Lishui District 溧水区

Setting and landscape

The ground rises from north-west to south-east, and low hills and uplands make up 72.5 percent of the area, reaching 368.5 metres. Wuxiang Mountain (无想山) and Donglu Mountain (东庐山) are among the ranges in the south-east. The district takes its name from the old Li River (溧水), today's Xu River (胥河). Shijiu Lake (石臼湖) lies partly in Lishui, which holds 91.2 square kilometres of it, and thousands of swans winter there. The district sits on the line between Wu (吴语) and Jianghuai Mandarin (江淮官话) speech, with Wu spoken by most people.

History

Lishui County was created in 591 under the Sui. It was raised to a prefecture (州) in 1295 under the Yuan, returned to county status in 1369, and lost its south-western part in 1491 when Gaochun County was split off. It came back under Nanjing in 1983 and became a district in February 2013, ending 1,422 years as a county. Its magistrates included the Song poet Zhou Bangyan (周邦彦) and the Qing writer Yuan Mei (袁枚), and the Korean Confucian scholar Choe Chiwon (崔致远) served here as a county official.

What to see

Tianshengqiao (天生桥), a 4A scenic area in Honglan (洪蓝街道), is a canal gorge. In 1393 Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋) ordered a waterway cut through the hard red rock of Yanzhi Ridge (胭脂岗) to carry grain shipments; workers split the rock by fire, and the result was the Yanzhi River (胭脂河). A natural slab spanning the cliffs was hollowed out and left as a bridge, the "heaven-made" bridge of the name.

Wuxiang Mountain scenic area, a national forest park since 2015, keeps the old Wuxiang Temple site, Han Xizai's reading terrace (韩熙载读书台) and cliff carvings among lakes, pine and bamboo. Putang Bridge (蒲塘桥), a national key heritage site built in the Ming Zhengde years, is described by the district government as the only nine-arch bridge in Jiangsu. The brick Yongshou Temple pagoda (永寿寺塔) of 1606, seven storeys and about 40 metres high, stands in the district seat. During the war against Japan, Lixiang village (李巷) in Baima (白马镇) housed Communist Party, government and New Fourth Army headquarters for southern Jiangsu and was the command centre of the resistance there.

Food and local products

Yudai cake (玉带糕) is said to have been named by the Qianlong Emperor. Other local foods are Qunli goose (群力老鹅), Mingjue pickled greens (明觉酸菜), Baima blackberries and the plums and strawberries of Fujiabian (傅家边). Mingjue iron-picture forging (明觉铁画锻制技艺) and the Luoshan dragon (骆山大龙) are among the district's traditions.

Highlights

• Tianshengqiao and the Yanzhi River 天生桥: Canal gorge cut from 1393 with a natural rock bridge left across it; 4A scenic area.
• Wuxiang Mountain 无想山: National forest park since 2015, with Han Xizai's reading terrace and cliff carvings.
• Putang Bridge 蒲塘桥: Ming nine-arch bridge, a national key heritage site.
• Shijiu Lake 石臼湖: Lake shared with neighbouring areas; 91.2 km² lies in Lishui, and thousands of swans winter there.
• Yudai cake 玉带糕: Local cake said to have been named by the Qianlong Emperor.