Siyang County 泗阳县

Setting and landscape

There are no hills: the county is an alluvial plain built up by Yellow River floods, a little higher in the west than the east. Water covers 420 of its 1,418 square kilometres. The Grand Canal runs 50 kilometres across the county and acts as a divide: streams south of it flow into Hongze Lake and the Huai (淮河) system, while those north of it belong to the Yi (沂) and Shu (沭) rivers.

History

Under the Qin a county called Ling (凌县) was set up here. Emperor Wu of Han created Siyang County in 116 BC, and in 113 BC the kingdom of Sishui (泗水国) was established with its capital at Lingcheng (凌城), a village in today's Zhongxing subdistrict (众兴街道). The Sanzhuang Han tombs (三庄汉墓群), more than 40 tombs lined up on a north-south axis, are a major site of that kingdom and were listed as a national key cultural relic site in 2013. From 1276 the county was called Taoyuan (桃源), a name used for over six hundred years; in 1914 it became Siyang again because Hunan had a Taoyuan County too.

What to see

The China Poplar Museum (中国杨树博物馆), a 4A site built with the Chinese Society of Forestry and opened in 2007, has nine exhibition halls. The Mazu Culture Park (妈祖文化园), also 4A, was built on two canal islands in 2012; Mazu worship here goes back to a Tianhou temple that Fujian merchants built on Luoma Street (骡马古街) in 1664. The Nanyuan scenic area (南园风景区) is laid out at the former home of the geographer Zhang Xiangwen (张相文). Over the canal, Siyang Bridge (泗阳大桥) is a red, single-tower cable-stayed bridge 666 metres long.

Food and local products

Biaoji (膘鸡) is the dish by which local cooks are judged at weddings and funerals: a layer of seasoned lean pork and egg yolk spread on a tofu sheet is topped with fat pork and yam paste and steamed, so the top turns white and the bottom red. Xinyuan mutton (新袁羊肉) is unusual for being eaten in summer, and runs to more than 30 dishes from head to tail. Chuancheng flatbread (穿城大饼) is baked slowly over wood in a round-bottomed wok, which keeps it thick in the middle and thin at the rim. Traditional banquets follow the "ten big bowls" (泗阳十大碗) of six bowls and four soups. The local craft is Yundu peach-stone carving (云渡桃雕), more than 300 years old and on Jiangsu's intangible-heritage list.

Highlights

• China Poplar Museum 中国杨树博物馆: 4A museum opened in 2007 with nine halls on poplars.
• Mazu Culture Park 妈祖文化园: 4A park built in 2012 on two canal islands; local Mazu worship dates to a 1664 Tianhou temple built by Fujian merchants.
• Sanzhuang Han tombs 三庄汉墓群: Over 40 tombs of the Han kingdom of Sishui; national key cultural relic site since 2013.
• Biaoji 膘鸡: Two-layer steamed pork loaf, white on top and red below, served at local banquets.
• Yundu peach-stone carving 云渡桃雕: Carving craft of over 300 years, on the Jiangsu intangible-heritage list.