The land of Qilu shines brightly.
In northwest Shandong, there is a small town called Linqing.
Speaking of Linqing now, many people may not pay much attention to it, but in history, this place is remarkable!
Linqing is a famous city along the Grand Canal and a millennium old county, known as the “prosperous city surpassing the two capitals” and the “prosperous county of Jiaqi”. It is also an underestimated city of cuisine.
Canal City, Millennium Ancient County
Linqing County, originated from the Western Han Dynasty, was called Qingyuan County at that time. During the Later Zhao period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, it was renamed Linqing County, and Linqing was named after the county system.
In 2006, Linqing was recognized by the United Nations as a cultural heritage of Chinese place names – a millennium old county.
The millennium old county here not only depends on the historical time of its establishment, but also on its physical culture, such as rich natural and cultural landscapes. Linqing’s performance in this regard is remarkable. According to relevant data, there are 181 immovable cultural relics in Linqing, especially on both sides of the Linqing section of the Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal, which are rich in cultural relics and historical sites, including 12 national key cultural relics protection units such as the Canal Chao Guan, Ao Touji, Mosque, Relic Pagoda, Linqing Lock, Mosque East Temple, and Moon Path Bridge. In addition, the Linqing section of the Huitong River and the Chao Guan section of the Grand Canal have also been listed as World Cultural Heritage sites.
Linqing was born and prospered due to the Grand Canal, especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties, when it reached its peak. It was an important circulation hub city and a well-known commercial metropolis in the country at that time, with a prosperity of more than 500 years, comparable to today’s first tier cities. For example, Linqing Caiguan was established in the fourth year of the Ming Xuande reign and was directly controlled and supervised by the Ministry of Revenue in the tenth year. During the Wanli reign, it was the first of the eight major Caiguan on the Grand Canal. This is closely related to Linqing’s geographical advantages, as it was located in the arm of the Divine Capital and controlled the throat of nine provinces. Therefore, there is a saying that “prosperity overwhelms two capitals” and “wealthy Jiaqi Commandery”. The wealthy Jiaqi Commandery was praised by Emperor Qianlong.
City of Cuisine
Linqing is a city of abundant resources, talented people, and a land of abundant food.
It is said that there are sixty or seventy kinds of traditional snacks in Linqing, which benefited from the prosperity of the canal in Linqing during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It has become a commercial center in the north, with food gathering and a collection of snacks. The representative ones are the eight bowls of Linqing Muslim, the eight treasure bag chicken, Fermented bean curd in Beijing, canal flavored noodles, Taoyuan sauce beef hoof, Wudekui meat cake, earthly meat, Shaobing (Baked cake in griddle) with meat, and palletized tofu. These delicious snacks often have historical and cultural accumulation, like the eight bowls that have been improved and perfected by several generations of famous chefs. The tofu in Beijing is the signature of Jimei sauce garden, and the predecessor of flavored noodles is Jinpingmei. It is said that Qianlong passed through Linqing, and the local people offered this noodles and named it Shixiang noodles.
Who would have thought that this small town in northwest Shandong is truly a treasure city, known as the “Little Tianjin”. Nowadays, Linqing is a county-level city and is under the jurisdiction of Liaocheng. It cannot be denied that the stars have changed and time has passed