Qingtongxia 青铜峡市

Setting and landscape

The land steps down from southwest to northeast, from mountains and low hills through alluvial fans to the Yellow River floodplain and the reservoir; the city government gives the elevation as 1,150 to 1,170 metres. The climate is dry: the city government gives 177.8 millimetres of rain a year, evaporation of 1,946 millimetres and about 2,980 hours of sunshine. The Qingtongxia Reservoir (青铜峡水库) was built in 1967, and since the 1990s the reservoir area has become what Chinese Wikipedia calls the largest Yellow River floodplain wetland in Ningxia, with lakes and the Bainiaotan (百鸟滩, hundred-bird shoal) islands.

History

The canals date from the Qin and Han onwards and include the Qin Canal (秦渠), Han Canal (汉渠) and Tanglai Canal (唐徕渠), and in October 2017 the ancient Yellow River irrigation system of Ningxia was listed as a World Heritage Irrigation Structure, the first on the Yellow River's main stream. In the early Western Han a Lingwu County (灵武县) was set up west of today's Shaogang (邵岗). The county seat of Ningshuo (宁朔县), created in 1724, moved to Xiaoba (小坝堡), today's city centre, in 1943, and Qingtongxia was formed on 15 August 1960 from Jinji (金积) and Ningshuo counties.

What to see

The 108 Pagodas (一百零八塔) stand on the bank of the Yellow River about 20 kilometres west-southwest of the city, 1.5 kilometres west of the old gorge above the reservoir. Chinese Wikipedia describes them as China's largest group of lama-style pagodas: 108 brick stupas on 12 terraces, arranged in rows of 1, 3, 3, 5 and so on up to 19 to form a triangle facing east. Their date is unknown, but Western Xia relics have been found inside, and they became a national key cultural relic protection site in 1988. The city government also points to Qingtongxia Bird Island (青铜峡鸟岛), a wetland where swans and egrets live, the ten-li gorge of the Yellow River with its legends of Yu the Great, the Niushou Mountain (牛首山) temple group and the Ming Great Wall at Bei Chakou (北岔口).

Food and local products

The city government lists Qingtongxia among China's three best source areas for wine grapes, with 22 wineries, and it is known as a "home of tribute rice" (贡米之乡). Dairy herds are concentrated on the northern foot of Niushou Mountain.

Getting oriented

Yinchuan (银川) is 50 kilometres away and Hedong airport 55 kilometres. The Baotou–Lanzhou railway and the Beijing–Tibet Expressway cross the city.

Highlights

• 108 Pagodas 一百零八塔: 108 brick stupas on 12 terraces above the Yellow River; national key site since 1988.
• Qingtongxia Bird Island 青铜峡鸟岛: Reservoir wetland where swans and egrets live.
• Niushou Mountain temples 牛首山寺庙群: Temple group named by the city government among its historic sites.
• Qingtongxia wine grapes 酿酒葡萄: Listed by the city government among China's three best source areas, with 22 wineries.