Jinshan-Shaanxi Self-Driving Tour (Thirteen)

Departing from Lijiashan Village, it is more than 70 kilometers and a one hour and forty minute drive to Suide Dang Family Manor. The scenery along the Shanxi Yanhuang Highway is quite nice. Passing through Wubu County, a small town built on a narrow strip of land between the Yellow River bank and the mountains behind. Wubu County has the Wubu Stone City, a defensive fortress built against the mountain on the Yellow River bank. It was originally planned to visit, but after reading the introduction and comparing it to the Fugu Fuzhou City and Jia County Ancient City previously visited, it is similar in nature but much smaller in scale, so the decision was made to skip it. Interested friends can go take a look. Crossing the Yellow River from Wubu County and taking National Highway 307, this self-driving tour of the Yellow River Jinshan-Shaanxi Gorge ends here. Dang Family Manor is just a small mountain village, a cave dwelling complex built gradually over nearly a hundred years by six generations of the Dang family, now more than 200 years old. The terraced cave houses built along the mountain are arranged in an orderly manner; the courtyard of the upper household is likely the roof of the cave house below, somewhat similar to the recently visited Lijiashan Village. This is a nationally protected cultural heritage site, with villagers still living there, maintaining its original state. There are very few tourists, and visitors are welcome; the villagers are very friendly and polite. Suide has no famous scenic spots. The "First Tower Under Heaven" is a stone archway, and along with the Stone Lion Square, both showcase the pride of Suide stone carving. The Suide Revolutionary Memorial Hall, located across the Wuding River opposite Stone Lion Square, is a red education base worth visiting. Erlang Temple is situated on a hilltop within Suide city and is very conspicuous but not an ancient site. The Confucian Temple is an ancient site, with only one hall remaining. What is worth seeing is the area called "Mingzhou Ancient City," which can be found on maps, located just behind the hotel where we stayed, only a few hundred meters away on foot, but locals do not seem to know about it. Perhaps asking at the Suide Museum or Fusu’s Tomb might help. The scenic area also includes an old city gate called "Yongle Gate" and the former headquarters of the 359th Brigade. This, opposite Erlang Temple, is another high point in Suide city, offering panoramic views of the city. Suide was formerly known as Mingzhou, once the seat of the prefecture governing several surrounding counties, and is now a county under Yulin City. The local Shaanbei saying "Mizhi women and Suide men" is heard often, though its origin is unclear; it may be represented by Prince Fusu, Qin general Meng Tian, and Southern Song general Han Shizhong. The next stop is Mizhi, to seek the other half of the answer. Suide · Yulin