Jingzhou 荆州市

Setting and landscape

Plains cover almost four-fifths of the land, which slopes gently from western hills, topped by Daling Mountain (大岭山, 815 metres) in Songzi (松滋), down to 18 metres at Shatao Lake (沙套湖) in Honghu (洪湖) in the east. Honghu Lake (洪湖) and Changhu Lake (长湖) are among its larger lakes.

History

The city government counts twenty Chu kings who ruled from here over 411 years. In 278 BC the Qin general Bai Qi (白起) took Ying and set up Jiangling county, and the city government notes that 72 chapters of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三国演义) involve Jingzhou. In 2021, the Wangjiazui Chu tomb (王家嘴楚墓) yielded more than 4,600 bamboo slips, including texts of the Book of Songs (诗经). From 1930 to 1932 Zhoulaozui (周老嘴) in Jianli (监利) was the capital of the Hunan–West Hubei revolutionary base (湘鄂西革命根据地), which centred on Honghu.

What to see

The old city walls, 8.83 metres high and 11,281 metres round, keep six groups of gate buildings; the city government dates the wall's beginnings to the Three Kingdoms. Jingzhou Museum (荆州博物馆), founded in 1958 and rated a national first-grade museum in 2008, holds archaeological finds, among them the preserved body of a man from a Han tomb at Fenghuang Mountain (凤凰山).

The Chu King Chariot and Horse Formation (楚王车马阵) belongs to the Xiongjiazhong (熊家冢) cemetery in Chuandian (川店), about 45 kilometres from the city, which the city government calls the largest and best-preserved high-ranking Chu noble cemetery. The city links Zhanghua Temple (章华寺) to the Zhanghua Terrace (章华台), a palace of King Ling of Chu (楚灵王) dated to 537 BC. In Shishou (石首), the Tian'ezhou (天鹅洲) wetland holds a reserve for Père David's deer (麋鹿), set up in 1991 and raised to national level in 1998.

Food and local products

The city government names guokui (锅盔), a crunchy flatbread made as large 'shoe soles' or small crescents, with pork-fat, fermented-soybean and sugared versions. Jingzhou fish cake (荆州鱼糕) is made from fish, pork and lotus-seed powder, and local lore credits it to Nü Ying (女英), a wife of the legendary Emperor Shun (舜). Gong'an beef (公安牛肉) is a beef hotpot served in five styles, including offal, tendon and throat.

Getting oriented

The city government sits in Shashi District (沙市区). Railways include the Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu (沪汉蓉) and Jingzhou–Jingmen (荆荆) high-speed lines, and Jingzhou Shashi Airport (荆州沙市机场) serves the prefecture.

Highlights

• Jingzhou old city walls 荆州古城墙: Walls 8.83 m high and 11,281 m round with six groups of gate buildings; the city government dates them to the Three Kingdoms.
• Jingzhou Museum 荆州博物馆: Founded 1958, national first-grade museum since 2008, with archaeological finds.
• Chu King Chariot and Horse Formation 楚王车马阵: At the Xiongjiazhong Chu noble cemetery in Chuandian, about 45 km from the city.
• Shishou Milu National Nature Reserve 石首麋鹿国家级自然保护区: Tian'ezhou wetland reserve for Père David's deer, founded 1991, national level from 1998.
• Jingzhou fish cake 荆州鱼糕: Fish, pork and lotus-seed powder; local lore credits it to Nü Ying, wife of Emperor Shun.