Liulin County 柳林县

Getting oriented

The county town, Liulin (柳林镇), which the county government calls Shanxi's 'west gate', lies 28 kilometres west of Lishi (离石), the Lüliang city seat, by National Highway 307. Westward the same road crosses the Yellow River on the Jundu (军渡) steel truss bridge to Songjiachuan (宋家川), the county town of Wubao, 24 kilometres away. The Taiyuan–Zhongwei–Yinchuan railway has a Liulin South station. The land is higher in the east than in the west, and besides the Yellow River the main rivers include the Sanchuan River (三川河).

History

Liulin County was formed in 1971 from thirteen communes and a town in the west of Lishi County and twelve in the north-west of Zhongyang County (中阳县) and received State Council approval in 1973.

What to see

Xiangyan Temple (香严寺), a nationally protected site, stands on a low hill in the north-east corner of the county town, with cliffs on three sides. The county government dates its founding to the Tang Zhenguan era (627–649). The Mahavira Hall is a Jin-dynasty building and seven other halls date from the Yuan. The Seven Buddha Pavilion (七佛阁), the only two-storey building, keeps Ming clay figures and ink paintings of Buddhist figures and landscapes on its east wall.

Yuxu Palace (玉虚宫), a Taoist temple begun in 1600, sits halfway up Baoning Mountain (宝宁山) at Qinglongcheng (青龙城), east of the county town. The ridge of its main hall is covered in multicoloured glass work, the screen walls at either end carry glazed coiled dragons, and the main hall holds a seated figure of Zhenwu (真武) more than three metres tall.

Food and local traditions

Liulin wantuan (柳林碗团), also called wantuo, is a batter steamed in small bowls and left to cool, so that it slips out of the bowl whole. It is eaten cold with garlic, chilli, vinegar, ginger and sesame oil, or stir-fried with bean sprouts in winter. Liulin is one of China's five main jujube (red-date) counties, and in 1998 the Ministry of Agriculture named Sanjiao town (三交镇) 'China's first red-date town'.

At the Lantern Festival Liulin sets up panzi (盘子): carved wooden shrine models, usually two storeys and three to four metres tall. They house the Three Officials of heaven, earth and water. The panzi fair, on the national intangible-heritage list, peaks on the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Liulin tanchang (柳林弹唱), ballad singing to pipes, erhu and sanxian performed before the panzi, is on Shanxi's provincial intangible-heritage list.

Highlights

• Xiangyan Temple 香严寺: Hilltop temple in the county town with a Jin-dynasty main hall and seven Yuan halls.
• Yuxu Palace 玉虚宫: Taoist temple of 1600 on Baoning Mountain with glass-decorated ridges and glazed dragon screens.
• Liulin panzi fair 柳林盘子会: Lantern Festival shrine models on the national intangible-heritage list.
• Liulin wantuan 柳林碗团: Bowl-steamed batter eaten cold with garlic, chilli and vinegar.