Huanggu District 皇姑区

History

The name, shared with the old village of Huanggutun (皇姑屯), has several explanations. One says the grave of Fanggu (芳古), a Manchu general and the eighth son of Nurhaci's brother Šurhaci (舒尔哈齐), was mistakenly remembered as "the imperial aunt's grave" (皇姑坟); others tie it to a maid or an adopted daughter of Nurhaci (努尔哈赤) buried here. The Huanggutun Incident (皇姑屯事件) took place here.

Huanggu became a ward name in 1938, when Shenyang was divided into eleven districts. After Communist forces took the city in November 1948, the old Huanggu, Beiling (北陵) and Tawan (塔湾) districts were merged to form today's Huanggu District.

What to see

The Qing Zhaoling Mausoleum, known locally as Beiling (北陵, "the North Tomb"), is the joint tomb of Hong Taiji (皇太极), founding emperor of the Qing, and Empress Xiaoduanwen (孝端文皇后). Built from 1643 and largely finished by 1651, it is a national key protected site, and in 2004 it joined the World Heritage listing of the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Its main buildings stand on a single north-south axis, with a spirit way of stone animals leading to the walled Fangcheng (方城) and the burial mound. More than 2,000 old pines, some over 300 years old, grow in the grounds. In 1927 the Fengtian provincial government opened the tomb and the land around it as Beiling Park (北陵公园).

The Xinle site, on the north bank of the Xinkai River (新开河), is a village of the Neolithic Xinle culture, excavated from 1973 and listed as a national key protected site in 2001. More than 40 semi-subterranean house sites have been found, and a carved bird of charred wood from house No. 2 is dated to more than 7,200 years ago; it was the model for the Sun Bird (太阳鸟) sculpture on Shenyang's City Hall Square. The Xinle Site Museum, opened in 1984, shows an excavated house, ten reconstructed dwellings and the finds.

The district government also names the Relic Pagoda of Wugou Jingguang (无垢净光舍利塔) at the Huilong Temple (回龙寺) and the Huguo Falun Temple at the North Pagoda (北塔护国法轮寺) among its historic sites.

Getting oriented

Most of Huanggu lies inside Shenyang's Third Ring Road. The north exit of Shenyang North Railway Station is in the district, and the Santaizi (三台子) expressway gateway is a main road entrance to the city for traffic from Beijing, Dalian, Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang.

Highlights

• Qing Zhaoling Mausoleum 清昭陵（北陵）: Tomb of Hong Taiji, built 1643 to 1651; added to the Ming and Qing imperial tombs World Heritage listing in 2004.
• Beiling Park 北陵公园: Park opened around the Zhaoling tomb in 1927, with a 300,000-square-metre man-made lake.
• Xinle Site Museum 新乐遗址博物馆: Opened in 1984 at a Neolithic village site whose carved wooden bird is dated to over 7,200 years ago.
• Huilong Temple pagoda 无垢净光舍利塔（回龙寺）: Named by the district government among its historic and cultural sites.