Ningwu County 宁武县

Setting and landscape

With the Yunzhong Mountains (云中山) to the east and the Guancen range to the west, Ningwu straddles the Yellow River basin to the south and the Hai River basin to the north; besides the Fen, the Hui River (恢河) on the upper Yongding (永定河) rises here. The average altitude is about 1,600 metres and the average temperature 6.2 °C. Mount Luya has some 660,000 mu of subalpine meadow, and the county government calls its forest ecosystem the largest in North China, home to North China larch, spruce and the brown eared pheasant, a first-class protected bird.

History

Under the Han the area was Loufan County (楼烦县); the Song built Ninghua fort (宁化城), the Ming the Ningwu Pass (宁武关), and the Qing made it Ningwu prefecture. A frontier against northern nomads, it keeps Great Wall remains from the Zhao, Qin, Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, Song and Ming. The Fenyang Palace site (汾阳宫遗址) and the Yangfangkou Great Wall (阳方口长城) are national key cultural relics protection sites; Wanfo Temple (万佛寺), the Ninghua old town and the Ming wall are provincial ones.

What to see

Mount Luya, a 4A scenic area that the county government says joined the World Natural Heritage tentative list in 2017, averages over 2,000 metres; the Xinzhou city government gives its highest peak, Heyeping (荷叶坪), as 2,784 metres, the highest in northwestern Shanxi. A Northern Qi wall follows the cliffs on the southern edge of the Malun grassland (马仑草原), on a ridge known as Chengqiangliang (城墙梁), "city-wall ridge".

The Wannian Ice Cave, also 4A, is a karst cave in a limestone sinkhole 3 kilometres southwest of Madigou village (麻地沟村). It holds columns, curtains and falls of ice that last through summer, and it grows colder rather than warmer with depth. An ice tunnel over 4 metres long leads in; an ice column more than 10 metres tall rises on the second level, and the third level lies 60 metres underground.

The source of the Fen River (汾河源头) is the county's third 4A area; the Ninghua old town (宁化古城), Malun Gorge (马仑峡谷) and the Xuankong "hanging" village (悬空村) are rated 3A.

Food and local products

The cool climate suits minor grains and mushrooms, and Ningwu holds the title of China's home of highland naked oats. Ningwu maojian tea (宁武毛建茶) is made from yanqinglan (岩青兰), a perennial herb that grows at 1,800 to 2,500 metres in the Guancen and Yunzhong ranges; it brews pale yellow and is also made with pear or liquor.

Highlights

• Mount Luya 芦芽山: 4A mountain area with subalpine meadow and walls of several dynasties; on the tentative World Natural Heritage list since 2017, according to the county.
• Wannian Ice Cave 万年冰洞: Karst cave near Madigou village filled with year-round ice formations; colder with depth.
• Fen River source 汾河源头: 4A scenic area at the source of the Fen River.
• Yangfangkou Great Wall 阳方口长城: National key cultural relics protection site.
• Ningwu maojian tea 宁武毛建茶: Pale-yellow tea made from the mountain herb yanqinglan.