Baoying County 宝应县

Setting and landscape

The county government places Sheyang Lake (射阳湖) and Guangyang Lake (广洋湖) on the east and Baoying Lake (宝应湖) and Baima Lake (白马湖) on the west. Water covers 488 of its 1,467 square kilometres, a third of the total. Gaoyou (高邮) lies to the south and the Huai'an District (淮安区) of Huai'an to the north.

History

A county was first set up here under the Qin, with names including Dongyang (东阳) and Anyi (安宜). The present name dates from 762: a nun named Zhenru (真如) found eight treasures in Anyi and presented them to Emperor Suzong of Tang, who changed his reign title to Baoying and gave the county the same name. The Baoying section of the Grand Canal is part of the World Heritage listing.

What to see

The county government's list of sights includes the Bailu Island eco-tourism area (白鹿岛生态旅游区), the Baoying Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall (宝应革命烈士纪念馆), the place where Zhou Enlai (周恩来) studied as a boy (周恩来少年读书处) and the "Jiuli Yiqian Dun" group of Han tombs (九里一千墩汉墓群). It also lists Baoying station (宝应站) as the first station of the South–North Water Transfer. Chinese Wikipedia describes Baoying as the source area of the scheme's eastern route.

Food and local products

Baoying holds the titles of China's home of lotus root and of arrowhead (慈姑). Baoying lotus-root starch, made from fresh lotus root, was sent as tribute as early as the Ming dynasty. The county government puts candied pounded lotus root (蜜饯捶藕) first among Baoying's ten famous dishes: lotus root, glutinous rice, candied fruit and white lotus seeds, seasoned with green plum, candied orange and honey, go through more than ten steps of braising, pounding, frying and steaming, and come out dark red, sweet and soft.

Baoying Lake hairy crabs come from water usually 1.5 to 2 metres deep, and in 2004 the China Fisheries Association named them among China's ten famous crabs. Jinghe cake (泾河大糕) is a thin white sweet made from local glutinous rice flour, sugar and candied fruit with walnuts. Anfeng tofu skin (安丰卜页) is pressed from local soybeans so thin that a jin makes twenty sheets; from 1897 it was sent to the court each year after the Guangxu Emperor took to it. Two towns have crafts of their own: crystal crafts in Xi'anfeng (西安丰镇) and random-stitch embroidery (乱针绣) in Luduo (鲁垛镇), which also copies Western oil paintings.

Highlights

• Baoying section of the Grand Canal 京杭大运河宝应段: Runs north–south through the county; part of the World Heritage listing.
• Jiuli Yiqian Dun Han tombs 九里一千墩汉墓群: Group of Han-dynasty tombs on the county government's list of sights.
• Candied pounded lotus root 蜜饯捶藕: Ranked first of Baoying's ten famous dishes; lotus root and glutinous rice cooked through more than ten steps.
• Baoying Lake hairy crab 宝应湖大闸蟹: Named among China's ten famous crabs by the China Fisheries Association in 2004.
• Anfeng tofu skin 安丰卜页: Tofu skin thin enough for twenty sheets to a jin, sent to the Qing court yearly from 1897.