Heyang County 合阳县

Setting and landscape

The county averages 721 m above sea level. On its border with Huanglong (黄龙) rises Liangshan (梁山), whose highest peak, Molian Peak (磨镰峰), reaches 1,543.8 m. Its western peak, Wudi Mountain (武帝山), takes its name from the shrine to Emperor Wu of Han on its summit and is a national forest park.

History

In 330 BC the state of Wei ceded its lands west of the Yellow River to Qin, which set up the town of Heyang here. In 155 BC the Western Han made it Heyang County (郃阳县), named for its position north of the He River (郃水); the present spelling (合阳) returned in 1964. The county government says the legendary ruler Emperor Ku (帝喾) is buried here and counts among its people Yi Yin (伊尹), honoured as the founder of Chinese cookery, and the Buddhist master Yinguang (印光法师). The Han stele of Cao Quan (曹全碑), a model of clerical script, was unearthed in Heyang, and 31 poems of the Book of Songs, including "Guanju" (关雎), are said to come from or describe the county.

What to see

Qiachuan (洽川), a national 4A scenic area 20 km east of the county town in Qiachuan town, sits on the second terrace of the Yellow River. Boats thread its reed marshes, and Chunü Spring (处女泉) lies within it. The county government describes it as the largest hot-spring lake wetland in the Yellow River basin. Older monuments include a Song-dynasty Confucian temple, a stretch of the Warring States Wei Great Wall, the Tang pagoda of Luoshan Temple (罗山寺塔), the Song pagoda of Daxiang Temple (大象寺塔) and the Ming Xuanwu bluestone hall (玄武青石殿).

Food and local products

Heyang xuemian noodles (合阳踅面), called the county's leading snack, are made from seven parts buckwheat flour to three parts wheat flour in five steps: milling, mixing, spreading, cutting and boiling. Fenyu (粉鱼, "starch fish") is usually made here from sweet-potato starch, because Heyang grows good sweet potatoes. Heyang is also known as China's home of red globe grapes.

Heyang string puppetry (合阳提线木偶) is, according to the county government, the only marionette theatre surviving north of the Yangtze. Heyang tiaoxi (合阳跳戏), a Yellow River folk drama on the national intangible heritage list since 2008, is performed without sung melody or string instruments, accompanied only by gongs, drums, cymbals and suona.

Getting oriented

The Beijing–Kunming and Heyang–Tongchuan (合铜) expressways, National Highways 108, 342 and 628, and the Xi'an–Houma (西侯) and Huanglong–Hancheng–Houma (黄韩侯) railways cross the county.

Highlights

• Qiachuan 洽川: National 4A Yellow River wetland with reed marshes and Chunü Spring, 20 km east of the county town.
• Wudi Mountain 武帝山: Western peak of Liangshan with a shrine to Emperor Wu of Han; a national forest park.
• Heyang xuemian noodles 合阳踅面: Buckwheat and wheat noodles made in five steps; called the county's leading snack.
• Heyang tiaoxi 合阳跳戏: Folk drama with percussion and suona, national intangible heritage since 2008.