Sheyang County 射阳县

Setting and landscape

The Sheyang River is the largest of the four main channels that drain the Lixiahe (里下河) water network east to the sea. It runs 198 kilometres from Sheyang Lake town (射阳湖镇) in Baoying (宝应) and reaches the Yellow Sea 5 kilometres east of Sheyang Port (射阳港). Near the mouth are Sheyang Port and Huangshagang (黄沙港), a national central fishing port. The county seat is Hede (合德镇).

History

The name is older than the county. In 201 BC a Sheyang marquisate was created for Xiang Bo (项伯), its capital at today's Sheyang Lake town in Baoying, named for lying on the north side of the She River (射水), the later Sheyang River. An earlier Sheyang County, distinct from today's, was abolished in the Eastern Jin. The present Sheyang County was founded in 1941 and also takes its name from the river.

What to see

Red-crowned cranes winter in the Jiangsu Yancheng Wetland Rare Birds National Nature Reserve (江苏盐城湿地珍禽国家级自然保护区) within the county, which is why Sheyang calls itself the Hometown of Cranes. About 400 to 600 wild cranes spend late October to March there. The reserve became national in 1992, a UNESCO biosphere reserve the same year, and in 2019 part of the World Heritage site of migratory bird habitats on the Yellow Sea and Bohai coast.

The Sheyang Andersen Fairy Tale Park (射阳安徒生童话乐园), which blends Eastern settings with Western fairy tales, and Xixin Temple (息心寺) are both 4A scenic areas. The county government also names the Light of the Wetland viewing platform (湿地之光观景平台) and a pick-your-own tropical fruit orchard in Haitong (海通镇) with dragon fruit, passion fruit and guava.

Food and local products

Sheyang rice (射阳大米) is a national geographical-indication product, and in October 2019 the county was named a home of quality japonica rice. The Yancheng culture and tourism bureau says farmers grew mainly hybrid rice until the 1990s, then switched to japonica, and the rice soon gained a name in Shanghai and southern Jiangsu. Yangma chrysanthemum tea (洋马菊花茶) comes from Yangma (洋马镇): the flowers are picked, dried in shade, sun-dried and steamed, then baked.

Highlights

• Jiangsu Yancheng Wetland Rare Birds National Nature Reserve 江苏盐城湿地珍禽国家级自然保护区: Wintering ground of 400 to 600 wild red-crowned cranes; part of a World Heritage site since 2019.
• Huangshagang 黄沙港: National central fishing port near the Sheyang River mouth.
• Sheyang rice 射阳大米: Geographical-indication japonica rice.
• Yangma chrysanthemum tea 洋马菊花茶: Chrysanthemum tea from Yangma town.