Wutongqiao District 五通桥区

History

English Wikipedia notes that Wutongqiao, once romanised as Wutungkiao, was a salt producer by the 19th century at the latest, and Chinese Wikipedia describes rich underground brine reserves beneath the district. The area was part of Qianwei County (犍为县) until October 1951, when Wutongqiao city was created. It was merged into Leshan County in 1959, restored as a city in 1962, turned into a district in May 1964, and has been a district of Leshan city since 1985.

Food and local products

Niuhua malatang, known in the past as the "salt-works soup pot" (盐厂汤锅), was added to Sichuan's provincial intangible-heritage list in its seventh batch. The district government traces it to the Niuhua salt works, where thousands of cattle hauled brine from the Qing to the war against Japan: salt workers were given the offal of worn-out animals, boiled beef bones with well salt, and cooked skewered offal in the broth. Today the stock is simmered from beef and pork bones with dozens of fried spices, bean paste and fermented black beans, and the dry dipping mix is made from local "bullet" chillies ground by hand. The craft has 18 steps.

Xiba tofu (西坝豆腐), also on the provincial intangible-heritage list, now comes in more than 300 dishes, and Xiba hosts a tofu food festival with a thousand-guest tofu banquet. Wutongqiao fermented bean curd (五通桥豆腐乳) is a Chinese geographical-indication product.

What to see

The Little West Lake–Suoluo Gorge (小西湖—桫椤峡谷) provincial scenic area has two parts. Little West Lake covers 0.64 square kilometres of water, with 1,172 old trees registered and tagged for protection. Suoluo Gorge, 5 kilometres south-east of Xiba town, holds what Wikipedia calls the largest native stand of spiny tree fern (桫椤) yet found.

Highlights

• Niuhua malatang 牛华麻辣烫: Skewers cooked in spiced beef-bone broth, first made by salt workers; provincial intangible heritage.
• Xiba tofu 西坝豆腐: Provincial intangible heritage with more than 300 dishes.
• Little West Lake 小西湖: 0.64 square kilometres of water with 1,172 protected old trees.
• Suoluo Gorge 桫椤峡谷: Gorge south-east of Xiba with a large native stand of spiny tree fern.
• Wutongqiao fermented bean curd 五通桥豆腐乳: Chinese geographical-indication product.