Zaoxiang Ecological Park in Chiping District

Zaoxiang Ecological Park in Chiping District

Zaoxiang Ecological Park in Chiping District is a national AAA-level tourist attraction.

Zaoxiang Ecological Park in Chiping District is located in Xiaozhuang Town, Chiping District, featuring a beautiful ecological environment and convenient transportation. Centered around the 500-year-old "King of Jujube Trees," the park radiates outward, aiming to establish itself as the hometown of China's round-grained jujubes. It primarily focuses on jujube tree cultivation, supplemented by common northern fruit trees such as peach, walnut, pear, and apple, as well as intercropping with field crops under the forest. The park has built nine major themed ecological gardens, striving to create a modern eco-agricultural tourism area featuring jujubes, with fragrant flowers in spring, fruits in summer and autumn, greenhouses in winter, evergreen scenery all year round, and rich content. While highlighting the characteristics of eco-agriculture, the park has also developed numerous historical and cultural landscapes such as Zaoxiang Square, Xiaoci Lake, the China Round-Grained Jujube Expo Hall, Zaowangzhai (King of Jujubes Pavilion), Wangjin Platform (Looking-at-Jin Terrace), and Wen Gong Landscape River, allowing visitors to enjoy joyful fruit picking while experiencing the historical depth and cultural charm of the jujube town.

Regarding the origin of the round-grained jujube, there is a uniquely beautiful legend: Long ago, in the Xiaozhuang area of Chiping, the Yellow River frequently flooded, making life miserable for the people. One day, a pair of beautiful phoenixes flew in and scattered golden seeds they carried in their beaks across the land. After the flood receded, the seeds sprouted and bore round-shaped red fruits. These red fruits could not only satisfy hunger but also be used medicinally. Since then, the locals began planting them widely. To commemorate the phoenixes, the place where they dropped the seeds was named "Xiao" — now Xiaozhuang Town in Chiping District. (In oracle bone script, "Xiao" resembles a phoenix soaring in the sky.)

Though it’s just a legend, the cultivation of round-grained jujubes in Chiping District indeed dates back over 3,000 years. Due to its location along the ancient course of the Yellow River, the unique climate and geographical conditions are particularly suitable for jujube growth. The round-grained jujubes produced here are large, thin-skinned, thick-fleshed, small-seeded, with plump fruit shapes and rich nutrition, earning the reputation of being the "living vitamin pill." Some even joke: "Three round-grained jujubes a day keep aging at bay until eighty!" The Compendium of Materia Medica also records that round-grained jujubes have high medicinal value, with benefits such as nourishing the heart and lungs, enriching blood, and benefiting the spirit. They are commonly used to treat hepatitis, anemia, high blood pressure, weak spleen and stomach, lung deficiency cough, and low platelet count. Hence, there is a local saying: "Eat round-grained jujubes daily, and you won’t need to call the doctor."

To further leverage the advantages of the "round-grained jujube," the China Round-Grained Jujube Ecological Park has been established in Xiaozhuang Town, Chiping District, and has since hosted seven editions of the Jujube Culture Festival. The park features a beautiful ecological environment and convenient transportation. Primarily focused on jujube orchards, it also includes planned specialty theme areas such as peach orchards, rose gardens, and labor experience gardens, forming a modern eco-agricultural tourism area featuring jujubes.

The King of Jujube Trees, the key highlight of the Round-Grained Jujube Ecological Park, is nearly 500 years old, with a crown covering an area of over 200 square meters, a height of 10.5 meters, and a trunk circumference of 1.46 meters. According to the village history of Xuzhuang, the King of Jujube Trees once yielded an impressive 680 jin (approximately 340 kg) of jujubes in a single season. Its canopy is distinctively layered, exuding a majestic presence akin to royalty. Thus, locals revered it as the King of Jujube Trees. In September 2005, the Chiping District government officially named it the "King of Jujube Trees."

The natural scenery along the ancient course of the Yellow River, the humanistic sentiment of Duke Wen of Jin gazing homeward, the endless joy of jujube-picking in the jujube town... In short, Chiping allows visitors to experience pastoral landscapes while also feeling the harmonious beauty between humans and nature — a rural trip that provides complete relaxation for both body and mind.