Jinfeng District 金凤区

Setting and landscape

The Tanglai Canal (唐徕渠) marks the district's eastern edge against Xingqing District, and the Baotou–Lanzhou railway (包兰铁路) its western edge against Xixia District (西夏区); Yongning County (永宁县) lies to the south and Helan County (贺兰县) to the north. The district government describes a 12-kilometre stretch of the Dianong River (典农河) running north to south through it, with lakes and wetlands such as Yuehai (阅海), Baohu (宝湖) and the Qizi Lianhu (七子连湖) chain of lakes spread across the district. On Yuehai Lake, reed beds, pleasure boats and waterbirds feature in the district's own photo reports.

History

Jinfeng District was created on 1 November 2002 out of Yinchuan's former suburban district (郊区). It kept parts of the old Liangtian, Yinxin, Xingyuan and Luhua townships, took Fengdeng township from Helan County and part of Gaoqiao village from Yongning County, and absorbed two street offices of the old Xincheng District. In August 2003 the townships were abolished and regrouped as the towns of Liangtian (良田) and Fengdeng (丰登).

What to see

Many of Ningxia's large public buildings stand here: the district government lists the Ningxia International Convention Center (宁夏国际会堂), the permanent venue of the China–Arab States Expo (中阿博览会), along with the grand theatre, science centre, museum, library, international exhibition centre and a culture and arts centre.

The Ningxia Museum (宁夏博物馆) moved into its new building at 6 Renmin Guangchang East Street (人民广场东街) on 28 August 2008, the fiftieth anniversary of the autonomous region, and was named a national first-grade museum in 2012. Its collection of some 38,050 objects centres on archaeological finds, Western Xia (西夏) relics and Hui material. The prize piece is a gilt bronze reclining ox, and the collection also holds a stone tomb door carved with the Huxuan (胡旋) whirling dance and a Buddhist scripture in Tangut script found at a pagoda site in Helan County.

Getting oriented

Besides the city government, the district hosts the Ningxia regional Party committee and people's congress, the Yinchuan National Economic and Technological Development Zone, and the Yuehai Bay (阅海湾) central business district, which the district government calls Ningxia's only service-industry park.

Highlights

• Ningxia Museum 宁夏博物馆: National first-grade museum whose new building opened in 2008; known for its Western Xia gilt bronze reclining ox.
• Yuehai Lake 阅海: Lake with reed beds, boats and waterbirds, one of the district's chain of lakes and wetlands.
• Dianong River 典农河: Runs 12 kilometres north to south through the district.
• Ningxia International Convention Center 宁夏国际会堂: Permanent venue of the China–Arab States Expo.