Yanling County 鄢陵县

History

The name goes back to the ancient state of Yan (鄢国). According to the county government's history, the old town of Yan stood on a north-south earthen ridge, and the name Yanling ("Yan ridge") arose from that; as many as 25 well-known earthen ridges rise in the north-west of the county. Two well-known events of the Spring and Autumn period took place here: the Earl of Zheng's defeat of Duan at Yan (郑伯克段于鄢) in 722 BC, and the Battle of Yanling in 575 BC between Jin and Chu, in which the Chu army was beaten and King Gong of Chu (楚共王) lost an eye.

What to see

The county has 27 protected heritage sites at national, provincial and city level, among them the tomb of Xu You (许由墓), the Yin Zhou stele (尹宙碑), Qianming Temple Pagoda (乾明寺塔), Xingguo Temple Pagoda (兴国寺塔) and the Gan Luo cypress (甘罗古柏). Qianming Temple Pagoda, in the north-west corner of the county town, is a six-sided Song-dynasty brick pagoda of the storeyed type, 38 metres high, listed as a national protected site in 2006.

The Yanling National Flower and Tree Expo Garden (鄢陵国家花木博览园), on the north side of national highway 311 east of Bailiang Town (柏梁镇), was designed in 2001 by Professor Liang Yongji (梁永基) of Beijing Forestry University and finished in September 2002. It covers 1,500 mu and was rated a national 4A scenic area in 2005. Its crape myrtle garden holds more than 200 trees several centuries old, and in its wintersweet garden the 300-year-old tree in front of the square is the oldest surviving wintersweet in Yanling. The Central Plains flower and nursery-plant trade fair has been held in Yanling for nineteen editions.

Food and local products

More than 2,400 varieties of nursery trees, potted plants and cut flowers are grown here, and the county has been named China's home of flowers and nursery plants. Yanling wintersweet (鄢陵蜡梅) is prized for its waxy petals, long flowering and strong scent; the locally bred tiger-paw variety opens in the tenth lunar month, which earns it the names early plum and tenth-month plum. Groundwater from Chenhuadian Town (陈化店镇), rich in trace elements, is protected as a geographical-indication product alongside the wintersweet.

Highlights

• Yanling National Flower and Tree Expo Garden 鄢陵国家花木博览园: 1,500-mu garden finished in 2002, a national 4A scenic area since 2005, with centuries-old crape myrtles.
• Qianming Temple Pagoda 乾明寺塔: Song-dynasty six-sided brick pagoda, 38 m high; national protected site since 2006.
• Yanling wintersweet 鄢陵蜡梅: Geographical-indication product; the tiger-paw variety flowers in the tenth lunar month.
• Tomb of Xu You 许由墓: Among the county's protected heritage sites.