Gangu County - the first county in China.

It has been a long time since I last came to Gangu. It has been 20 years. Time flies. I feel so much emotion! Gangu County is a county under the jurisdiction of Tianshui City, Gansu Province. Gangu was formerly known as "Ji". It was established as a county in 688 BC and has a history of more than 2,700 years. Gangu has produced many famous people: it is the birthplace of many famous people and sages, including Shi Zuoshu, one of Confucius' seventy-two sages, Jiang Wei, the great general of Shu Han, and Gong Jianfeng, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy of the Qing Dynasty. There are many cultural relics and historical sites in the county, including the national 4A-level tourist attraction Daxiang Mountain, Maojiaping Ruins, Jiang Wei's Tomb, Gong Jianfeng Memorial Hall and other famous attractions. Today is my third time visiting Elephant Mountain. Elephant Mountain is located in the southwest of Gangu County and was named after the giant Buddha statue carved on the top of the mountain. The Gangu Buddha is Sakyamuni Buddha. Ever since the Daxiang Mountain was renamed after the Buddha, people have continued to call it Daxiang Mountain. Elephant Mountain is an important grotto cultural relic on the ancient Silk Road and a national AAAA-level tourist attraction. In 2001, it was announced by the State Council as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. The main attractions of Daxiang Mountain include: Taihao Palace: The first platform of Daxiang Mountain in Gangu has the Fuxi Temple, also known as Taihao Palace, which was built during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. There is also a statue of Fuxi in Huagai Temple, which was sculpted in the Yuan Dynasty. The gate and main hall of Taihao Palace face south and north, with a total area of ​​480 square meters. The palace is majestic, sitting on Cangyan Rock, leaning against Daxiang Mountain in the south, and overlooking the Weihe River in the north. It has carved beams and painted rafters, flying eaves and colorful flowing water, and famous artists have devoted their talents to the plaques and couplets. Great Buddha Hall: The Great Buddha Hall, also known as the Great Buddha Cave, is located on the top of the cliff of Elephant Mountain and is the main building of Elephant Mountain. The giant Buddha in the cave has a kind face and a solemn demeanor. It ranks seventh among the largest stone-based clay Buddha statues in the country, with a height of 23.3 meters. Its shoulder width is 9.5 meters, its head height is 5.8 meters, and its knee length is 6 meters. This giant Buddha is a semi-circular stone-based clay sculpture with a tall and majestic shape and a solemn appearance. It was first built in the Northern Wei Dynasty and completed in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. It is one of the few precious cultural relics among the large-scale cave statues in the country. From the Elephant Mountain, you can overlook the whole city of Gangu, with tall buildings everywhere. The newly built water park also makes this county more spiritual and elegant. If you drive to Tianshui to eat spicy hot pot, you might as well go to the Elephant Mountain to worship the Buddha.