Tongxin County 同心县

Setting and landscape

Chinese Wikipedia names drought as the county's defining natural feature: about 200 millimetres of rain a year against evaporation of some 2,300 millimetres. The ground is broken by gullies, and hills, ravines, mountains and desert make up 65.4 percent of the area. The county government also names the Luoshan National Nature Reserve (罗山国家级自然保护区) among its landscapes.

History

The county government dates the first county here to the Western Han, when it was called Sanshui (三水县), and notes that the Tang–Tibet road and the Silk Road passed through. The modern county was founded as Pingyuan (平远县) in 1874, renamed Zhenrong (镇戎县) in 1914 and Yuwang (豫旺县) in 1928; in 1938 its seat moved from Xiamaguan (下马关) to the town of Tongxin, and the county took that name. According to the county government, about a quarter of Edgar Snow's Red Star over China was written in Tongxin.

What to see

The Tongxin Great Mosque (同心清真大寺) is said to date from the early Ming, on the site of a ruined lama temple. After an earthquake in 1739 it was rebuilt in 1791 on a brick platform 7 metres high, and rebuilt again in 1907. It faces east and combines Chinese-style buildings with Islamic decoration; its screen wall carries a Guangxu-era carving in grey brick of the moon among pines and cypresses, and the prayer hall holds 800 worshippers. The 1936 autonomous government was founded at a congress held in the mosque.

The Red Army Western Expedition Memorial Park (红军西征纪念园) on the southern edge of the county town is a national 4A tourist site and, according to the county culture and tourism bureau, the only memorial in China devoted to the Red Army's western expedition. In Weizhou (韦州) on the eastern foot of Daluo Mountain (大罗山) stands the Kangji Temple Pagoda (康济寺塔), begun under the Western Xia: an octagonal brick pagoda of 13 tiers, 42 metres high. Zhu Yuanzhang's 16th son, made Prince of Qing (庆王) at Weizhou in 1391, paid for a new Thousand Buddha Hall (千佛殿) at the temple.

Food and local products

Tongxin round jujubes (同心圆枣) are a national geographical indication product. The county government also names its beef and mutton, organic goji and wine grapes.

Getting oriented

The Baoji–Zhongwei railway runs through the county, and the Fuzhou–Yinchuan, Beijing–Tibet and Yinchuan–Kunming expressways cross it.

Highlights

• Tongxin Great Mosque 同心清真大寺: Chinese-style mosque on a 7-metre platform, rebuilt 1791 and 1907; site of the 1936 autonomous government's founding.
• Red Army Western Expedition Memorial Park 红军西征纪念园: National 4A site on the southern edge of the county town.
• Kangji Temple Pagoda 康济寺塔: Western Xia-era octagonal brick pagoda, 42 metres high, in Weizhou.
• Tongxin round jujubes 同心圆枣: National geographical indication product.