Jintai District 金台区

Setting and landscape

Of the district's 309 square kilometres, the district government counts 45 as plain, 60 as loess tableland (塬) and 204 as mountains, so most of Jintai is tableland and mountain rather than plain. The government describes the area as a historic chokepoint on the routes north from Sichuan and from Gansu and Ningxia into the Guanzhong basin.

What to see

Jintai Temple stands on a terrace in the north of the city, about half a kilometre north of the railway station. It dates from the late Yuan or early Ming, and is known as a place where Zhang Sanfeng (张三丰), founder of the Wudang school, practised Daoism. Its buildings follow a central axis up the slope and include the two-storey Jade Emperor Pavilion (玉皇阁), the Hall of the Three Pure Ones (三清大殿), an octagonal pavilion and the Sanfeng Cave (三丰洞); Chinese Wikipedia notes that the Hall of the Three Pure Ones has been turned into the Jintai Academy (金台书院) since 2020.

The district has three national protected sites: the Neolithic Beishouling site (北首岭遗址), Jintai Temple, listed for its Ming to Qing buildings, and the former Baoji Shenxin cotton mill (宝鸡申新纱厂旧址) of 1941 to 1943. The district government also names the Chenbao Shrine (陈宝祠), a place of state sacrifice under the Qin and Han, and Wolong Temple (卧龙寺), where Emperor Xuanzong of Tang stayed on his way into Sichuan. It also lists the tomb of Li Maozhen (李茂贞) and his wife, known as the Tang Prince of Qin's Tomb (大唐秦王陵), and the Changleyuan wartime industrial site (长乐塬抗战工业遗址). Newer attractions it lists include Xifu Old Street (西府老街).

Getting oriented

The Longhai railway, the Xi'an to Lanzhou high-speed line, the Lianyungang to Khorgas expressway and National Highway 310 cross the district from east to west. The Baoji to Zhongwei and Baoji to Chengdu railways and the Baoji to Hanzhong expressway run through it from north to south. The district government sits on Zhongshan East Road (中山东路).

Highlights

• Jintai Temple 金台观: Late Yuan or early Ming Daoist complex linked with Zhang Sanfeng; a national protected site for its Ming to Qing buildings.
• Beishouling site 北首岭遗址: Neolithic settlement site of the Yangshao period, listed nationally.
• Former Baoji Shenxin cotton mill 宝鸡申新纱厂旧址: Wartime mill of 1941 to 1943, listed as a national protected site.
• Wolong Temple 卧龙寺: Where Emperor Xuanzong of Tang stayed on his way into Sichuan, according to the district government.