Xiajin County 夏津县

Setting and landscape

The county is flat land on the alluvial plain of the Yellow River, tilting gently from south-west to north-east, from 34 metres above sea level at Zhaogou village (赵沟村) to 23.5 metres at the Chentun depression (陈屯洼). The Yellow River first shifted through Xiajin in 602 BC and moved away in AD 11. The Chen Gong Dyke (陈公堤), which records credit to the Song official Chen Yaozuo (陈尧佐), runs south-west to north-east through the middle of the county: land above it is sandy riverbank upland, land below it mostly low-lying.

History

Chinese Wikipedia explains the name as a key ford (津) where the states of Qi and Jin met to make alliances. The area was earlier Shu County (鄃县), created in the early Western Han; a county named Xiajin first appeared in 596, under the Sui, and in 742 Shu County itself was renamed Xiajin.

What to see

The Xiajin Yellow River Old Course Ancient Mulberry Grove (夏津黄河故道古桑树群) stands on the sandy land the river left in the south-west of Dezhou, spread over six towns and subdistricts including Suliuzhuang (苏留庄镇) and Yincheng (银城街道); its core area covers 12 villages in Suliuzhuang. More than 20,000 old trees survive on over 6,000 mu, among them the Tenglong and Wolong mulberries (腾龙桑, 卧龙桑), with over 1,000 years of cultivation. FAO experts approved it in principle as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, with the formal award set for April 2018, and it is also a national 4A scenic area.

Madi village (马堤村), close to the canal, keeps chuiqiang (吹腔), an opera named for its accompaniment of flute, sheng and suona that preserves features of early Liuzi opera (柳子戏). Handed down orally in the village for more than 170 years, it is performed at Spring Festival and entered the first Shandong provincial intangible-heritage list in 2009.

Food and local products

Xiajin mulberries come purple, white and black; the county government rates the large, juicy white mulberry as the best, and the fruit is made into wine, juice, dried mulberries and mulberry cakes. Songlou huoshao (宋楼火烧), also called lantern huoshao, is wheat and soybean flour folded into six layers brushed with sesame oil, then pan-baked and roasted until it puffs into a lantern shape. It dates from the mid-Qing, was sent to the capital as tribute, and keeps for three years; it is eaten soaked in boiling water or cut into strips and braised with lean meat or egg.

Highlights

• Xiajin Yellow River Old Course Ancient Mulberry Grove 夏津黄河故道古桑树群: More than 20,000 old mulberry trees on the Yellow River's former course; approved in principle as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System and listed as a national 4A scenic area.
• Madi chuiqiang 马堤吹腔: Wind-accompanied village opera preserving early Liuzi opera features; on the first Shandong provincial intangible-heritage list (2009).
• Songlou huoshao 宋楼火烧: Six-layer lantern-shaped baked bread from the mid-Qing, once sent to the capital as tribute.
• Xiajin mulberries 夏津椹果: Purple, white and black mulberries; the white is rated best and the fruit is made into wine, juice and dried mulberries.