Qingyang Travel Guide

Chinese Name: 庆阳市 (qìng yáng shì)
Population: 2,266,600
Area: 27,000 square kilometers (10,425 square miles)
Location: in the east of Gansu Province, northwestern China
Administrative Division: 1 district (Xifeng); 7 counties (Qingcheng, Huanxian, Huachi, Heshui, Zhengning, Ningxian, Zhenyuan)
Area Code: 0934
Zip Code: 745000
GDP (2018): CNY 69 billion (USD 10.4 billion)
 

Qingyang is habitually called 'Long Dong' because of its locality in eastern Gansu Province. It borders Shaanxi Province to the east and north in the neighborhood of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to the west. Within the province, it is bounded on the south with Pingliang. Qingyang is considered to be the original place of Chinese farming. Buku, the ancestors of the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC- 256 BC), engaged in farming in Qingyang, which started the Chinese farming civilization. Now Qingyang has a reputation of granary of eastern Gansu for the prolific minor grain crops such as wheat, corn and soybeans. In addition, with a profound cultural heritage of folk customs, Qingyang is famous for traditional embroidery, paper-cut, shadow puppets and folk songs.

The beautiful statues at the North Grotto Temple, cultivation culture highlighted by the Zhouzuling National Forest Park and ancient Twin Pagoda Temple are the most visible parts of Qingyang travel.

North Grotto Temple
North Grotto Temple  preserves the most wonderful grottoes in the eastern regions of Gansu. 2,125 exquisite statues built from Northern Wei Dynasty (386 - 534) to the Qing Dynasty (1636 - 1912) stand in the 295 grottoes. Among them, the amount of the grottoes of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) is the largest and the statues inside are the fine arts at that time.

Zhouzuling National Forest Park
Zhouzuling National Forest Park provides tourists with opportunities to experience farming culture and Longdong folk customs. The main buildings include an altar, a Qihuang Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum, a workshop street, an exhibition hall and a custom square.

Qingyang Xifeng Airport lies 8 kilometers (5 miles) northwest of Xifeng District, operating flights to and from Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xi'an and Lanzhou... Airport shuttle bus and city bus 29 travel between airport and Qingyang City.

Enjoying a continental monsoon climate, Qingyang features little rain with more evaporation along with low humidity. The rainfall is mainly concentrated around July to September. Its annual average temperature maintains between 7C and 10C (44.6F and 50F).

 When to Go: Summer and autumn are the most favorable seasons to travel in Qingyang.

 History: Qingyang has an extremely long history. The first paleolith was discovered in Huachi County of the city. The Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC to 771 BC) developed and grew in Qingyang and then moved southward. It was during the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC) that shires and prefectures began to be set up in this region.

 Physical Features: There are ravines crisscrossing and undulating hills all over Qingyang City. It belongs to the Loess Plateau area and mainly consists of three regions: low mountainous and hilly areas in the east, high mountainous and hilly areas in the north and gully areas in the south-central. The terrain is high in the north, west and east as well as being low in the south and center, forming a basin in eastern Gansu.

 Special Local Products: buckwheat, sun-cured tobacco, white melon seed, walnut, acid jujube, Chinese pear-leafed crabapple, apricot, embroidery sachet, shadow puppetry.