Tourism in Yulin Ancient City

Yulin City is an ancient city. There are still many historical sites and scenic spots inside and outside the city, among which Xingming Tower and Lingxiao Tower are the most famous. Xingming Tower is located on Yulin South Street. It is known locally as Drum Tower. It is a three-story wooden building. The entire building is made of wood, with exquisite beams and reasonable structure. There are four masonry platforms on the ground floor of Xingming Building, and seven thick pine and cypress wood columns are arranged on each platform to support the entire weight of the tall building. There is no beam on the roof of the building. The three-story pavilion is made of brackets that overlap each other layer by layer. The building has overhanging eaves on all sides, making it magnificent.

There are two original drum towers in Yulin City. The first one was built by Governor Yu Zijun when he was expanding Yulin City in the ninth year of Chenghua (AD 1473). After the expansion of Yulin City in the 10th year of Zhengde (AD 1515), due to the expansion of the city to the south, the original Drum Tower appeared to be northward, so a new Drum Tower was built, called the New Tower. The Xingming Tower you see today was rebuilt during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. According to the county annals, there was originally a large horizontal plaque with gold characters hanging on the upper floor, with the four words "Supreme High Truth" written on it.

Yulin belonged to Yongzhou in ancient times, and was known as "Little Beijing". The city is dotted with courtyard houses. In the north of the town, there is the Hongshi Gorge, known as "Penglai on the Fortress", and in the south of the city, there is the Black Dragon Pool, where "treasures are hidden in the dragon's cave." Yulin now has places of interest such as Qingyun Temple, Xuankong Temple, Jingang Temple, Plum Blossom Tower, Wanfo Tower, and Puhui Spring.

Yulinsai is located in Yulin, Shaanxi Province today. During the Warring States Period, elms were often planted as fences in the northern frontier areas. After the Qin Dynasty unified China, expelled the Xiongnu from the north, and recovered the Hetao area, many elm trees were planted here. This is probably where the name Yulin Fortress came from. Because it is located on the bank of Yuxi (now Qingshui River), it is also called Yuxisai and became a garrison in the north of Qin. During the Sui Dynasty, the Great Wall was built around this place, and it became the fortress of the Sui Great Wall.

In the early Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, in order to prevent the invasion of Mongolian forces, a stronghold was built here. A fort was built during the Zhengtong period, and a guard was set up again in the seventh year of Chenghua (1471). At the same time, Xu Zijun, the censor of the governor of Yansui, recruited migrant workers. In the Sui Dynasty, more than a thousand miles of Yulin Border Wall (the Great Wall) was built on the basis of the Great Wall to enhance the defense here. The following year, a new city was expanded in the north of Yulin Fort, which was called North City, and the old Fort was called Nancheng. Yulin City has reached considerable scale. In the ninth year, the government office of Yansui Town (equivalent to the current Grand Military Region), one of the nine sides of the Great Wall, was moved to Yulin City. From then on, Yulin became an important border defense center in the Ming Dynasty. Later, Yulin City was expanded. Due to the war, most of Yulin's ancient city walls no longer exist, and only ruins can be seen. The current Yulin City is a new city built later.

Not far from Zhenbeitai West, along the Qingshui River bank is the famous Hongshi Gorge, which is composed of red sandstone, hence its name. The rock walls on both sides are as sharp as a knife, more than 10 meters high. There are 44 caves carved out of rocks. According to the stele records, this place was once a famous temple during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, called Hongshan Temple, which was built from the tombs of the two kings of Xixia. With the changes in history, people today call it Hongshi Gorge. There are many ancient inscriptions and inscriptions on the stone walls. For hundreds of years, Hongshi Gorge was once known as a frontier fortress. When many high-ranking officials came to Yulin, they would come here first to recite poems and compose poems. Occasionally, if they found a beautiful poem, they would carve it on the stone cliff. It is now a popular tourist attraction.

There is another Wanfo Temple Grotto excavated on a hill and cliff 6 kilometers east of Yulin City. There are thousands of relief stone statues and beautiful murals in the cave. The age of this cave has not yet been verified, and it has a very high level of art. value. There is also the Hanging Temple excavated by the Xixia Dynasty in the 11th century by the Wuding River. The temple hangs halfway up the mountainside. It is completely unfinished, steep and beautiful, and has architectural and archaeological value.

Now there are roads in Yulin that lead to Inner Mongolia Yimeng in the north, Shanxi in the east, Ningxia in the west, and Guanzhong in the south, making travel convenient. This is still a transportation hub and strategic location in northern Shaanxi.