Cities > Jianshui County
Overview
Chinese Name: 建水县English Name: Jianshui County
Climate: Subtropical Monsoon Climate
Train Station: Jianshui Station
Background
Jianshui County, under the jurisdiction of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, is located in the southern part of Yunnan Province, on the north bank of the middle reaches of the Honghe River. It borders Mile City, Kaiyuan City, and Gejiu City to the east; the Honghe River separates it from Yuanyang County to the south; it is adjacent to Shiping County to the west; and it relies on Tonghai County and Huarong County to the north. It has a subtropical monsoon climate. Jianshui County is located on the southern edge of the eastern Yunnan Plateau, with a higher terrain in the south and lower in the north. Jianshui was formerly known as Butou and also called Badian. In the east of the city, Yanzidong (Swallow Cave) has ancient human ruins from the Neolithic Age. From 806 to 820 AD, the Nanzhao Kingdom built the "Huilì" city here, with a city-building history of more than 1,200 years. "Huilì" is translated into Chinese as "Jianshui"; during the Dali Kingdom of the Song Dynasty, it belonged to the Abai tribe of the Xiushan Prefecture. Since the Yuan Dynasty, it has been the political, military, economic, cultural, and transportation center of southern Yunnan, flourishing for 7 centuries. In the Ming Dynasty, it was called Lin'an Prefecture; during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Jianshui Prefecture was changed to Jianshui County. [26] After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1950, Jianshui and Quxi counties belonged to Mengzi Prefecture.Climate
Jianshui County belongs to the northern subtropical monsoon climate zone. The climate characteristics are distinct dry and wet seasons, with more rain in summer and drought in winter and spring. The area is hot and rainy in summer, dominated by the tropical system of atmospheric circulation; it is warm and less rainy in winter, dominated by the temperate circulation system and the temperate air mass. The annual average temperature in the region is 17.7℃, the highest temperature is 35.1℃, the lowest temperature is -3.7℃, the annual average rainfall is 800.1 mm, and the annual average evaporation is 1152.6 mm, with evaporation greater than rainfall. May to October is the rainy season, with an average of 126 rainy days per year.Cuisine
Steam Pot Chicken
Steam Pot Chicken is tender and delicious, with the broth entirely condensed from steam, clear and translucent, fragrant and refreshing. It is cooked with no metal ions or inorganic salts that affect the taste of food, and can better preserve the nutrition of the chicken, preserving the original flavor, which is full of aroma.Jianshui Grilled Tofu
Jianshui tofu, also known as Ximen tofu, is made with the water from a large board well outside the west gate of Jianshui City. The water is sweet and delicious, and the tofu made with this water is called Ximen tofu, which tastes extremely delicious. The production technique has been passed down to this day, forming a unique food culture. It has undergone the changes of dynasties and the grinding of time, and has evolved into 12 traditional processes: selecting beans—crushing—sifting bean skins—soaking beans—grinding slurry—diluting raw slurry—separating slurry—boiling slurry—spotting tofu—wrapping tofu—pressing tofu—drying tofu.Jianshui grilled tofu is fermented, drained, and then baked. During the baking process, the so-called "odor" is appropriately diluted, turning its "smell" into a fragrance mixed with the smell of smoke. When eating grilled tofu, sit by the barbecue stall and eat the tofu as it is grilled, dipping it in the sauce.
Jianshui Crossing-the Bridge Rice Noodles
Jianshui Crossing-the-Bridge Rice Noodles are a local specialty food of Jianshui, made with soup, rice noodles, and ingredients. It tastes fresh and delicious, with a unique flavor. Its exquisite cooking techniques and special way of eating enjoy a high reputation at home and abroad.Qujiang Roasted Duck
Qujiang Roasted Duck, due to its careful selection of ingredients, meticulous production, and the use of chestnut trees and pine branches for roasting, is not only ruddy in color and crispy on the skin, but also tender in the meat, with fat but not greasy. The dipping sauce is seasoned with sesame oil, which is spicy, fragrant, and delicious. It is a unique delicacy in the Jianshui area. The selection of ingredients, roasting, and dipping sauce of Qujiang Roasted Duck are very particular. Because the selected materials are all natural ingredients, the flavor of Qujiang Roasted Duck is outstanding.Art
Pottery Firing Techniques (Jianshui Purple Pottery Firing Techniques)
Pottery firing techniques (Jianshui Purple Pottery firing techniques) have been passed down and promoted through generations, forming a unique manual technique that combines calligraphy, painting, carving, inlaying, firing, and polishing, forming the artistic characteristics of "negative carving, positive filling, inlaid remnants, unglazed polishing". In 2008, the pottery firing technique (Jianshui Purple Pottery firing technique) was approved by the State Council of the People's Republic of China and included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.Mang Drum Dance
The Mang Drum Dance, called "Hudu Buluocuo" in the Hani language, is popular in Potou and Puxiong townships. It is a folk traditional dance performed by Hani men, using a Mang drum as a prop. The movements of the Mang Drum Dance originate from the work in terraced fields, which are simple and realistic, rich in the atmosphere of life and light in artistic flavor. During the performance, the dancers form a circle, with the drummer outside, and the Mang drum dancer in the center of the circle. The Mang drums dance together, adjusting the steps according to the rhythm of the drumbeats, dancing gracefully.Flower Lanterns:
Flower lanterns, also known as Jianshui Yi Flower Lanterns, are popular in Lin'an, Nanzhuang, Puxiong, Chake, Guanting, Qujiang, and Dianwei townships. It is a branch of Yunnan flower lanterns, and is a local drama developed on the basis of folk songs and dances of the Han and Yi nationalities. It is one of the more representative folk traditional arts in the Jianshui area.Regional Symbols
Jianshui Onion
A national agricultural product geographical indication. Jianshui onions have fleshy, slightly yellow, and soft scales, and a fine texture.Jianshui Sour Pomegranate
A national agricultural product geographical indication. Pomegranate cultivation is mostly sweet pomegranate as the main planting variety, while Jianshui is mainly sour pomegranate as the main planting variety, the fruit is sour and sweet, with full and crystal clear seeds, and excellent quality.Jianshui Purple Pottery
A Chinese national geographical indication product. Jianshui Purple Pottery has gone through the Han, Tang, Song, and grown in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. There is a saying among the people that "there was celadon in the Song Dynasty, blue-and-white porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty, coarse pottery in the Ming Dynasty, and purple pottery in the late Qing Dynasty". The pottery clay is taken from Wucai Mountain within the territory, which has a high iron content, making the finished product high in hardness, strong in strength, with a metallic texture on the surface, and the sound of metal and stone when tapped. After unglazed polishing and fine polishing, the texture is delicate and bright as a mirror. It has the reputation of "as hard as iron, as bright as water, as smooth as jade, as the sound of a chime".Honghe Dengzhan Flower
A specialty of Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, a Chinese national geographical indication product. Honghe Dengzhan Flower, also known as Dengzhan Xixin, was first recorded in "Diannan Materia Medica" and has a medicinal history of more than 500 years. It is a traditional and classic ethnic medicine used by the Dai, Yi, and Miao nationalities of Yunnan Province for the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. It is also one of the four major categories of proprietary Chinese medicine used in the field of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.Historical Sites
Nalou Governor's Office
The Nalou Governor's Office, commonly known as the Jianshui Nalou Tusi Yamen, is located in Huixin Village, a Yi ethnic concentrated village in Potou Township, about 50 kilometers south of the county seat. It is the former residence of the Nalou Chadian Vice Governor's Office, one of the three most famous Yi Tusi in the southwest, and is known as the Nalou Governor's Office. It is one of the best-preserved Tusi administrative offices in Yunnan. In 1993, the Huixin Nalou Governor's Office was listed as a key cultural relic protection unit in Yunnan Province. In November 1996, it was listed by the State Council as the fourth batch of national key cultural relic protection units.Jianshui Confucius Temple
The Jianshui Confucius Temple covers an area of 114 acres, with a depth of 625 meters. It is divided into six courtyards, and is built in the style of the Qufu Confucius Temple, using a symmetrical palace style on a north-south central axis, with multiple single buildings symmetrically arranged on both sides. The main buildings include one pond, one altar, one garden, one hall, two wings, two ears, two halls, three pavilions, four gates, five pavilions, six ancestral halls, and eight squares, totaling 36 places. Except for Zunjing Pavilion, Kuixing Pavilion, Jingyi Pavilion and Zhaisu Pavilion, which have been destroyed, the remaining 32 buildings are relatively well preserved. In 2001, Jianshui Confucius Temple became the fifth batch of national key cultural relic protection units.Zhilin Temple Main Hall
The Zhilin Temple Main Hall is located on Lin'an Road. It was first built in the late Song Dynasty and expanded in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. It originally had two halls, one pavilion, one hall, one gate, two wings, and two towers. The existing main hall and archway are each one. The main hall is one of the earliest existing wooden structures in Yunnan, built in the second year of Yuan Zhen (1296), with five rooms wide and five rooms deep, with a double-eaved gable and hip roof. There is a Sumeru seat-style platform in front of the hall, and there is a Ming Dynasty white drawing mural in the hall (the other two are in the Jianshui County Museum). The archway was built in the Qing Dynasty, a two-pillar single-story gable and hip roof wooden archway, with the plaque "The First Mountain" hanging under the eaves. There are 3 stone inscriptions in the courtyard.Chaoyang Tower
Chaoyang Tower, formerly known as Yinghui Gate, also known as the East Gate Tower, is located at the east end of Lin'an Road (formerly Jianzhong Road) in the center of the county seat. It was first built in the twenty-second year of Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty (1389). The tower has three floors, and is made up of 48 large wooden pillars that embrace each other and many large pillars and beams to form a solid frame, and then the city walls and gates are built with bricks and stones. The tower is 24.5 meters high, 12.31 meters deep, and 26.8 meters wide, with an area of 414 square meters. It has five rooms wide and three rooms deep, with a circumambulatory corridor and a three-eaved gable and hip roof. The architectural style of Chaoyang Tower is exactly the same as that of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is known as "Little Tiananmen", and was built 28 years earlier than Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It has a history of more than 600 years and is a symbol of an ancient military stronghold on the border of the motherland.Shuanglong Bridge
The Shuanglong Bridge is located on the Lujiang River and Tachong River, 3 kilometers west of the city. It is named because the two rivers meander like dragons, so it is commonly known as the "Seventeen-Hole Bridge". It is a seventeen-hole stone arch bridge with three pavilions, 148 meters long and 3-8 meters wide. It is one of the famous ancient relics in Yunnan Province, and is considered to be the largest and most artistically valuable multi-hole arch bridge in Yunnan Province, and has been included in the history of bridge building in China. On May 25, 2006, the Shuanglong Bridge was approved by the State Council and included in the sixth batch of national key cultural relic protection units.Jianshui Zhu Family Garden
Jianshui Zhu Family Garden faces north and the entrance is a hanging flower gate. The 10-room "stuttering feet building" on the left along the street is connected to the "horse-running turning corner building" behind it, which was the accountant's office and the supply shop at that time. It was the "Zhu Hengtai" general store of Zhu's, which was engaged in import and export trade, buying and selling tin, foreign yarn fabrics, salt, and opium. The front on the right side is the family ancestral hall, and the back is the inner courtyard. In front of the ancestral hall there is a pool of water, with a stage, pavilion, and garden plants on the water. There are right railings by the pool. The front of the whole building is the three-room flower hall, and the "embroidery buildings" of the young lady on the left and right sides. In front of the flower hall is a garden, with transparent flower walls on the left and right sides, which naturally divides it into the east garden and the west garden. In front of the garden there is a lotus pond, bushes, nursery, and flower beds scattered among them, forming a typical and local private garden in the south.Tuanshan Residential Buildings
The Tuanshan Residential Buildings are located 13 kilometers west of the ancient city of Jianshui. Historically, it was the residential area of the Yi people, called "Tusheer" in the Yi language, meaning "the place to hide gold and bury silver". There are 15 large residential buildings, 3 village gates, 3 temples, 1 ancestral hall, and 1 ancestral tomb that are well-preserved. The area of land is 18384.5 square meters, and the area of construction is 16158 square meters. On June 21, 2005, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) announced that it was listed as a world heritage of monumental architecture, confirming that Tuanshan Ancient Village is an example of a rare and untouched precious human heritage in the world.Jianshui Tumu Temple
Jianshui Tumu Temple is located on Guandi Temple Street in the county town. It was first built in the seventh year of Zhengtong of the Ming Dynasty (1442), and has two complete courtyards. There are currently 39 rooms, including the mountain gate, the main hall, the back hall, the four wings, and the six ears, covering an area of 3200 square meters. The architectural style of Tumu Temple maintains the construction characteristics of the Ming Dynasty, presenting a simple and elegant decorative style. It is a full display of the original Ming Dynasty painted art information preserved in the ancient buildings of Jianshui, and is a precious material for the painted art of ancient buildings in Jianshui.
