Shouxian County (ancient city)

The ancient city of Shouxian was the capital of Chu State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Outside the ancient city, there is a well-preserved Song Dynasty city wall, which has been continuously renovated in the past dynasties. The outer side is tiled, which plays the dual role of military defense and flood control. Closely related to the city wall are "deep love", "people in the door", "people not enough in the heart". Swallowing the Elephant" and other stories. Surrounded by a moat outside the city wall, along the Huai River in the north, take a walk on the city wall, you can see a good scenery. There are row upon row of ancient buildings in the ancient city, and the local people still live here with a strong atmosphere of life. There are four city gates in the ancient city of Shouxian, the west gate Dinghu Gate, the south gate Tongfei Gate, the east gate Binyang Gate, and the north gate Jinghuai Gate. It is free to climb the city wall, and only pay to visit the towers on the city wall. , 5 yuan to enter the tower on the south gate, 10 yuan to enter the tower on the east gate. The west gate is very small. The south gate has been newly renovated. There are three gates. It is recommended to go to the east gate and the north gate. Both are old city gates, both of which have retained the Wengcheng. The tour route in the ancient city is very casual. You can first see the mosque not far from the south gate. It was built according to the standards of the royal palace in the Ming Dynasty, and the hall is very magnificent. The peculiarity of the mosque is that it is dominated by Chinese-style buildings. Only from the Islamic patterns on the arches and other details can it be seen that this is a mosque. When you come to the West Street of the ancient city, you must visit the Xiashou County Museum, which houses many cultural relics of the Chu State. It should be noted that the museum is closed on Mondays, and will be temporarily closed at noon for a lunch break. Opposite the museum is the Confucian Temple, and the three-storey Kuiguang Pavilion on the street can be used as a landmark for road identification. The two thousand-year-old ginkgo trees in the Confucian Temple are worth seeing. Today, the Confucius Temple is also the center for the elderly in Shou County. You can often see elderly people dancing and playing mahjong on the open-air boulder table. On the way from the Confucius Temple to the East Gate, you can pay attention to the Christian Church, which is also a Chinese-style building. Not far north of the East Gate is Baoen Temple, which has a history of more than 1,300 years. After the founding of New China, it once became the Shouxian Museum. There are thousand-year-old ginkgo trees in front of the Mahavira Hall of the temple. The eighteen Arhat clay sculptures in the hall are especially precious. The lines of the Buddha statues are smooth and vivid, and the clothes on their bodies seem to be real. Beef soup is the delicacy in the ancient city of Shouxian County. There are mosques and Muslims here, and the beef soup is well-deserved. The Bagong Mountain in the north of the ancient city is the birthplace of tofu. You can taste the tofu feast in the restaurant of the ancient city. There is also "Da Jiu Jia", whose name is related to Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty. It is a kind of snack, which is sold at street stalls. The northern part of the ancient city of Shouxian County is protected, so the new county towns are developed to the south, and there are accommodation in and outside the city. The ancient city wall will be lit at night, you can go to see the night view.