Danyang 丹阳市

Setting and landscape

Danyang slopes from northwest to southeast. Low hills, outliers of the Ningzhen hills (宁镇丘陵), cover the west and north, where Crystal Mountain (水晶山) is the highest peak at 166 metres; the east and south are flat land on the western side of the Taihu plain, mostly around 7 metres above sea level. The Grand Canal, the Jiuqu River (九曲河) and the Danjinli canal (丹金溧漕河) form the backbone of its waterways. Across the Yangtze to the northeast lies Yangzhong (扬中市). Groundwater here is mostly karst water that comes up at 45 to 48°C, which the city government describes as hot-spring water.

History

The city counts more than 2,400 years as a walled town. It was the fief of Jizi of Yanling (延陵季子), a Spring and Autumn period figure honoured for his virtue, and the home of the emperors of the Southern Qi and Liang dynasties (齐梁). It began as the settlement of Yunyang (云阳邑) in the Warring States period, became Yunyang County under Qin in 221 BC and was soon renamed Qu'e. Qu'e County was renamed Danyang County in AD 742 under the Tang. Danyang became a county-level city in December 1987.

What to see

The city government calls Danyang a "land of cultural relics south of the Yangtze" (江南文物之邦). Eleven sites are national protected monuments, among them the stone carvings of the Southern Dynasties imperial tombs (南朝陵墓石刻) and the Gecheng site (葛城遗址). Provincial listings include the Tang-dynasty stele of Jizi of Yanling (延陵季子碑) and a Tang bronze temple bell cast in the Zhonghe reign (唐中和铜钟), which the city government calls the foremost Buddhist bell south of the Yangtze. Parks in the city include the Fenghuangshan site park (凤凰山遗址公园) and the Qi-Liang culture forest park (齐梁文化森林公园).

Local performing arts include Dan opera (丹剧), a rare regional form developed from the folk art called "langdang" (啷当).

Food and local products

Danyang styles itself the "capital of eyeglasses" (眼镜之都) and makes spectacle frames as well as optical-glass and resin lenses. The low hills in the north yield axe-cut stone (斧劈石) and ornamental rocks, which the city government rates as high in quality.

Highlights

• Southern Dynasties tomb stone carvings 南朝陵墓石刻: One of the city's eleven national protected monuments.
• Gecheng Site 葛城遗址: National protected monument.
• Stele of Jizi of Yanling 延陵季子碑: Tang-dynasty stele on the provincial protection list.
• Zhonghe-era Tang bronze bell 唐中和铜钟: Provincially protected bell called the foremost Buddhist bell south of the Yangtze.