In addition to the rapeseed fields, these six niche attractions in Xinghua are also worth visiting. Have you checked in?
Xinghua, known as Chushui and Zhaoyang in ancient times, is located in central Jiangsu and between the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. It is a provincial-level historical and cultural city with a history of more than 2,000 years. This is a city with rich historical and cultural heritage and a large number of talents. From Xianchun in the Southern Song Dynasty to Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, more than 260 people in Xinghua passed the imperial examination, more than 90 people were awarded Jinshi, and one person was awarded the number one scholar. Most people come to Xinghua for the rapeseed fields, but they ignore the scenic spots in this small city.
If you want to understand a city, a museum is a must-go. Xinghua Municipal Museum is the only national museum in Taizhou. Since its establishment in 1959, it has collected more than 2,000 precious cultural relics. It also has a memorial hall for famous local celebrities Zheng Banqiao and the author of "Water Margin" Shi Naian.
The Xinghua Municipal Museum does not charge tickets, and you can enter the museum for free with your ID card. Our focus is the Zheng Banqiao Memorial Hall, which introduces Zheng Banqiao’s life stories in detail and displays many paintings, including Zheng Banqiao’s original works, bamboos and orchids carved on wooden boards. It is worth a visit for those who like paintings. look.
Xinghua County Office is what we usually call the county government. You can go to Xinghua County Office from the museum, but you need to purchase tickets. Xinghua County Office was built during the Chunhua Period of the Northern Song Dynasty. It is a thousand-year-old county government office. However, the building we see now is not the original one, but was moved from the original site.
Xinghua County Government is famous for the fact that Fan Zhongyan once served as county magistrate here. Fan Zhongyan was responsible for the weir construction project when he was here. You can also see the Meiling and Plum Pavilion built by him in the county government. . However, Fan Zhongyan only served as an official here for three years. When his mother died of illness, he resigned and went home to mourn.
From Xinghua County Office through the Yuedong Gate, you can reach Liyuan Boat Hall, located between Xinghua County Office and the museum. It was originally the private residence of Li Xiaobo, a wealthy businessman during the Qing Dynasty. The sound of the iron shackles clashing was often heard near the prison, so many famous garden masters were invited to design and build this ship-shaped building, which used the sound of the ship's anchor to resolve the sound of the iron shackles.
Liyuan is the only building in Xinghua that has not been damaged. The decoration inside is basically well preserved. On the top of one of the halls, you can still see four pieces of glass that were preserved from that time, with paintings of Chunlan and Autumn respectively. Chrysanthemum, winter plum, summer lotus.
On the way from Xinghua Museum to Zheng Banqiao’s former residence, you can see this four-archway building. It is different from the archways we have seen. This is a four-column and four-door pavilion-style building with two roofs on the top. With double eaves and flying octagonal eaves, it looks very solemn and elegant.
The most amazing thing is that there are 47 plaques hanging on this small four-archway building. There should have been 49 plaques, but those two plaques were removed because they were inconsistent with the dynasty. 47 plaques were hung on it. The plaque records 75 local celebrities in Xinghua.
It only takes two or three minutes from Sipailou to reach the former residence of Zheng Banqiao. Mr. Zheng Banqiao can be said to be the most famous figure in Xinghua and the first of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. You need to buy a ticket to visit the former residence, but it only costs 10 yuan. Many attractions in Xinghua are free, and even the fees are not expensive, which is very conscientious.
Zheng Banqiao’s former residence is not big. It has 8 houses with front and rear entrances. Among them, there are three rooms in the main house. There is also a small study next to the main house, which displays Zheng Banqiao’s daily utensils during his lifetime. and reproductions of paintings and calligraphy.
The orchids and bamboos in the courtyard are rustic and simple, and look particularly quiet, which fully embodies the artistic conception of what Zheng Banqiao wrote during his lifetime: "There is no need for a large room to be elegant, because there is not much fragrance of flowers."
Every city has an old street, and Xinghua is no exception. Jindongmen Old Street is not far from Zheng Banqiao's former residence and can be reached by walking in two or three minutes. This is a thousand-year-old street that was most prosperous during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. At that time, merchants gathered on the old street and there were many shops, making money every day. Therefore, it became It is named "Jindongmen".
In the old street, there is an exceptionally tall and unique stone archway, which is called the Zhuangyuanfang. The Zhuangyuanfang was established by Li Chunfang, a celebrity in Xinghua at that time. Li Chunfang passed the Jinshi examination and won the first place during the Jiajing period, and later became the top scholar. He achieved the official position of prime minister and was known as the "Qing Ci Prime Minister".
What are the characteristic scenic spots in Xinghua?
The tourist attractions in Xinghua City, Taizhou, Jiangsu Province are:
1. Gongji Terrace
Gongji Terrace is located on the bank of Beihaizi Pool in Xinghua City, with a height of 6 meters, covering an area of ??1,300 square meters. The pavilions and pavilions here are close to the city and the water, with towering trees covering the sky and the earth, and the scenery is elegant and beautiful.
Gongji Terrace was built in the Southern Song Dynasty. In the first year of Baoqing (1225), Chen Gai, the magistrate of Xinghua County, used the soil excavated from the reconstruction of large and small Duo islands and rivers to build a 3.5-meter-long building around the county government office in order to defend against the Jin soldiers, Mongolian soldiers and other northern armies crossing Huainan. Kilometers of Tucheng, four gates in the southeast, northwest and four water gates, and a high platform was built on the south side of Tucheng north of the county government; this platform was named according to the orientation of the five elements and its corresponding Xuanwu (divine turtle) among the "four images" It is called "Xuanwu Terrace". At the same time, the "Jinhuai Tower" was built on the "Xuanwu Terrace", which had the meaning of "attack and defense". Zhan Shilong, the magistrate of Yuan Dynasty, once studied here, so Jinhuai Tower is also called Reading Tower.
2. Lizhong Water Forest Ecological Park
Lizhong Water Forest Ecological Park is located at the east end of Shunchuan Road, Lizhong Town, Xinghua City. It is the largest artificial ecological forest base in Jiangsu Province. , was built in the early 1980s, with a total area of ??18,894 acres. At present, the start-up area covers an area of ??1,500 acres, including 1,050 acres of forest land. 100,000 metasequoia, pond cypress and other trees have been planted, which has become a tall, dense and vibrant water forest park. The current forest stock volume is 15,000 cubic meters, and 12 trees are planted every year. % speed increment.
Lizhong Water Forest is different from ordinary tree planting methods. It adopts a special three-dimensional pattern of Lin Duogou Fish, forming a unique water town landscape of "water in the forest, fish in the water, and birds in the forest" . There are more than 10 kinds of wild animals including owls, wild ducks, egrets, black cuckoos, grass parrots, mountain sparrows and other birds than before. There are more than 60,000 birds in the forest at the most, and the normal number is about 30,000. It is currently the largest artificial wetland forest ecosystem in the Lixiahe area. In midsummer, the garden has towering trees and thick shade, thousands of birds are flying, and the breeze is lingering along with the fragrant scent of plants. It really makes visitors intoxicated and forget to leave.
3. Xuanwu Lingtai Scenic Area
The "Xuanwu Lingtai" Scenic Area is located on the bank of Beihaichi River in Xinghua City. The buildings, pavilions and pavilions are close to the city and the water, and the towering trees cover the sky and the earth. The scenery is Elegant and beautiful. This is the largest cultural landscape in Xinghua City, with a history of more than 700 years.
The "Xuanwu Lingtai" scenic spot began to take shape in the Southern Song Dynasty. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, especially during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was built and expanded more than 10 times. The Yiai Temple and Jingxian Temple ( Later it was renamed Quzi Temple), Zhaoyang Academy and Stele Hall. They were praised and praised by more than 100 literati and scholars of all levels in the past dynasties. As a result, a large number of poetic works were produced, including more than 100 poems and more than 10 inscriptions. There are 3 poems, 3 poems, 8 poems, and 8 prefaces (postscripts). At the same time, there was also a collection of poems and essays organized by Yu Linnian, the county magistrate in the sixth year of Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty (1867), including "Gongji Terrace Sings and Collections" and "Xinghua Gongji Terrace Chronicles", as well as Kong Shangren's famous plays with world influence. "Peach Blossom Fan" has greatly enriched the cultural connotation and historical heritage of the "Xuanwu Lingtai" scenic spot, making it one of the important scenic spots in northern and central Jiangsu, comparable to Yangzhou Pingshan Hall and Gaoyou Cultural Tour Platform.
4. Taohua Island Ecological Agriculture Sightseeing Park
Taohua Island Ecological Agriculture Sightseeing Park was established in June 2008. It is located 9 kilometers south of Xinghua City, in the Lincheng High-efficiency Agriculture Demonstration Zone, on the east side of Xingtai Avenue, and the main entrance is connected to Xingtai Avenue. The total land and water area of ??the park is 1,500 acres. The park has a unique fishing center, osmanthus seedling garden, boutique peach orchard, grape sightseeing corridor, ecological restaurant, leisure club, barbecue bar, yurt, etc.
5. Xinghua Ancient City Wall
Xinghua Ancient City Wall was built in the first year of Baoqing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1225 AD). At that time, people in Xinghua dug rivers and took soil to build a circle of earth walls 6 miles, 157 steps long and more than one foot high to resist the invasion of Jin soldiers. The city wall has four gates with towers above them and a moat outside the walls.
In the fifth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1372 AD), the city wall was rebuilt as a brick wall, reaching a height of more than 11 meters. The four gates in the southeast, northwest and northwest are Qiyuan Gate, Wenming Gate, Weiwu Gate and Zhaokui Gate. The fourth floor is Guanhai Tower, Huaizhu Tower, Jianshan Tower and Yangchen Tower. In the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing (AD 1558), in order to defend against the intrusion of Japanese pirates, the city wall was fully built again, and it was completed the following year. Since then, the city wall has been repaired many times. During the Republic of China, the small south gate, small east gate, and small north gate were added to facilitate transportation. So far, the city wall has seven gates.
The Xinghua City Wall has played a role in resisting foreign enemies many times in history. In the history of resisting invaders, the most famous one is the deeds of the county magistrate Hu Gongchen who led the people to resist the invasion of Yuan soldiers, and both sides fought bloody battles. Xinghua City was finally captured because there were no reinforcements, and Hu Zhi County also died with the city. The heroic history is touching.
In 1958, due to the need for reconstruction of the old city, most of the city walls were demolished. The remaining part was fortunately preserved because state-owned enterprises such as department store warehouses and directly-affiliated grain depots were built based on the ancient city. In the early 1990s, the west gate section was also demolished, and now only the heel section of the east city outer wall remains, which is relatively well-preserved, with a length of 65 meters, a height of 5.5 meters, a bottom width of 1.6 meters, and a top width of 1.1 meters.
In 2002, the Xinghua Ancient City Wall was announced by the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government as the fifth batch of cultural relics protection units in Jiangsu Province.
6. Dongyue Temple
The Dongyue Temple, which has a history of more than 600 years, is a famous local Taoist monument in Xinghua City. It is also the only well-preserved Taoist site.
It is located at No. 13, Pailou East Road, Dongda Street, Xinghua City, covering an area of ??more than 800 square meters. Dongyue Temple was built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. It was named after the Dongyue Taishan God worshiped in the temple.
The Dongyue Temple has a magnificent architecture and a strict layout. The main hall is the most famous. There is a folk legend that Li Chunfang, the prime minister of Xinghua, built the main hall of Dongyue Temple in order to honor his parents. It adds a bit of legendary color to it. In 1986, Dongyue Temple was announced as a cultural relics protection unit by the Xinghua County People's Government, and in 2001 it was declared a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit. Later, the Xinghua Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government transferred the use rights of Dongyue Temple from the Municipal Cultural Center to the Municipal Taoist Association. And invested heavily in repair and construction.
After completion, the Dongyue Temple includes the archway, mountain gate, theater building, Four Saints Temple, Luzu Altar, Caishen Temple, Wuyue Tower, Doumu Palace, Changshengyuan, Jingdu Temple and living, fire protection, and commercial facilities. I believe that the Dongyue Temple, which has gone through many vicissitudes of life, will once again shine brightly and become the core place for Taoist activities in Xinghua City and a tourist attraction for the masses.
7. Zhuangyuanfang
Outside the east gate of Xinghua City, Taizhou, there is a thoroughfare of Ming and Qing Dynasties, named Tongtai in ancient times. Since the Qing Dynasty, it has been called Dongchengwai Street Xinghua Zhuangyuan Square. Slightly east is a Zhuangyuan Lane extending northward, which is where Li Chunfang, the number one scholar during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, lived in his early years. Young Li Chunfang studied hard and studied alone in the Tushen Temple in Shenghu. The temple has three bays, the third one leads to the two wells, and the last one leads to the Qingjing. Local chronicles call this place "the reading place of Li Chunfang, the young master of the Ming Dynasty". Li Chunfang passed the national examination at the age of twenty-one and studied hard for another fifteen years to obtain the top prize. In the twenty-fifth year of Jiajing (1546), Li Chunfang went to Chunwei again. The night before the trip, I stayed alone in the temple of the Earth God where I studied when I was a boy. I dreamed that a rabbit turned out to be a deer and was hit in the head. After I woke up, I felt a hundred times more confident. Then he returned to his ancestral home in Jurong to pay homage to his ancestors, stayed at Xiao Temple for the night, and left poems on the wall of the monk's room: Listening to the ringing bells in the mountain temple every year, a horse in the west wind recalls the distant Duke. On that day, a jade belt must be left, and the poem cannot be tied to a sarong. The next year, Li Chunfang won the first prize.
The stone archway across the street at the head of Zhuangyuan Lane was built in the 26th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1547). It has a single door and double pillars. In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing (1565), Li Chunfang became the official of the Ministry of Rites, the prince's Taibao, and the bachelor of Wuyingdian. On January 5, 2009, Xinghua City, Taizhou restored Zhuangyuanfang.
8. Zheng Banqiao’s former residence and memorial hall
It is located at No. 7-8 Zhengjia Lane, Dongchengwai, Xinghua City. It is a professional museum commemorating Zheng Banqiao, a representative figure of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" in the Qing Dynasty. It was built in Xinghua City, his former residence, in 1993 on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Zheng Banqiao's birth. The museum is a three-story building imitating the Ming Dynasty. It has multiple roads and winding corridors, small bridges and flowing water, sculptures and murals, and is decorated with flowers and bonsais. It looks elegant and unique with a unique style. Here are displays of Zheng Banqiao's life and artistic achievements, Xinghua historical celebrities, etc. The Zheng Banqiao Memorial Hall is connected to the Fourth Archway of Xinghua Scenic Spots and the Liyuan Boat Hall, a cultural relic protection unit in Jiangsu Province, and has become an important window and tourist attraction that comprehensively reflects the history and culture of Xinghua.
9. The Four Archways of Xinghua
The Four Archways are located on Pailou Middle Road in the city of Taizhou City. Inside the Four Archways are layers of calligraphy plaques of various sizes and styles. The ink strokes of 47 famous contemporary calligraphy masters such as , Sha Menghai and Zhao Puchu complement each other, making people dizzy. The fact that the small four archways can be favored by so many famous calligraphers shows its importance.
The Fourth Pailou was originally built in the Ming Dynasty. It displays plaques obtained by filial sons and good ministers of Xinghua celebrities from the Song Dynasty to the early Republic of China, for local people to admire and learn from. Most of these plaques were issued by the rulers at that time It was not easy to write it personally or issue it to this person, and it has been passed down to this day. Unfortunately, during the "Cultural Revolution", the building was destroyed and the plaque was scattered.
In the 1980s, Xinghua City rebuilt the Fourth Archway and built it basically according to its original appearance. The area was nearly doubled compared to the historical one. Seven original plaques in the building were also collected from the public, but the original The handwriting has been blurred to the point of being unrecognizable. Fortunately, the most symbolic "Five Mountains Chaotian" on the top of the building is still an old decoration.
10. Li Yuan Boat Hall
Li Yuan Boat Hall is located at No. 13 Wu'an Street in Xinghua City. The boat hall was built during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty and was part of the garden of Li Xiaobo, a wealthy businessman in Yangzhou. Its carvings are exquisite and its structure is unique. The whole building looks like a big ship, with the bow facing west and the position facing east. There is a long step on the south side of the ship hall, which looks like a springboard. When visitors enter the ship hall, they feel as if they are in a large ship. There are corridors on both sides. Through the glass partitions, the furnishings in the hall can be seen. A fan-shaped plaque hangs on the east end of the boat hall, with the four words "Canglang Painted Boat" engraved on it. The roof of the hall is a rolled-peng tile roof, which is exquisite and exquisite. There is a flower stand outside the bow of the ship, and the entwined wisteria trunks are like ship cables tied to the shore. The entire boat hall is like a large, elegantly decorated ship, rippling among flowers, plants and trees.
In 1957, it was listed as a provincial cultural relic protection unit by the Jiangsu Provincial People's Committee.
Xinghua Tourist Attractions
1. Xinghua Duotian
Xinghua Duotian is located in Duotian, Xinghua City, in the middle of the Lixia River. Historically, it was a lagoon swamp area formed by the gradual accumulation of ancient lagoons. Under the impact of upstream water and the support of downstream tides, mounds in the water of varying sizes, shapes, and heights were formed. In order to resist floods, the ancestors built stacks of soil and cultivated on the stacks, forming stacked fields.
2. The hometown of novels
Since ancient times, Xinghua has become a common practice for famous officials and sages to write books and establish stories. From the Yuan Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 320 academic works by the people of the city included in the county annals, 14 of which were included in the "History of the Ming Dynasty·Yiwenzhi" and 3 were included in the "Sikuquanshu". Since the 1980s, a large number of accomplished Xinghua writers have emerged in the literary world, such as Bi Feiyu, Fei Zhenzhong, Wang Qian, Gu Baozi, Zhu Hui, Luo Guoming, Mei Guoyun, Pang Yuliang, Liu Renqian, Gu Jian, etc. , became a striking "Xinghua literary phenomenon" in the literary world.
3. Zhuhong wooden boats
In the Song Dynasty, Zhuhong had a handmade workshop for making wooden fishing boats. From the Song Dynasty to the present, craftsmen engaged in wooden boat making have been passed down from generation to generation, forming a unique Zhuhong wooden boat style that is famous at home and abroad. Zhuhong's shipbuilding process is complex, with many and difficult processes. There are dozens of processes from material selection to cutting, batching, breaking boards, dividing boards, assembling boards, forming, hemping, and oiling.
4. Chenbao Windmill
Xinghua is a water town, and wind-driven waterwheels have always been the main agricultural tools for agricultural drainage and irrigation. With the implementation of agricultural mechanization, agricultural windmills are no longer used, and the windmill manufacturing technology is facing loss. In recent years, Xu Changlong, a farmer from Chenbao Town, has excavated research, inherited innovation, and continuously improved windmill manufacturing technology. The new amusement waterwheel he invented has obtained a patent certificate from the State Intellectual Property Office and is gradually becoming a device for people to watch and exercise. In Shanghai and Changzhou It plays a role in enhancing the beauty and scenery of tourist attractions in large and medium-sized cities such as Yangzhou and Yangzhou.
What are the fun places in Xinghua?
Recommended attractions in Xinghua:
1. Lizhong Water Forest Ecological Park: It is an artificial ecological forest base. Built in the early 1980s, the total area is 18,894 acres. The current start-up area is 1,500 acres, including 1,050 acres of forest land. 100,000 metasequoia, pond fir and other trees have been planted, and it has become a tall, dense and vibrant water forest park. The storage volume is 15,000 cubic meters, and it is increasing at a rate of 12% every year. The Lizhong Water Forest Park was originally a wasteland. After treatment, it has become the largest artificial ecological forest in Jiangsu Province with more than 100,000 metasequoia and pond cedars planted in the park. There are many kinds of trees, and fish and shrimps are playing in the ditches between the stacks. In addition, it is a paradise for migratory birds such as red-crowned cranes, black storks, owls, gray herons, herons, and egrets. You can raft and enjoy the scenery on foot in the park. , if it happens to be the hairy crabs’ tender stage, you can also taste the authentic Xinghua red paste hairy crabs
2. Xinghua Old Street: Starting from Sipailou, this area is the old street of Xinghua. There are two sections of West Street and East Street. Compared with other ancient towns, this one is not very big, with scattered old buildings and many small restaurants. It is also a commercial street. Most of the ancient buildings here are renovated. There are cruise projects around the old street. Just take a walk and take a look.
3. "Xuanwu Lingtai": The "Xuanwu Lingtai" scenic spot beside the Haichi River, with towers and pavilions by the city and the water, and towering trees covering the sky. The scenery is elegant and beautiful. This is the largest cultural landscape in Xinghua City, with a history of more than 700 years. According to historical records, in the first year of Baoqing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1225), Chen Gai, the magistrate of Xinghua County, used the soil excavated from the reconstruction of large and small Duo Islands and river channels to defend himself against the invasion of northern armies such as the Jin soldiers and the newly-rising Mongolian soldiers from crossing Huainan. A 3.5-kilometer-long Tucheng, four gates in the southeast, northwest, and four water gates were built around the county government office, and a high platform was built on the south side of the Tucheng north of the county government office; God Turtle), named this platform "Xuanwu Terrace".