Mentougou District 门头沟区

Setting and landscape

The district stretches about 62 kilometres east to west and 34 kilometres north to south. More than 160 peaks in the western mountains stand around 1,500 metres; besides Mount Ling they include Mount Baihua (百花山), Zhuaji Mountain (髽髻山) and Mount Miaofeng (妙峰山). The land drops to 73 metres at Tu'erzhuang (兔儿庄) in the south-east, and more than 300 valleys cut between the ridges.

The Yongding River (永定河) runs for over 100 kilometres through the district, falling from 373 to 73 metres, so its current is fast. Its largest tributary here, the Qingshui River (清水河), rises on Mount Ling and Mount Baihua. Winter is long, around 169 days a year, and the Zhaitang (斋堂) area in the west is cooler than the eastern plain.

History

About 10,000 years ago the people known as Donghulin Man (东胡林人) settled on loess terraces in the Qingshui valley, where a necklace of small shells has been found. In 250 the Wei general Liu Jing (刘靖) diverted the Yongding at Sanjiadian (三家店) to irrigate land around the city of Ji, which the district government calls the first large water-control project in Beijing's history.

Tanzhe Temple (潭柘寺) was founded in 316 under the Western Jin, first as Jiafu Temple (嘉福寺); its name refers to the dragon pool behind it and the cudrania trees in front. Jietai Temple (戒台寺) dates from the Tang, but its layout is largely Liao, and the district government describes it as the temple with the most complete group of Liao relics in northern China, including its pagodas, stone sutra pillars and ordination platform.

At the Longquanwu (龙泉务) kiln site, Liao three-colour ware sherds and coal residue were found. A Ming revenue register, the Wanli Kuaijilu (万历会计录), lists more than 70 coal pits here owned by the Qianqing Palace alone, and from the Ming and Qing onward most of the glazed ware used in Beijing came from Mentougou. In 1451 a garrison was set up at Yanhekou (沿河口) to hold 17 passes on the western approaches, and the general Qi Jiguang (戚继光) later added wall and watchtowers. In 1938 the anti-Japanese government of Wanping County, the earliest people's government in the Beijing area, was set up at Dongzhaitang village (东斋堂村). The district took its present name in May 1958.

Highlights

• Tanzhe Temple 潭柘寺: Founded in 316 as Jiafu Temple; named for its dragon pool and cudrania trees.
• Jietai Temple 戒台寺: Tang foundation with a largely Liao layout, pagodas and ordination platform.
• Mount Ling 灵山: At 2,303 metres, called the first peak of the capital.
• Mount Miaofeng 妙峰山: One of the high peaks of the district's western mountains.