Jingmen 荆门市

Setting and landscape

The land is high to the east, west and north and opens southwards. Most of Zhongxiang (钟祥) and Jingshan (京山) lies on the southern foot of Mount Dahong (大洪山), and the prefecture's highest point, Zhaigong Rock (斋公岩, 1,050 metres), is in Zhongxiang; Dongbao District (东宝区) in the northwest sits on the Jing Mountains (荆山), below 1,000 metres. Along the Han, river silt and lake deposits have built a plain of lakes, streams and dykes that is the city's grain and cotton belt, dropping to 27 metres at the bed of Changhu Lake (长湖) in Shayang (沙洋).

History

The Qujialing site, a Neolithic village found during reservoir works in 1954, is the type site of the Qujialing culture; carbon-14 dates its houses and graves to about 5,000 to 4,600 years ago. It became a national key protected site in 1988 and one of China's top ten archaeological discoveries of 2023. The name Jingmen comes from Jingmen Mountain (荆门山), two hills that the old prefectural gazetteer describes as facing each other like a gate. The Tang created a Jingmen county and the Song made it the Jingmen military prefecture (荆门军); in 1983 the county merged into Jingmen city, which came directly under the province, and Zhongxiang and Jingshan joined it from Jingzhou (荆州) in 1996.

What to see

The Xianling Tomb on Chunde Mountain (纯德山), 5 kilometres northeast of Zhongxiang, a national historic and cultural city, holds the Jiajing Emperor's (嘉靖皇帝) father, Zhu Youyuan (朱祐杬), and mother. Built from 1519 to 1559, its double-walled enclosure contains more than 30 groups of buildings; the city's culture and tourism bureau calls it the largest imperial tomb in central-southern China. West of the city, the Zhanghe scenic area (漳河风景区) is a man-made lake with islands, where the city's tourism account describes aviation sports; the scenic area also takes in Du Fu Gully (杜甫沟), where the poet is said to have lived.

Food and local products

People's Daily names three local foods: Jingshan qiao rice (京山桥米), a long, translucent grain designated as tribute rice in the Jiajing years; Zhongxiang's panlong cai (蟠龙菜, 'coiled-dragon dish'), a Ming court 'imperial dish'; and Changhu fish cake (长湖鱼糕), steamed from Changhu Lake white fish mixed with starch, egg white and ginger.

Getting oriented

The city government sits in Dongbao District. The Shanghai–Chengdu (沪蓉) and Zaoyang–Shishou (枣石) expressways cross the prefecture, and the Jiaozuo–Liuzhou (焦柳), Changjiangbu–Jingmen (长荆) and Jingzhou–Jingmen (荆荆) railways run through it.

Highlights

• Xianling Tomb 明显陵: Joint tomb of the Jiajing Emperor's parents near Zhongxiang, built 1519–1559; World Heritage and national 5A site.
• Qujialing site 屈家岭遗址: Type site of the Qujialing culture, found in 1954; among China's top ten archaeological discoveries of 2023.
• Zhanghe scenic area 漳河风景区: Man-made lake on Jingmen's western outskirts; described by the city as a national 4A and water-conservancy scenic area.
• Changhu fish cake 长湖鱼糕: Steamed from Changhu Lake white fish with starch, egg white and ginger.