Xiji County 西吉县

History

The land was split among several commanderies and prefectures over the centuries; the Song set up Longde County here, and in Ming and Qing times it belonged to Guyuan prefecture. The present county was created on 10 October 1942. Mao Zedong stayed a night at Shanjiaji (单家集) during the Long March, and on 22 October 1936 the Red Army's main forces joined up at Jiangtaibao (将台堡).

What to see

Jiangtaibao lies on the east bank of the Hulu River (葫芦河), 20 km from the county town. The surviving earth fort, first built under King Zhaoxiang of Qin according to the new county gazetteer, measures about 70 by 68 metres with walls 10 metres high and a gate on the south side. Inside it on the east stands the Red Army Long March Jiangtaibao Joining Monument (中国工农红军长征将台堡会师纪念碑), 22.5 metres tall, built in October 1996 for the 60th anniversary and topped with three carved Red Army heads for the three main forces. The township also holds a stretch of the Warring States Qin Great Wall, which turns east here, Han tombs and the Song fort of Yangmulong (羊牧隆城).

Huoshizhai (火石寨), a national geopark and forest park, is 15 km north of the county town. The park covers some 100 square kilometres of dark-red rock with typical Danxia landform features, in three parts, Yuntai Mountain (云台山), Shisi Mountain (石寺山) and the Great Stone Fortress (大石城), and holds more than 30 grottoes cut over the centuries. The county government describes it as the only site in Ningxia that is both a national geopark and a national forest park.

Xiji Earthquake Lake (西吉震湖) is about 32 km southwest of the county town at Dangjiacha (党家岔村). It formed when the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake dammed the valley, and the county government calls it the largest earthquake-dammed lake in Ningxia. It is long and narrow, about 3.1 km from north to south, with an average depth of about 12 metres and nearly ten kinds of fish, including coloured crucian carp; wild ducks arrive each spring.

Food and local products

Xiji is a farming county, and Chinese Wikipedia lists cabbage, Chinese cabbage, celery, carrots, tomatoes, chillies, cucumbers and garlic among its vegetable crops.

Highlights

• Jiangtaibao 将台堡: Earth fort where the Red Army's main forces met in October 1936, with a 22.5-metre monument built in 1996.
• Huoshizhai National Geopark 火石寨: Red Danxia landform park of about 100 square kilometres with more than 30 grottoes.
• Xiji Earthquake Lake 西吉震湖: Lake dammed by the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake, about 32 km southwest of the county town.