Nanhe Ancient City

Nanhe Ancient City

Nanhe Ancient City is a cultural tourism attraction.

Nanhe Ancient City is also known as "Jiahe City" and commonly referred to as "Shamao City" among locals. Since its establishment as a county during the Western Han Dynasty, this site has served as the county seat. During the Later Zhou Dynasty, it was the administrative center of Nanhe Commandery, and in the first year of the Wude era of the Tang Dynasty, it also functioned as the seat of Hozhou Prefecture. In the Northern Wei period, Nanhe City had a circumference of seven li, with three gates to the south, west, and north. Much of the city area was open space, making it difficult to defend when bandits or soldiers attacked, so during the Zhi Zheng era of the Yuan Dynasty, County Magistrate Yin Tai rebuilt it as a smaller city with walls four li in circumference. In the 14th year of the Zhengtong era of the Ming Dynasty, County Magistrate Wang Yuan rebuilt the four gates. In the 22nd year of the Chenghua era, renovations were carried out and a stone bridge was constructed. In the 3rd year of the Hongzhi era, County Magistrate Men Ning renovated the four watchtowers. During the Zhengde era, further repairs were made—the city wall stood three zhang high, the moat was over two zhang deep, and four additional watchtowers and four corner towers were added. In the 27th year of the Jiajing era, County Magistrate Qu replaced the battlements with bricks. After the military conflict in the 11th year of the Chongzhen era, only the eastern gate tower remained. In the 12th year, County Magistrate Xie Jiqian rebuilt the city with brick walls. During the Qing Dynasty, several more restorations were undertaken, but after the founding of the Republic, it gradually fell into disrepair. After the liberation, the city was demolished and transformed into a ring road around the city.