Tourism resources around Beijing are very rich. There are grasslands to the north, mountains and rivers to the west, and seaside to the east. So what are the good places to go to the south? Here is a two-day Cangzhou-Hejian self-driving tour route recommended for a weekend. If you are not in a hurry, you can slowly taste the history, religious culture, and delicacies of Eastern Hebei, which can be described as a small lucky trip.

Hebei Province has always been an important place in Gyeonggi, Baoding Mansion, Daming Mansion, Zhengding Mansion, and Hejian Mansion are known as the four famous mansions in Hebei. Located in the south of Beijing, Hejian Mansion was historically known as the No. 1 Mansion in the south of Beijing, and Hejian Donkey Meat Burn is even more famous.

Hejian belongs to the Cangzhou area. When mentioning Cangzhou, many people's first impression is martial arts. When I was a child, there was a saying that Cangzhou people could fight, haha.... It should be said that this "fighting" has cultural heritage in it, that is, the hometown of martial arts. Cangzhou is an ancient city. In addition to its reputation as the hometown of martial arts, there is another treasure——Cangzhou Iron Lion, named Zhenhaihou.

1. Itinerary

D1 Beijing-Cangzhou, visit Iron Lion-Old City Cultural Exhibition Hall-Muslim Beida Temple-Muslim Women’s Temple, stay in Cangzhou

Depart from Beijing in the morning and arrive in Cangzhou at noon;

After lunch, visit the Iron Lion-Old City Cultural Exhibition Hall in Cang County;

Return to the urban area, visit the Muslim Beida Temple-Muslim Women’s Temple, and visit Nanhu Park on Jiefang East Road in the evening.

D2 Cangzhou-Dongguang-Hejian, visit Tiefo Temple, Hejian government office, return to Beijing

After breakfast, the old Liu’s family Xingji sheep intestines, visit the Confucian Temple; go to Dongguang County, visit the Iron Buddha Temple;

Proceed to Hejian City, have donkey meat for lunch, visit the Hejian Government Office; drive back to Beijing.

2. Detailed itinerary

The relevant details of the itinerary are described below. First, pay attention to the following two points:

1) Regarding the mileage and time: the mileage and time between each destination are given in the description, and the time is for reference only, depending on the current road conditions;

2) About the recommendation index: ★ indicates the recommendation index, one star is the smallest, and five stars is the largest. This is just a personal preference and is for reference only.

The following is a schematic diagram of the locations of attractions along the way:

D1 Beijing-Cangzhou, downtown Cangzhou

Mileage: Beijing-Cangzhou 205 kilometers (about 2 hours and 30 minutes).

Attractions: 1) Cangzhou Iron Lion ★★★★: Located in Cang County in the southeast of the urban area, it is named "Zhenhai Roar". The iron lion was cast in the Later Zhou Dynasty of the Five Dynasties (953), and has a history of more than 1,000 years. According to legend, the iron lion was built to curb tsunami floods. It is 5.78 meters tall and weighs 50 tons. I have traveled many places in China, but I have never seen any other cast iron lions!

Cangzhou is also related to Lin Chong, a celebrity in the Northern Song Dynasty. Lin Chong was persecuted by Gao Qiu and sent to a fodder farm in Cangzhou, where he was sent, that is, Dongguan, Jiuzhou Town, Cang County. This is the old city of Cangzhou in ancient times, the city wall is still there, and the relics still exist.

Will there be such a question: Cangzhou is so close to Beijing and is the center of North China, how can it be distributed to such a good place? In fact, after the Five Dynasties period, Jiner Emperor Shi Jingtang ceded Youyun Sixteen Prefectures to Liao. From the Later Zhou Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty, this area was the border of the Central Plains Dynasty, and further north was the Liao Kingdom.

The iron lion scenic spot is in a compound, and there are related pictures and text introductions in the courtyard. Tour time is within 1 hour.

2) Old City Cultural Exhibition Hall ★★★: The exhibition hall is next to the Iron Lion Courtyard, and the ticket includes these two attractions. As the location of the old city of Cangzhou, it used to be an iron money bank, and now an antique courtyard is built on its site, which is the "Old City Cultural Exhibition Hall". There are piles of rusted iron coins from the Tang and Song Dynasties in the museum. The largest one is said to weigh more than seven tons. A few of the coins can still be identified as "Dahe Tongbao" in Tang Dynasty, "Daguan Tongbao" in Song Dynasty, "Zhenghe Tongbao" and so on. . In addition, there are Manjusri Hall, rolling wood and rocks from the late Tang and Five Dynasties, red coir grass, etc. in the courtyard. The visit time is within 1 hour.

3) Moslem Beida Temple★★★: The Moslem Beida Temple is located on Jiefang Middle Road in the urban area. It was built in the late Jianwen period of Ming Dynasty (1402) and has a history of more than 600 years. According to the introduction, it is one of the four major mosques in China, and it is as famous as Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou, Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou, and Jining Mosque. But another theory of the four major mosques is Yangzhou Xianhe Temple, Guangzhou Huaisheng Mosque, Quanzhou Qingjing Mosque, and Hangzhou Phoenix Temple. I don’t know which one to use!

Jiefang Middle Road is an area inhabited by Hui people, but what is interesting is that Beida Temple has a Chinese classical architectural style, which is rare in the country. Along the side of the street of Peking University Temple is a Chinese-style shop with eaves and eaves, and it feels good to take a walk around. Among them, there is a bean bun shop that makes delicious bean buns.

4) Muslim Mosque★★: Also known as the City Mosque, it was first built in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty (1666). It was originally a male temple, but it was changed to a female temple in 1986, less than 100 meters away from Beida Temple.

Cuisine: 1) Hot pot chicken★★★★: Hot pot chicken is a famous traditional dish in Cangzhou. It is in the form of copper hot pot + spicy chicken nuggets. The pot is so full that you dare not stir it. You can also cook some side dishes later in the meal , the taste is pretty good.

Hot pot chicken is very similar to the famous dish "Shanhaiguan Hunguo" in Qinhuangdao. Hunguo has more dishes than this, including seafood, dipping sauce, etc. They are all considered Hebei cuisine, although this is a low-frequency word, which reflects the boldness of Hebei people.

2) Cangzhou Lion Head is the famous dish that the beautiful proprietress Sai Xishi is good at in "The Miraculous Doctor Xilaile".

Accommodation: Stay at the Arcadia Hotel on Huanghe West Road in the Canal District on the same day. It is a five-star hotel with high cost performance. The restaurant has hot pot chicken, a big pot for two people, delicious and not expensive.

Others: In the evening, you can visit Nanhu Park on Jiefang East Road, and walk quietly by the lake, refreshing.

D2 Cangzhou - Dongguang - Hejian

Mileage: Cangzhou-Dongguang 64 kilometers (about 1 hour and 19 minutes), Dongguang-Hejian 102 kilometers (about 1 hour and 33 minutes), Hejian-Beijing 177 kilometers (about 2 hours and 44 minutes).

Attractions: 1) Confucian Temple ★★★: The date of construction is unknown, and it was built in the early Ming Dynasty. There are currently three main halls and east-west corridors. There is a prayer place in the temple. If you have a child who is taking the college entrance examination at home, you can hang a wish card here. It is said that it is very effective, haha. The tour time is about 1 hour.

2) Iron Buddha Temple ★★★★: Iron Buddha Temple is located in Dongguang County, Cangzhou City. It was built in the Northern Song Dynasty (973) and has a history of thousands of years. The original temple was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, and the current temple was rebuilt in the 1990s, and the incense is still very strong.

Focus on the Iron Buddha (Sakyamuni Buddha) in the Daxiong Hall. The Buddha sits 8.24 meters high and weighs 48 tons, which is very spectacular. There are some myths and legends about the Iron Buddha, which are very interesting and awe-inspiring. You can find them on the Internet, so I won’t repeat them here. The visit time of Tiefo Temple is about 1-1.5 hours.

"Cangzhou Lion, Jingzhou Tower, Zhaozhou Stone Bridge, Dongguang Iron Bodhisattva" are four well-known scenic spots in Hebei, and this trip covers two of them. The other Zhaozhou Bridge is in Zhaoxian County, Shijiazhuang, and the Jingzhou Tower is in Jingxian County, Hengshui.

3) Hejian Government Office★★★★: The Hejian Government Office was first established in the Northern Song Dynasty (1107) and lasted until the Ming and Qing Dynasties. ), has a history of more than 800 years. Therefore, Hejian has a great status in history, so it has the reputation of "the first mansion in southern Jing". After the Republic of China, the county was abandoned and the center of gravity shifted. The government office fell into disrepair for a long time, and it was in ruins when the Japanese army occupied Hejian.

The current government office is completely newly built, but don't deny this scenic spot because it is a reconstruction after all, not a fabrication. There are not many scenic spots like government offices in China, and many of them have been rebuilt. The visit time is 1-2 hours.

Food: 1) Old Liujia Xingji Sheep Intestines ★★★★★: The delicious taste is unparalleled, my wife is so delicious! Sheep intestine soup is a famous snack in Cangzhou and a favorite of Cangzhou people. It is said that in the early years, the poor could not afford mutton, so they picked some sheep intestines that were not eaten by rich and wealthy families and made them. I did not expect to invent such a delicious dish. It's very similar to Sichuan's Husband and wife lung slices, but not as famous as the latter. Deliciousness comes from the people!

There are also many small shops selling sheep intestines in the urban area, and there are also many recommended information on the Internet.

2) Hejian donkey meat fire ★★★★★: How can you not try the authentic Hejian donkey meat fire when you come to Hejian? There are many donkey meat restaurants in urban areas, and Chinese people like to gather together to do business, and donkey meat is no exception. I couldn’t find any one on the Internet that was the most authentic. In this case, my trick is: find a restaurant with a lot of people, especially a restaurant with a lot of local people, and you can’t go wrong.

The picture above is the "standard" donkey fire meal: donkey meat + donkey meat stew + fire + donkey miscellaneous soup.

By the way, there are two places in Hebei that are famous for donkey meat: Hejian and Baoding. The difference between the two is: long-fired vs. round-fired, no soup vs. with soup, sliced ​​vs. chopped. In comparison, I prefer the Hejian taste.

I am @清泉咖啡, GZH@明月清泉咖啡, a travel enthusiast who has traveled all over China! Welcome to follow!