Xisaishan District 西塞山区

What to see

Xisai Hill (西塞山), in Hekou town (河口镇), is enclosed by the river on three sides and linked to the hills behind only by a narrow ridge. It was long a Yangtze defence point: the Huangshi city government lists Sun Ce's attack on Huang Zu (孙策攻黄祖) and the "iron chains across the river" among the battles fought here. The Xisai Hill scenic area was rated national 2A in June 2024. Its main sights include the Beiwang Pavilion (北望亭), Bao'en Taoist temple (报恩观), the Peach Blossom Cave (桃花古洞), the Yuanzhenzi Fishing Terrace (元真子钓台), Longku Temple (龙窟寺) and an old gun battery. Rock inscriptions there include one of Zhang Zhihe's "Fisherman's Song" (渔歌子).

The industrial past is visible on the ground. The site of the Hanyeping coal and iron works (汉冶萍煤铁厂矿旧址), founded in 1889 under the Huguang viceroy Zhang Zhidong (张之洞), keeps iron furnaces, a blast-furnace trestle, four Japanese-style houses and one European-style house, a watchtower and a statue of Zhang. In the workers' village (工人村) of Tianyuan community (田园社区), 21 Soviet-style buildings from the Daye Steel Works (大冶钢厂) expansion that began in 1954 were listed as Huangshi municipal protected sites in 2016.

History

The Shilongtou Palaeolithic site (石龙头旧石器遗址) is dated to 284,000 years ago and is the earliest trace of human activity found in the Huangshi area. The district government calls the district a "cradle of steel" and "home of cement": the Daye Ironworks (大冶铁厂), built from 1914 to 1916, is the forerunner of today's Xinyegang (新冶钢) steel group, and the Huaji Hubei Cement Works (华记湖北水泥厂) was the earliest cement works in central China.

Shihuiyao District (石灰窑区) was formed on 7 April 1979 by merging three city districts; Hekou town joined it at the end of 1994. It was renamed Xisaishan District in October 2001.

The Xisai Shenzhou festival

The Xisai Shenzhou festival (西塞神舟会) is the Dragon Boat Festival rite of Daoshifu village (道士洑村). Work on the "god boat" begins on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, and the festival proper runs from the 15th to the 18th of the fifth month, some 40 days in all, with opera, sacrifices, a procession and the launching of the boat. On 30 September 2009 UNESCO inscribed the Dragon Boat Festival, of which this festival is one of four components, on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Highlights

• Xisai Hill 西塞山: Hill in the Yangtze with river on three sides; national 2A scenic area since June 2024.
• Xisai Shenzhou festival 西塞神舟会: 40-day Dragon Boat Festival rite of Daoshifu village, part of the 2009 UNESCO inscription.
• Site of the Hanyeping coal and iron works 汉冶萍煤铁厂矿旧址: Founded in 1889 under Zhang Zhidong; furnaces, trestle and Japanese and European houses survive.
• Daye Steel Works Soviet-style buildings 大冶钢厂苏式建筑: 21 buildings in the workers' village, listed as municipal protected sites in 2016.