Shou County 寿县

About Shou County

The city walls and moat give the settlement its outline, while Bao’en Temple, the Confucian temple and mosque reveal different religious traditions within it. At Bao’en, the Qing-period arhat sculptures add a particularly tangible focus. The streets also contain later repairs and adapted shopfronts, so look for individual monuments and surviving details rather than assuming every building shares the walls’ age.

Shou County stood at a crossroads of north-south routes and repeatedly served as a capital: the Chu state moved its capital here late in the Warring States period, and the Western Han kingdom of Huainan, together with Yuan Shu and the Liu Song state, were later based here as well. Archaeologists have identified the Chu capital site southeast of the present county town, near Dongjin ferry. South of the town stands Anfeng Tang (安丰塘), a large irrigation work built by the Chu minister Sunshu Ao that remains in use today as a reservoir.

In the Song dynasty the town became the seat of Shouchun Prefecture. The city walls built at that time survive today, running 7,417 meters and ranked among China's seven best-preserved ancient city walls, noted for their flood-control function; in the severe Jianghuai flood of 1991 the walled town sheltered about 300,000 refugees. Inside the walls, Bao'en Temple, the mosque and the Confucian temple were all built in the Tang dynasty, giving them histories of more than 1,300 years.

What to look for

• The old city walls, gates and moat defining the historic centre.
• Bao’en Temple’s Qing-period arhat sculptures and the religious buildings within the walls.

Location & getting there

Getting to Shou County

Use the Shouzhou Ancient City visitor centre and Binyang Gate on the east side of the walled town. East Street leads into the historic centre and towards the Bao’en Temple quarter.