Fengxiang County

Fengxiang County (simplified Chinese: 凤翔县; traditional Chinese: 鳳翔縣; pinyin: Fèngxiáng Xiàn) is a county administered by Baoji City in the west of Shaanxi province, People’s Republic of China. The county covers an area of 1,179 km² (455 sq mi) and as of 2004 had a population of 510,000. The Fengxiang’s government's seat is in Chengguan Town (城关镇).

History

The city of Yōng (雍) located in Fengxiang County, was once the capital of the ancient State of Qin during the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE). As Yong's population expanded over time, the surrounding area became Yong County (雍县). During the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE), a prefectural seat of government was established and renamed Fengxiang County, although people continued to use the old name. Under the Tang, it also served as Xidu (西都), the "Western Capital" of the empire.^[1]

Geography

The county is between 1,000–1,600 metres above sea level. It is located in a sub-humid climate to temperate zones. The annual average temperature is 11.4 degrees Celsius, with a low of −2.2 degrees Celsius in January, and a high in July of 24.7 degrees Celsius, with 625 mm in precipitation. Sunlight remains until 21:00 hours, and it has a frost-free period of 209 days. Its soil is small oil-based, and in the vast region of the south, there is deep soil, with good cultivation for major grain and cotton production. The hilly area north of the mountains to the river contains more than 1,000 river valleys with silt soil .

Agriculture

The county has an agricultural land area of 50,374 hectares, with a forest area of 5.5 hectares, producing 195,361 tons of food, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery output valued at 738.64 million yuan. Main food crops include wheat, with Shaanxi Province is one of the main producing areas; sorghum, corn and beans are followed by other economic crops such as cotton, pepper and tobacco. Farmers in the county has an output of 1,301 yuan per capita net.

Economy

The county produces a GDP 1.48251 billion yuan, with total retail sales of 385.41 million yuan, the balance of savings deposits of urban and rural residents of 1.04604 billion yuan. It has a financial income of 43.43 million yuan, with 72.85 million yuan in financial expenditure. Industries include farming machinery manufacturing, breweries, cement, ceramics, chemicals, machine brick, sugar, flour, and food processing. Natural resources include mines, and mineral resources are limestone, fire-resistant stone, calcite, iron, lignite, and so on. The highway network includes 863 km (536 mi) of roads.

Culture and tourism

The county's specialty, Xifeng Jiu, is well-known at home and abroad. Other handicraft include woodcut New Year pictures, clay sculptures, paper cuttings, fireworks paper guns, lacquer, Fung grass, straw hats, and others. Main tourist attractions include East Lake Park, Gu Cheng, Yin Fung Chi which was built in the Song Dynasty, Weeping Willow Lake in Xiangying, beautiful, the tomb of Qin Mugong south of the mound, and three Yong City Qindou sites, all provincial-level key heritage conservation units.

External links

• http://www.fengxiang.gov.cn/ (Fengxiang county government website)
• http://fengxiang.mofcom.gov.cn/ (Fengxiang MOFCOM)
• The Yongcheng Site of Qin is located in the south of Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province

References

Coordinates: 34°33′36″N 107°25′14″E / 34.56000°N 107.42056°E / 34.56000; 107.42056