Dinghai Ancient City 定海古城

About Dinghai Ancient City

Dinghai Ancient City (定海古城) is the old walled town of Dinghai on the south-central shore of Zhoushan Island (舟山岛), Zhejiang, and still the seat of Dinghai District (定海区). In 2023 four streets in Dinghai were listed as Zhejiang provincial historic districts.

Chinese Wikipedia calls Dinghai the only town in the Zhoushan area ever to have had a city wall, and the long-time seat of the county, the sub-prefecture, the Zhoushan prefecture and Zhoushan city; the city government has since moved to Lincheng (临城). The walls go back to 1073, when the Northern Song made the area Changguo County (昌国县) and gave its seat a wall with four gates. Six gates were opened in 1268, the number went back to four in 1380, and the deputy commander Zhang Keda (张可大) rebuilt the wall in 1585. The county took the name Dinghai in 1688.

In the First Opium War British forces captured Dinghai on 6 July 1840, handed it back, and took it again on 1 October 1841. Three Qing regional commanders, Ge Yunfei (葛云飞), Wang Xipeng (王锡朋) and Zheng Guohong (郑国鸿), died defending it, and once the British left under the 1846 treaty returning Zhoushan (退还舟山条约) the court began a shrine to them. The two British occupations left the wall badly damaged; it was fully repaired in 1847, and most wall bricks still kept by residents are stamped as laid in the dingwei year (丁未年置). The last repair came in 1871, and the wall was pulled down between 1956 and 1959.

Japanese troops had already taken wall bricks for road-building during the occupation, and in May 1999 the Zhoushan city government demolished parts of the historic streets and courtyard houses for commercial gain, which drew wide public criticism. The Opium War sites earned Dinghai the title of Zhejiang provincial historic and cultural city, and in its seventh batch, announced in December 2023, the provincial government listed Zhong Dajie (中大街), Dongguanmiao Lane (东管庙弄), Liufang Road (留方路) and Dong Dajie (东大街) in Dinghai District as historic districts.

What to look for

• Zhong Dajie (中大街) historic district, listed by Zhejiang province in 2023
• Dongguanmiao Lane (东管庙弄) historic district, listed in the same batch
• Liufang Road (留方路) historic district, listed in the same batch
• Dong Dajie (东大街) historic district, listed in the same batch
• Zuyin Temple (祖印寺), which stands inside the old town
• Sanzhong Shrine (三忠祠) to the three commanders killed defending Dinghai, moved from inside the town in 1995 to Xiaofengling on Zhushan (竹山晓峰岭) with the Dinghai Opium War Memorial Hall; a Zhejiang protected site since 1989

Location & getting there

Getting to Dinghai Ancient City

• Search for 定海古城 with 舟山市 and 定海区.