Jining District 集宁区

Setting and landscape

The district government describes rolling low hills, mostly between 1,440 and 1,497 metres, flatter in the south and higher in the west and north. Its three rivers, the Quanyuling (泉玉岭河), Bawang (霸王河) and Nidan (尼旦河), belong to the Huangqi Hai drainage. Winters are long and cold under Siberian air, rain falls mostly in July and August, and summers average 21 °C; in 2015 the China Meteorological Association gave it the title "China's grassland summer-retreat capital". Tiger Hill (老虎山), Baiquan Hill (白泉山), Wolong Hill (卧龙山) and the Bawang and Quanyuling rivers have been greened under a "three hills, two rivers" project.

History

The name Jining first appears in the History of Jin (金史), which records a county set up in 1192 at a spring market; under the Yuan it was raised to Jining Road (集宁路). In 1919 a second-class station called Pingdiquan (平地泉站), now Jining South, was built here as a junction on the Beijing–Suiyuan railway. In 1922 a Yuan stele carved with "Jining Road" was found in ruins about 15 kilometres to the southeast, and the settlement took the old name; Jining County was set up in 1924. The Eighth Route Army took the town in August 1945, the city was established in 1956, and it became a district of Ulanqab in 2003.

What to see

The Jining Campaign Red Memorial Park (集宁战役红色纪念园), a national 4A-rated scenic area, includes a memorial hall and Victory Square among 21 sites and holds over a thousand objects. The Pingsui Railway red-culture park (平绥铁路红色文化主题公园) is laid out on the site of the old railway. The Bawang River Eco-Park (霸王河生态公园) is a 3A-rated wetland park, and the top of Baiquan Hill Eco-Park looks over the whole city. Building on its fur industry, the district groups the Jining International Fur City (集宁国际皮草城), the Jining Ancient City (集宁古城) complex and the Moonlight Town (月光小镇) night street into a shopping and leisure cluster.

Food and local products

Glass dumplings (玻璃饺子), also called crystal dumplings, are a festive dish: cooked mashed potato is kneaded with potato starch into a wrapper, filled with carrot and mutton and steamed for about 20 minutes until the skin turns translucent.

Getting oriented

The district government puts Hohhot 120 kilometres to the west, Datong 103 kilometres to the south, Beijing 320 kilometres to the east and Erenhot 300 kilometres to the north. The Beijing–Baotou, Jining–Erenhot, Jining–Zhangjiakou and Jining–Tongliao railways cross the district, and the Beijing–Hohhot and Jining–Datong–Yuanping high-speed lines are open.

Highlights

• Jining Campaign Red Memorial Park 集宁战役红色纪念园: National 4A-rated memorial park with a memorial hall and Victory Square.
• Bawang River Eco-Park 霸王河生态公园: 3A-rated wetland park on one of the district's rivers.
• Jining International Fur City 集宁国际皮草城: Market building on the district's fur trade.
• Glass dumplings 玻璃饺子: Steamed dumplings with a translucent potato-starch wrapper and mutton filling.