Qingyang

The ancestral homeland of the Zhou people on the Loess Plateau of eastern Gansu, with the North Grotto Temple, the Mausoleum of the Zhou Ancestor, the Dongzhi Tableland and the Nanliang revolutionary base — plus distinctive sachet embroidery, shadow puppetry and cave-dwelling folk culture.

Qingyang lies in eastern Gansu on the Loess Plateau, where Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia meet. Its urban district, Xifeng, sits at about 1,400 m on the Dongzhi Tableland, billed as “the greatest loess tableland under heaven”. This is the homeland of Buzhu, the Zhou ancestor who is said to have taught people to farm; the legendary hometown of Qi Bo, the forefather of traditional Chinese medicine; and the site of Nanliang, the Shaanxi–Gansu border revolutionary base. Sightseeing falls roughly into three areas: in and around Xifeng are the Qingyang Museum, Xiao Kongtong, the North Grotto Temple, Longqi Valley and the scenery of the Dongzhi Tableland; 40 km north, Qingcheng has the Mausoleum of the Zhou Ancestor, Yaowang Cave and the ancient city of Qingzhou, all doable in a day; further north, the Nanliang red tourism area in Huachi and the old Huanzhou city in Huanxian are 120–160 km from Xifeng and each need a day. Folk culture is Qingyang's signature: Qingyang sachets, paper-cutting and Huanxian Daoqing shadow puppetry are all national intangible cultural heritage, and the Sachet Festival around the Dragon Boat Festival is the liveliest time to visit. Cave dwellings and sunken-courtyard homes still dot the tableland, and you can stay in a cave guesthouse. Local food includes paomo (crumbled flatbread in mutton soup), saozi noodles, buckwheat hele noodles and Huanxian lamb. Getting there: Qingyang Xifeng Airport has flights to Xi'an, Beijing and other cities, and Qingyang Station on the Yinchuan–Xi'an high-speed railway is about 1.5 hours from Xi'an. Spring (May–Jun) and autumn (Sep–Oct) are best; summers are cool and winters cold and dry. Allow 3–4 days.

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