Jintan District 金坛区

Setting and landscape

The west is hill country belonging to the Maoshan range, whose highest peak, Damao Peak (大茅峰), reaches 372.5 m. The east is low, flat land on the Taihu plain (太湖平原), crossed by many rivers. Changdang Lake, also called Tao Lake (洮湖), lies in the south-east and is counted among Jiangsu's ten major freshwater lakes. The district borders Wujin (武进区) to the east, Maoshan and Jurong (句容市) to the west, and Liyang (溧阳) and Yixing (宜兴) across the lake to the south.

History

The Sanxing village site (三星村遗址) at Zhulin (朱林镇) dates from about 6,500 to 5,500 years ago, the late Majiabang (马家浜) and early Songze (崧泽) cultures. Excavations from 1993 to 1998 found more than a thousand graves and over 4,000 objects of pottery, stone, jade and bone.

The county was first set up as Jinshan (金山县) at the end of the Sui. In 688 it was renamed Jintan, taking its name from the "Jintan Baizhang" (金坛百丈) inside the Huayang Cave (华阳洞) on Maoshan. It became a county-level city in 1993 and a district of Changzhou in 2015. The mathematician Hua Luogeng (华罗庚) was born here in 1910, attended the county junior middle school and in 1929 became a clerk at Jintan Middle School, the year he began publishing papers in journals such as the Shanghai magazine Kexue (科学, "Science").

What to see

Chinese Wikipedia describes Jintan as a main part of Maoshan, the "eighth grotto-heaven and first blessed land" of Taoism and the birthplace of the Shangqing (上清派) school; the district's Taoist temples include Qianyuan Temple (乾元观), described as the only Taoist nunnery in Jiangsu, and Yuanyang Temple (元阳观). The district government lists Dongfang Salt Lake City (东方盐湖城), Maoshan Forest World (茅山森林世界), Hua Luogeng Park (华罗庚公园) and the Jintan Museum (金坛博物馆) among its sights.

Food, crafts and festivals

Five of Jintan's traditions are on the national intangible heritage list: the brewing of Jintan fenggang ("sealed-jar") wine (金坛封缸酒), Jintan paper-cutting (金坛刻纸), the Jintan taige (金坛抬阁), the Zhixi giant dragon dance (直溪巨龙) and the legend of Dong Yong (董永传说). The taige is a parade float on which children in opera costume stand on a five-tier frame carried by sixteen men. Zhixi (直溪镇) is described as one home of the Dong Yong story, where Dongyong village (董永村) once had a Wangxian Bridge (望仙桥), rebuilt in the Qianlong era; more than forty related relics and sites are recorded.

Highlights

• Maoshan scenic area (Jintan side) 茅山金坛侧景区: The Jintan side of Maoshan, the Taoist mountain whose Huayang Cave gave the district its name.
• Qianyuan Temple 乾元观: Maoshan Taoist temple described as the only Taoist nunnery in Jiangsu.
• Sanxing village site 三星村遗址: Neolithic site of 6,500 to 5,500 years ago with more than a thousand graves.
• Jintan fenggang wine 金坛封缸酒: Sealed-jar wine whose brewing is on the national intangible heritage list.