Yaohai District 瑶海区

History

The park's name originally stood for 'tianshang Yaochi, dixia Yaohai' (天上瑶池，地下瑶海: the Jade Pool in heaven, the Jade Sea on earth). The area was first organised as Hefei's Chezhan (Station) District (车站区) in April 1950; it became the Dongshi District (东市区) people's commune in 1960 and a district government on 18 May 1968, before taking the name Yaohai in February 2002.

In 1954 the then Dongshi District took in 56 enterprises moved inland from Shanghai (上海), and they grew into a factory corridor across eastern Hefei known as 'shili lianying' (十里连营, ten li of linked camps). The first women weavers at the No. 1 mill of the Anhui Textile Mill (安纺总厂) came inland from Shanghai. In 2014 the district became one of the first national pilot areas for relocating and rebuilding old urban industrial zones.

What to see

The Hefei Steel Works (合肥钢铁厂) was named to the second batch of national industrial heritage sites by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in November 2018. Its blast-furnace area and rail tracks in the Eastern New Centre (合肥东部新中心) have been reinforced and treated against rust, with an industrial heritage park and creative corridor planned for the site. China Baowu (中国宝武) has turned the steel works' No. 5 plant into the Huiyuan Baodi (徽园.宝地) industrial park.

Other old factories now serve as shopping and culture streets: the Hefei axle works became the Cheqiao Xinjie (车桥新界) commercial street, the Huishang warehouse became the Huishang No. 2 Gate (徽商2号门) creative block, and the Anhui Hengtong machinery plant became the Changjiang 180 (长江180) art district. The Eastern New Centre sits on the Nanfei River (南淝河), and the Hefei Museum (合肥市博物馆) is among the public buildings placed there.

Getting oriented

Hefei Railway Station in the district is served by the Hefei–Bengbu and Hefei–Hangzhou passenger lines, the Huainan railway and the Nanjing–Xi'an railway.

Highlights

• Hefei Steel Works blast-furnace area 合肥钢铁厂: National industrial heritage site since November 2018, with a heritage park planned.
• Cheqiao Xinjie 车桥新界: Commercial street made from the old Hefei axle works.
• Changjiang 180 art district 长江180: Arts quarter in the former Anhui Hengtong machinery plant.
• Huishang No. 2 Gate 徽商2号门: Creative block in a former Huishang warehouse.