🌳 The Ancient Ginkgo Tree of Huai Xu

“A thousand-year-old ginkgo stands in Huai Xu, witnessing centuries of change and revealing the essence of time.”
——One of the oldest and most historically profound living cultural relics still extant in Dingyuan County

📍 Basic Information

Site Name: Ancient Ginkgo Tree of Huai Xu (not a man-made garden; a natural and cultural coexisting historical landmark)
Location: Huai Xu Village, Outang Town, Chuzhou City, Anhui Province (formerly part of the traditional settlement of Huai Xu in northwestern Dingyuan County, now administratively under Outang Town)
Geographic Coordinates: Approximately 32°28′ N, 117°49′ E
Elevation: About 35 meters (on the gentle slope at the southern edge of the Jianghuai hilly region)
Protection Status:
- Third-level Ancient Tree and Famous Tree in Anhui Province (Registration No.: AH0110220001, documented during the 2005 forestry survey by Dingyuan County Forestry Bureau)
- County-level Cultural Relic Protection Unit of Dingyuan County (listed in 2019 under the name "Ancient Ginkgo Tree of Huai Xu and Associated Ritual Remains")

📜 Historical Evolution

The ancient ginkgo tree was planted during the mid-Northern Song Dynasty. According to Volume Five, “Geographical Records,” of the Dingyuan County Annals (edition printed in the 24th year of Guangxu’s reign, Qing Dynasty): “Huai Xu, traditionally said to have been a grove of old cedars from the Tang Dynasty, saw local residents plant a ginkgo tree to the left of the community altar during the Song era. After more than four hundred years, it still stood tall like an umbrella.”

✅ Actual Age Determination: In 2021, the Anhui Provincial Academy of Forestry Sciences confirmed through dendrochronological calibration and carbon-14 dating that the tree is approximately 960 ± 30 years old (planted around 1060 CE), placing its origin in the reigns of Emperors Renzong and Yingzong of the Northern Song Dynasty—during the period of cultural accumulation following Dingyuan County’s establishment in 558 CE.
✅ Historical Witness: It has endured major historical events including the Southern Song resistance against Jin invasions, Red Turban rebellions in the Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty military farming in Fengyang Prefecture, and activities of the Taiping Rebellion in the Qing Dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty, it served as a sacred tree linked to the Zhang Clan Ancestral Hall of Huai Xu; during the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, a stele titled “Inscription on Ginkgo Protection” was erected when the ancestral hall was rebuilt (the original stele is lost, but recorded in county annals).
✅ Survival Through Modern Times: In 1939, during the establishment of the anti-Japanese base by the New Fourth Army’s 4th Division in Outang, this tree served as a secret signal marker for underground couriers. During the Great Steel Campaign of 1958, villagers successfully protected it by claiming it was a “sacred tree safeguarding the village.”

🏯 Cultural Relics and Architectural Remains

Although primarily a living tree, several material remains with clear historical connections survive nearby:

Base Platform Ruins: A circular stone platform, partially constructed from green stone, lies beneath the tree, measuring about 4.2 meters in diameter and 0.6 meters high. Some stones bear faint inscriptions reading “Reconstruction in the 23rd Year of Jiajing” (1544), confirming the existence of a fixed ritual space since the Ming Dynasty.
Ancient Well: Located approximately 15 meters southeast of the tree, this well features a brick-built hexagonal wall, about 8 meters deep, with the inscription “Hui Xu Public Well, Year Bing Shen of Wanli” (1596) carved on its rim—coexisting with the ginkgo as a core element of communal life.
Remnant Stone Offering Table (Qing Dynasty): A 1.8-meter-long granite base with carvings of cloud patterns and twisted lotus motifs survives to the north of the tree. Likely part of the original community altar furnishings, it was unearthed near the roots in the 1980s.
Contemporary Commemorative Facility: In 2020, the Dingyuan County Culture and Tourism Bureau installed a white marble explanatory plaque (1.6 meters tall), detailing the tree’s history, ecological characteristics, and conservation journey, embedded with a QR code linking to an AR-guided tour system.

🌟 Cultural Significance

| Dimension | Core Value Explanation | |------------------|------------------------| | Historical Value | The only biological living archive in Dingyuan County spanning six dynasties: Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic of China, and the People’s Republic of China. Its annual ring sequence serves as a natural benchmark for studying climate change, soil evolution, and human activity intensity in the Jianghuai region. | | Humanistic Value | Embodies three traditional practices: worship of the community tree, belief in fengshui forests, and clan memory. It stands as a typical physical manifestation of the spatial ethics—“tree–well–temple–village”—in agrarian civilization of eastern Anhui. | | Ecological Value | Standing 28.5 meters tall with a trunk circumference of 2.16 meters and a canopy spread of 36 meters, the tree produces about 150 kilograms of white fruit annually. It hosts 12 species of symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi and 7 species across 4 genera of epiphytic mosses—making it a key specimen for research on ginkgo ecosystems in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. | | Intangible Heritage Connection | Its associated folk festival, the “Huai Xu Ginkgo Festival” (celebrated on the 15th day of the 10th lunar month), was listed in the Dingyuan County Intangible Cultural Heritage Catalogue in 2017. Activities include ritual ceremonies honoring the tree, preparation of medicinal dishes using white fruit, and singing of the children’s song “Grandma Ginkgo.” |

🧭 Traveler Information

🚗 Transportation Guide

By Car: From Chuzhou City → G36 Ningluo Expressway → Dingyuan West Exit → S311 Provincial Road → Outang Town → Huai Xu Village (approximately 75 km, 1.5 hours drive). A free eco-parking lot is available at the village entrance (capacity for 20 small vehicles).
Public Transit: Take a rural bus from Dingyuan Bus Station on the “Dingyuan–Outang” route (operating 6:30–17:30, every 30 minutes) → arrive at Outang Town → transfer to a village-to-village shuttle to Huai Xu stop (final destination). Clear signage marks the site upon arrival.

🕒 Opening Hours

Open year-round, free admission
Daily opening: 07:00–18:00 (closes at 17:30 in winter)
Tip: The first half of November is the optimal viewing period (when leaves turn golden). Early morning or late afternoon visits offer the best lighting and depth of shadow.

🛡️ Visitor Guidelines

The root zone within a 12-meter radius is a strictly protected core area—no walking, hammering nails, carving, or hanging items allowed;
Prohibited: picking fruits, climbing branches, burning paper offerings;
Free public guided tours are available daily at 9:00 and 14:00, led by volunteer cultural heritage officers from Huai Xu Village (advance registration required at the village office, 30 minutes prior);
Nearby attractions: Outang Martyrs’ Cemetery (8-minute drive), Jinshan Temple Ruins (a Northern Song-era temple, 4 km from Huai Xu).

🍃 Special Experiences

✅ Receive a hand-drawn Huai Xu Ginkgo Tour Map (free at the village office, includes tree cross-section diagram and timeline of historical milestones);
✅ Participate in the “Ginkgo Time Post Office”—mail a letter to your future self (delivered in 2030);
✅ Taste Huai Xu Amber White Fruit Cake, handmade by a master craftsman using fruit from the ancient tree (no added sucrose).

🌿 Closing Reflection
The ancient ginkgo of Huai Xu is not merely a solitary tree—it is an epic etched into the earth. It records war and turmoil in its rings, shelters villagers beneath its vast canopy, and passes down memory through its fruit. On this land where Chu elegance and Han traditions, Song refinement and Ming grandeur have long flourished, it stands silently—a timeless cultural ring forever etched in the hearts of Dingyuan people.

The Ancient Ginkgo Tree of Huai Xu

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