Kuiwen District 奎文区

Setting and landscape

Kuiwen faces Weicheng District (潍城区) across the Bailang River to the west, adjoins Hanting District (寒亭区) to the north-east and Fangzi District (坊子区) to the south-east. The ground is higher in the south than in the north, with an average elevation of 26 metres.

History

The Sui set up Wei prefecture (潍州) here in 596, and in 1377 the Ming reduced it to Wei County (潍县). The Bailang River split the county town in two, and the eastern side, known as Dongguan (东关), is today's Kuiwen. Dawenkou and Longshan culture sites have been recorded in the district. Officials and travellers who spent time here include the statesman Yan Ying (晏婴), the classics scholar Zheng Xuan (郑玄), the agronomist Jia Sixie (贾思勰), the painter Zhang Zeduan (张择端), Su Shi (苏轼) and Zheng Banqiao (郑板桥).

Under the Ming and Qing the town was known for its crafts, summed up in a saying about "two thousand red forges, three thousand copper-beaters, nine thousand embroiderers and a hundred thousand looms".

What to see

The district government names the Kuiwen Gate and the Tongji Gate (通济门) as the only two old city gates left in Weifang, and points to the Sanyuan Pavilion (三元阁), Jiuqu Lane (九曲巷) and the Courtyard of the Happy Way (乐道院) as surviving old buildings. The Courtyard, a former Presbyterian mission compound, held the Weihsien Internment Camp (潍县西方侨民集中营), where Japan interned more than 2,200 Allied civilians between March 1943 and October 1945; the Olympic champion Eric Liddell died there on 21 February 1945. The camp site became a national key protected site in 2019.

The Dongguan city wall of Wei County (潍县东关城墙), the Ershilipu railway station (廿里堡火车站) of 1902 and the former British-American Tobacco Company site (大英烟公司旧址) of 1917 were made Shandong provincial protected sites in 2013.

The Weifang World Kite Museum (潍坊世界风筝博物馆), at 66 Xingzheng Street, was begun in 1987 and opened in 1989. Its design borrows from the Weifang dragon-head centipede kite, and its roof ridge is a single ceramic dragon, and its eight halls show more than 1,000 kites of five main types. Wikipedia describes it as China's first museum devoted to kites; it is a national 3A scenic area.

Highlights

• Weifang World Kite Museum 潍坊世界风筝博物馆: Kite museum from 1989 whose design borrows from the dragon-head centipede kite, and more than 1,000 kites on show.
• Weihsien Internment Camp site 潍县西方侨民集中营旧址: Former mission compound where Japan held Allied civilians in 1943-1945; national key protected site since 2019.
• Kuiwen Gate 奎文门: Qing-dynasty gate that gives the district its name; with the Tongji Gate, one of Weifang's two remaining city gates.
• Ershilipu railway station 廿里堡火车站: Station building of 1902, a provincial protected site since 2013.