Xitucheng Ruins

Xitucheng Ruins

The Xitucheng ruins are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Xitucheng site is located around Xitucheng Village in Erhao Bu Township, Kangbao County, dating back to the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties.

The site is horseshoe-shaped.

It stretches 1,100 meters from north to south and 500 meters from east to west, covering an area of over 550,000 square meters. The city walls were built with rammed earth, with remaining heights of 1.5–5 meters and rammed layers 10–14 centimeters thick. At the northwest corner of the wall base, more than 470 meters collapsed during the Cultural Revolution.

There is a gap in the middle of the southern wall, marking the location of the city gate.

The eastern wall has a breach where a later path for entering the village cut through 8 meters of it.

The entire wall features 30 bastions spaced 70–90 meters apart. In recent decades, archaeological investigations have uncovered and collected a large number of artifacts, including stone tools, axes, ceramic vessels, copper coins, blue bricks, and tiles.

The Xitucheng site boasts rich cultural significance as historical evidence of the integration between Mongolian-Han cultures and Central Plains culture, holding high archaeological research value.

In October 2008, it was designated as a Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the People’s Government of Hebei Province.

In October 2019, the Xitucheng ruins were included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Xitucheng Village: Xitucheng Village in Erhao Bu Township is located at the southwestern edge of Kangbao County, approximately 46 kilometers northeast of the county seat. The village currently has 5,300 mu of arable land (including 2,400 mu of irrigated land) and 1,070 mu of returned farmland afforested. It has a registered population of 324 households and 830 people. The permanent resident population is 99 households and 174 people, while 225 households and 656 people live outside the village. …… More details about Xitucheng Village++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units