Maonan District 茂南区

Setting and landscape

Most of the district is gentle terrace and plain. Low hills of oil shale rise in the north and centre, the south is river floodplain, and the highest point is Xitang Ridge (锡塘岭) in Jintang town (金塘镇), only 152 metres above sea level. Oil shale, kaolin, quartz sand and geothermal water are the main mineral resources; the kaolin lies mostly around Jintang, Shange (山阁镇) and Yangjiao (羊角镇), and the Maoming city government ranks its sedimentary weathered kaolin reserves first in China.

History

The area belonged to the old Maoming County (茂名县). To support the oil-shale open-pit mine, Guangdong decided in the 1950s to build a new industrial city here: the Maoming Industrial and Mining District City was set up on 3 September 1958 and renamed Maoming on 9 May 1959. On 18 April 1985 the State Council turned the city's urban area and suburbs into Maonan District. Yangjiao town was transferred to it from Dianbai District (电白区) in 2017.

What to see

The Open-Pit Mine Ecological Park (露天矿生态公园) in the northwest of the city centre fills the old mine: digging began in August 1958, oil shale extraction stopped at the end of 1992, and rainwater turned the pit into a lake. After restoration from 2014 the main lake was named Haoxin Lake (好心湖) in 2017, after the "good heart" of the local heroine Lady Xian (冼夫人), and the site became a national mine park that December. Its Maoming Open-Pit Mine Museum (茂名露天矿博物馆), opened in 2019 in two old factory buildings, covers the mine and the petrochemical industry.

The city government also lists Guangdong Maoming Forest Park (广东茂名森林公园, national 4A), the 1959 Cultural and Creative Block (1959文化创意街区, 3A) and Yaxiang Land Art Park (牙象大地艺术公园, 3A). Provincial protected buildings include the Wenwu Temple (文武帝庙) in Aotou town (鳌头镇) and the Xu clan ancestral hall in Xinpo (新坡许氏宗祠). Maoming's village nianli (年例) festivals, which the city portal calls a folk celebration unique to Maoming, run to a published calendar across Maonan.

Food and local products

Maonan grows peppers, beans and aubergines shipped to northern markets and breeds tilapia fry on a large scale. The city government's list of local farm products adds lychees, longans, peanuts, maize, cherry tomatoes, meat pigeons and sika deer.

Highlights

• Open-Pit Mine Ecological Park 露天矿生态公园: Former oil-shale pit turned lake park; a national mine park since December 2017.
• Maoming Open-Pit Mine Museum 茂名露天矿博物馆: Opened on 23 March 2019 in two old factory buildings inside the park.
• Guangdong Maoming Forest Park 广东茂名森林公园: National 4A scenic area in the district.
• Wenwu Temple, Aotou 文武帝庙: Qing to Republican-era building on the Guangdong provincial protected list.