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Jieyang: temple, City God, and food from hill and sea

Jieyang’s frame is Rongcheng: the Confucian temple, the City God Temple and Jinxian Gate form a triangle that takes half a day. South lies De’anli in Puning, west the Sanshan Kings ancestral temple in Jiexi, and further south the sea at Huilai.

The spots, at a glance

Names link to the Chinese entry pages, where the history, the people and the craft are set out section by section. This English page is the index edition: the status, one line on what it is, and a suggested time.

Spot	Status	In one line	Time
Jieyang Confucian Temple 揭阳学宫	National, 7th batch	A Confucian temple founded under the Southern Song; the sequence from Lingxing Gate to Dacheng Hall is intact	1.5–2 hr
City God Temple 揭阳城隍庙	National, 8th batch	First built in 1369; the gold-lacquer woodcarving runs to an unusually dense set of subjects	1 hr
Gurong Guandi Temple 古榕武庙	National, 7th batch	Built in 1601; a woodcarving coffered ceiling rare in the province, with a stage in front	45 min
Ding Guanglu Ancestral Hall 丁氏光禄公祠	National	Ding Richang’s residence: worship, living, library and schooling in one, called a hundred birds facing the phoenix	1 hr
Jinxian Gate 进贤门	—	Built in 1621; the old view known as the drum-tower bugle at dawn	30 min
Shuangfeng Temple 双峰寺	—	One of the three great temples of the region; founded in 1140 on Twin Peaks, moved inside the city in the early Ming	1 hr
De’anli 德安里	Provincial, 5th batch	Fang Yao’s residence: an old, a middle and a new village, close to a full catalogue of local house forms	2 hr + travel
Sanshan Kings Ancestral Temple 三山国王祖庙	Provincial	At Hepo in Jiexi; branch temples spread across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia	1.5 hr + travel
Nanyan Temple 南岩古寺	—	The distant view from Nanyan is one of Puning’s old eight views; known for its jade Buddha and Ten-Thousand Buddha Pagoda	1 hr + travel
Huangmanzhai Waterfalls 黄满寨瀑布群	4A	Five tiers in Jiexi; the first, Feihong, is 82 m wide with a 56 m drop	Half day + travel
Jieyang Tower 揭阳楼	—	The city landmark, 38 m tall, a museum inside; the square has an eight-views wall and a bronze tripod	1 hr
Huangqi Mountain 黄岐山	—	The hill north of town, 293 m, with an old pagoda on the summit; the old view called Huangqi in evening green	Half day
West Lake 揭阳西湖	—	More than twenty ponds west of Rongcheng, a nine-section zigzag bridge and a mid-lake pavilion; where locals go at dusk	1 hr

Times are this site’s own estimate, not an official figure. Status follows the national and provincial monument lists.

What to eat

Pingpong kueh：Glutinous dough kneaded with peanut oil; the filling is sugar, sesame, peanut, fermented rice bran and scallion oil. Steamed, then pan-fried. Listed among the first national famous snacks in 1997.
Puning dried tofu：Fried until the skin blisters, soft inside; dipped in chive-salt water or chilli vinegar.
Longjiang pork trotters：From Longjiang in Huilai: braised until the bone slips out, rich but not greasy, over rice with pickles and gravy.
Jiexi lei cha：Tea, sesame and peanut pounded in a ceramic basin with a long wooden pestle into a paste, then cut with hot water. Salty, sweet, bitter, fragrant all at once; good with rice or kueh.
Putian bamboo-shoot kueh：Spring bamboo from Putian in Jiedong, shredded and fried with dried shrimp and minced pork, wrapped and pan-fried.
Fish balls and shrimp rolls of Huilai：A 142-kilometre coastline: fish balls, fish cakes and shrimp rolls all made the local way.

A plate of Chaoshan rice rolls under braised gravy — Rice roll: the Chaoshan skin is thinner, and the gravy is the shop’s own, not soy. Photo Asamboi, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Pingpong kueh: a translucent skin around roasted glutinous-rice bran, sesame, peanut and sugar, pressed with a wooden mould and steamed. Source: Southcn.com, permission pending.

Puning dried tofu: fried until the skin blisters while the inside stays soft; dipped in chive-salt water or chilli vinegar. Source: Southcn.com, permission pending.

Longjiang pork-trotter rice: braised until the bone slips out, served with pickles, greens and a braised egg, gravy poured over the rice. Source: Nanfang Plus, permission pending.

Bamboo-shoot kueh: shredded shoots bound with sweet-potato starch and pan-fried. This is the Chaozhou form; Putian in Jiedong wraps the filling in a kueh skin instead. Source: Sohu account, permission pending.

Shrimp rolls: pounded shrimp shaped into dates and fried, a household dish along the Huilai coast. Source: Huilai County government site, permission pending.

Sugar-scallion pancake: a thin crepe rolled around honeycomb sugar, sesame and coconut. The sugar is drawn into hollow tubes, which is where the name comes from. Source: Toutiao account, permission pending.

A bowl of lei cha rice beside a bowl of green tea soup — Lei cha: tea, sesame and peanut pounded to a paste, cut with hot water, eaten with rice and vegetables; Jiexi is largely Hakka country and makes it the Hakka way. Photo Encik Tekateki, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Getting there, and where to stay

Stay in old Rongcheng: the Confucian temple, the City God Temple and Jinxian Gate are all within walking distance.
Jieyang Chaoshan airport is at Denggang in Rongcheng district, about twenty kilometres from the city centre according to the airport’s own site.
Chaoshan station is at Shaxi in Chaozhou, about twenty-five kilometres from Jieyang.

The Chinese page of this city carries the full detail: the eight views, routes by interest, and the entries each spot links to.