Xuyi County

Xuyi County (simplified Chinese: 盱眙县; traditional Chinese: 盱眙縣; pinyin: Xūyí Xiàn) is under the administration of Huai'an, Jiangsu province, China. The southernmost of Huai'an's county-level divisions, it borders the prefecture-level cities of Suqian to the north and Chuzhou (Anhui) to the south and west. The most renowned specialty in Xuyi County is the special flavoured crayfish (盱眙十三香手抓龙虾; 盱眙十三香手抓龍蝦). In every summer the international crayfish festival of China (中国国际龙虾节; 中國國際龍蝦節日) is held, in which many pop stars perform the open ceremony show. June 12, 2011 is the first day of the festival this year.

Historical sites

A famous local site are the ruins of the Ming Ancestors' Mausoleum (明祖陵; Míngzǔlíng), built by the first Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang in honor of his ancestors who lived here.

The mausoleum site was flooded ca. 1680, when the Yellow River changed its course, merged with the Huai River, and the Hongze Lake appeared. (The nearby Ming-era city of Sizhou (泗州) was completely flooded by the same lake as well). In the 1960s, the lake waters receded; the stone figures of the mausoleum's Spirit way were subsequently recovered from the mud and re-erected. (33°5′7″N 118°28′18″E / 33.08528°N 118.47167°E / 33.08528; 118.47167)