Jiyuan

Jiyuan lies in northwestern Henan on the north bank of the Yellow River, bordering Shanxi, with the Taihang and Wangwu ranges rising across its northern hills. It is the source of the Ji, one of the four great rivers of ancient China, and the county created here in 596 was named for that source. Earlier it was the Shang territory of Ya and the early Zhou state of Shan, later the counties of Zhi and Qinshui. The Jidu Temple, founded in the Tang dynasty to honour the Ji River, is among the oldest surviving buildings in Henan. Mount Wangwu, in the same hills, is traditionally the setting of the tale of the Foolish Old Man who moved mountains.