Sui in 608 and carried boats for about 1,400 years until navigation stopped in the late 1960s; under the Yuan, Ming and Qing it served as an auxiliary route of the Grand Canal for grain and building materials bound for Beijing.

The Ming-dynasty Hehe Stone Bridge (合河石桥) has stood for more than 400 years on the road to Huixian (辉县市); its plain stone railings are uncarved, but the water-spout beasts are finely cut in relief. The Hehe Taishan Temple (合河泰山庙), now inside the Hehe village primary school, keeps an opera stage rebuilt in 1903 and a Jade Emperor Hall. The Ximing Temple stele of Buddhist images (西明寺造像碑) combines high relief, flat relief and incised line carving.

At Lidazhao village (李大召村) in Dazhaoying town (大召营镇), an oval mound of about 200,000 square metres holds deposits two to three metres deep, from the Yangshao and Longshan cultures through Erlitou, Shang, Zhou and Han; Zhengzhou University excavated it four times between 2002 and 2003. It is on the Henan provincial heritage list.

Food and local products

Longquan golden pears (龙泉黄金梨) are grown in the south of the county. The fruit is nearly round, about 250 grams on average, with crisp, juicy white flesh, a very small core and a sweet taste, and ripens in the middle and late part of September.

Getting oriented

The Beijing–Guangzhou, Xinxiang–Taiyuan and Xinxiang–Heze railways meet here, and the Beijing–Zhuhai expressway and National Highway 107 cross the county.

Highlights

• Wei River at Hehe 卫河: Starting section of the Wei River, a former Sui canal navigated for about 1,400 years.
• Hehe Stone Bridge 合河石桥: Ming stone bridge over 400 years old with relief-carved water-spout beasts.
• Lidazhao site 李大召遗址: Provincially listed mound with layers from Yangshao to Han, excavated in 2002–2003.
• Longquan golden pear 龙泉黄金梨: Crisp, sweet pear from the south of the county, ripening in September.