Shiyan 十堰市

Setting and landscape

The Daba Mountains (大巴山) rise in the south, the Wudang range in the middle and the Qinling (秦岭) in the north, while the Han crosses from west to east; the city government places Shiyan around latitude 32° north, on China's north–south climate divide.

History

Skull fossils of Yunxian Man (郧县人), more than a million years old, were found in Yunyang District (郧阳区) in the late 1980s. The state of Yong (庸), centred on Shangyong (上庸) in Zhushan (竹山), fell to Chu (楚) in 611 BC, and the city government says the Western Zhou minister Yin Jifu (尹吉甫) compiled the Book of Songs (诗经) in retirement at Fangling, today's Fangxian (房县). Qin, Han and Tang rulers exiled people here, among them the Tang emperor Zhongzong (唐中宗). The modern city, named for ten irrigation weirs, grew after 1969, when the Second Automobile Works (第二汽车制造厂), the origin of Dongfeng Motor (东风汽车), broke ground here.

What to see

The Wudang range runs along the south side of the Han; its Taoist peaks, topping out at 1,612 metres, lie in Wudangshan subdistrict of Danjiangkou (丹江口). The mountain's Ming-era temple complex includes the Purple Cloud Temple (紫霄宫), rebuilt in 1413, and the walled Taihe Palace (太和宫) on the summit, from 1419; the Ancient Building Complex became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994. Wudang martial arts, centred on taijiquan, xingyiquan and baguazhang and credited by the national heritage list to the Taoist Zhang Sanfeng (张三丰), joined that list in 2006. In Danjiangkou's Niuhe (牛河) forest area, upstream of the reservoir, the Thousand-Island Gallery (千岛画廊) has islets across a lake.

Food and local products

Yunyang sanhe soup (郧阳三合汤) combines beef, glass noodles and dumplings in one spicy broth; locals eat it at weddings, house moves and before exams, and it joined Hubei's provincial heritage list in 2024. Zhuxi steamed pot (竹溪蒸盆), provincially listed in 2016, is cooked in stages in an unglazed clay pot with pig's trotters, an old hen and dried bamboo shoots. Danjiangkou qiaozuibai fish (丹江口翘嘴鲌) is a national geographical-indication fish, and sour-slurry noodles (酸浆面), hand-rolled noodles in a sour, chilli-oiled broth with bean sprouts and pickled greens, are a Shiyan breakfast.

Getting oriented

The city government sits in Maojian District (茅箭区). The Xiangyang–Chongqing railway (襄渝铁路) crosses the prefecture, the Wuhan–Shiyan high-speed railway (汉十高速铁路) also serves the city, and Shiyan Wudangshan Airport (十堰武当山机场) opened in 2016.

Highlights

• Wudang Mountains 武当山: Taoist peaks in Danjiangkou; the Ancient Building Complex became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.
• Wudang martial arts 武当武术: National intangible heritage since 2006; taijiquan, xingyiquan and baguazhang.
• Thousand-Island Gallery 千岛画廊: Lake with islets in Danjiangkou's Niuhe forest area, upstream of the reservoir.
• Yunyang sanhe soup 郧阳三合汤: Beef, glass noodles and dumplings in one spicy broth; Hubei provincial heritage list, 2024.
• Zhuxi steamed pot 竹溪蒸盆: Stage-steamed in an unglazed clay pot with trotters, old hen and dried bamboo shoots; provincial list, 2016.