Wujin District 武进区

History

The district government dates settlement here to more than 5,000 years ago and cites Neolithic village finds at Qingdun (青墩) in Henglin (横林). In the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods the area, then called Yanling (延陵), was the fief of Ji Zha (季札) of the state of Wu. The name Wujin, 'advance by arms', goes back to 234, when Sun Quan (孙权) of Eastern Wu renamed Dantu (丹徒); a Wujin County was set up in 281. Split into Wujin and Yanghu (阳湖) counties in 1726, it was reunited in November 1911. In 1949 its county town was separated off to form the city of Changzhou, and the county seat moved from the city to Hutang (湖塘) in 1993. Wujin became a county-level city in 1995 and a district in 2002, and in 2015 it absorbed the former Qishuyan District (戚墅堰区).

Wujin dialect belongs to the Changzhou group of northern Wu Chinese and keeps the old voiced initials, so that the words for 'freeze' (冻) and 'cave' (洞) sound different. The district government notes that some words in the east, around Henglin, carry a Wuxi accent, while some in the south, around Caoqiao (漕桥), sound close to Yixing (宜兴) speech.

What to see

The Yancheng site (淹城遗址), in Yancheng village of Hutang town, is a walled town of the Spring and Autumn period laid out as three nested enclosures, each with its own moat: a core enclosure, an inner city and an outer city. It became a national key heritage site in 1988 and a national 5A scenic area in 2017, with amusement facilities outside the ruins. The district government describes it as the best-preserved surface city site in China from the Western Zhou to the early Spring and Autumn period.

Food and local products

From Lake Tai come the 'three whites' (太湖三白): whitebait (银鱼), which has no bones, white fish (白鱼) with fine flesh and soft bones, and thin-shelled white shrimp (白虾). Green tea grows in the hills around Xueyan (雪堰), Panjia (潘家), Caoqiao and Hengshanqiao (横山桥), mainly biluochun (碧螺春) and the local Yanghu Xinyue (阳湖新月). Xueyan and Panjia have grown juicy peaches since the Republican era; being close to Wuxi, they are known as 'Wuxi honey peaches'. Grapes are grown across the district, and Lijia (礼嘉) grapes gained a geographical-indication trademark in April 2020.

Highlights

• Yancheng site 淹城遗址: Spring and Autumn walled town of three nested walls and moats; national key heritage site from 1988, 5A scenic area from 2017.
• Lake Tai three whites 太湖三白: Whitebait, white fish and white shrimp from Lake Tai.
• Yanghu Xinyue green tea 阳湖新月: Green tea from the Chengwan tea farm in Panjia.
• Lijia grapes 礼嘉葡萄: Geographical-indication trademark since April 2020.