Jixi County

Jixi is a county in southern Anhui Province, first inhabited by Yue tribes over 6000 years ago. In East Han Dynasty Jixi was a part of She Prefecture, then became a county in Tang Dynasty, and also a county of Hui prefecture ever since. It was under Xuancheng jurisdiction in 1988.

Located at the merger area of Huangshan mountain range and West Tianmu mountain range, mountainous Jixi County has an area of 1126 square kilometers and 18,000 populations. It is densely covered by rivers and dotted with bridges; trees grow in great plenty, with the forest coverage rate of 75.4%.

Jixi has a long history and profound culture. In its course of development, Jixi acquired many pleasant titles like "the Place of Hui Food Chef", "the Place of Hui Ink-stick" and "the Hometown of Hui Merchant".
In any restaurant specialized in Hui Cuisine, you may ask where the chief cook came from, it's over 80 percent likely the answer you get is from Jixi.

Jixi is one of the cradles of Huimo (Hui Ink-stick), a kind of Chinese ink sticks originated in Ancient China's Tang Dynasty (618-907). More than 20 enterprises have been launched in Jixi County since 1982 to made Huimo. Their products made in traditional facture are exported to Japan, Korea and other countries in Southeast Asia.

Due to lack of farming land suitable for rice and wheat, like people from other part of Hui prefecture, Jixi men had to go to other cities to do business. Their assiduity and honesty made most of them successful and wealthy. Some of them were outstanding, for example, a superstar among Hui merchants, Hu xueyan of Qing Dynasty who played a key role in national economy.

But as a matter of fact, being a businessman was not their first choice, only a way to make a living. What they really want is to serve the country as officials, the only way for a civilian to become an official was to pass national royal examination, so all families emphasize on education and learning, the old saying of "nothing is superior except for learning" was rooted in Jixi people's mind and blood. This tradition of education and learning has yielded many famous scholars and officials, such as Hu zongxian, minister of defense in Ming Dynasty; Hu shi, a prominent scholar of 20th century. Nowadays President Hu jintao makes Jixi County more notable than ever before both home and abroad.

Long history and profound culture make Jixi a good place to visit. Clan Temple of Hu family made by Hu zongxian, Zhangshan Valley featuring a rock resembling image of Chairman Mao, Residence of Mr.Hu shi and Old official and commercial stone path, just name a few of them. As a neighbor of Huangshan City, Jixi is easy of access due to a nearby Huangshan airport, nice highway and newly-built free way.