Zhuxi County 竹溪县

History

A Zhuxi special issue of China National Travel, carried on the county government portal, places the capital of the ancient state of Yong (庸国) here. At Guanyazi village (关垭子村) in Jiangjiayan (蒋家堰镇), on the Hubei-Shaanxi border, are the ruins of a Warring States-era Chu wall, the Guanya Chu Great Wall (关垭楚长城). It was a frontier post fought over by Qin and Chu, and the magazine ties the idiom "Qin in the morning, Chu in the evening" to it. The same text lists a nationally protected cliff inscription from the Ming Jiajing reign known as "Gathering Imperial Timber" (采皇木).

What to see

Wuling Night Town (武陵不夜城) is the Xiguan old street (西关古街), more than 500 years old, which reopened on 30 December 2023 as a street built around Shan'erhuang (山二黄), a local opera form that the magazine describes as national intangible heritage; stages sit among the crowds and shows run nightly.

The Shibali Changxia (十八里长峡) national nature reserve lies on the northern slope of the eastern Daba Mountains (大巴山). Its forest cover is given as 96.2 per cent, and Xianhu Tianchi (仙湖天池), a lake of more than thirty mu (about two hectares), lies at 1,574 metres.

In Huiwan (汇湾镇), which calls itself the "home of tribute tea", visitors can pick and process tea among terraced tea fields; Meiziya (梅子垭) keeps a stand of 47 Song-dynasty tea trees.

Food and local products

Zhuxi steamed bowl (竹溪蒸盆) is a provincial intangible-heritage dish: eighteen ingredients, among them pig's trotters, an old hen, egg-wrapped parcels, dried bamboo shoots, fresh shiitake and shashen root (沙参), go into one basin that is steamed for five to six hours. The county also names three former court tributes: Meiziya tea, Pengyugou rice (彭裕沟大米) and Cixiaogou nanmu timber (慈孝沟楠木).

Getting oriented

The Xi'an-Shiyan high-speed railway (西十高铁), which opened on 30 June 2026, connects Zhuxi with Xi'an.

Highlights

• Guanya Chu Great Wall 关垭楚长城: Chu border wall ruins at Guanyazi village on the Hubei-Shaanxi line, once contested by Qin and Chu.
• Wuling Night Town 武陵不夜城: The 500-year-old Xiguan street, reopened in December 2023 as a Shan'erhuang opera street.
• Shibali Changxia Nature Reserve 十八里长峡: National nature reserve on the northern slope of the eastern Daba Mountains, with a lake at 1,574 m.
• Zhuxi steamed bowl 竹溪蒸盆: Provincial intangible-heritage dish of eighteen ingredients steamed for five to six hours.
• Huiwan tribute tea 汇湾梅子贡茶: Tea from Huiwan, which calls itself the home of tribute tea; visitors can pick and process tea.