Get to know Haifeng County
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- Administrative area
- County · 县
- Part of
- Shanwei
- Chinese name
- 海丰县
- Local areas
- County guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 1,750.00 km²
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
The Lianhua range crosses the north of the county and rises to 1,337.3 metres at its main peak; the north-west is hill country and the centre a broad, fertile plain. The Chishi (赤石), Daye (大液), Lijiang (丽江) and Huangjiang (黄江) are the main rivers, and the county government counts it among the three rainstorm centres of Guangdong. More than 40 uninhabited islands lie offshore. In the Guangdong Haifeng Birds Provincial Nature Reserve (广东海丰鸟类省级自然保护区), 436 black-faced spoonbills were recorded, which the county says is 6.24% of the world total.
History
The county's name is read as "abundant products of the Southern Sea". Haifeng is listed as a historic and cultural city of Guangdong and as one of 13 revolutionary base areas in China; it is the home county of the peasant leader Peng Pai (彭湃). In 2019 Houmen (鲘门), Xiaomo (小漠), Chishi (赤石) and Ebu (鹅埠) were transferred to the Shenzhen–Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone (深汕特别合作区).
Two local opera forms were placed on the first national intangible-heritage list in 2006. Baizi opera (白字戏), sung in the Haifeng and Lufeng dialects, reached the area from southern Fujian at the turn of the Yuan and Ming; troupes kept a custom called banye fan (半夜反, "midnight switch"), playing martial pieces in Mandarin before midnight and Baizi civil plays in dialect after it. Xiqin opera (西秦戏), also called luantan (乱弹), grew from a north-western singing style that arrived in the Ming and is known for its fighting scenes.
What to see
The Red Palace and Red Square (海丰红宫、红场旧址) on Renmin South Road in Haicheng (海城镇), the county seat, were among the first national key cultural relics protected in 1961. The Red Palace was the county's Confucian school-temple, with its Lingxing Gate (棂星门), Pan pool (泮池) and Dacheng Hall (大成殿). After Peng Pai's armed uprising in October 1927, a congress there on 18–21 November declared the Haifeng County Soviet government and renamed the building; the open ground to its east was named Red Square at a rally on 1 December 1927.
Food and local products
Lianhuashan tea (莲花山茶), Hudan daylily (虎噉金针菜) and Haifeng youzhan rice (海丰油占米) hold national geographical-indication status, and Haifeng gai lan (海丰芥蓝) has been added to the national list of notable farm products.
Getting oriented
The county government gives the distances as 290 kilometres west to Guangzhou, 197 kilometres to Shenzhen, 180 kilometres east to Shantou (汕头), and 81 nautical miles by sea to Hong Kong.
Highlights
- Red Palace and Red Square 海丰红宫、红场旧址: Former Confucian school-temple where the Haifeng County Soviet was declared in November 1927; national protected site since 1961.
- Baizi opera 白字戏: Opera sung in the Haifeng and Lufeng dialects; national intangible heritage since 2006.
- Xiqin opera 西秦戏: Opera grown from a Ming-era north-western singing style; national intangible heritage since 2006.
Sources for this guide
海丰概况_海丰概况_海丰县人民政府门户网站 · Haifeng County People's Government (county gazetteer office)
海丰红宫、红场旧址 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
白字戏 - 中国非物质文化遗产网·中国非物质文化遗产数字博物馆 · China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (Chinese National Academy of Arts)
西秦戏 - 中国非物质文化遗产网·中国非物质文化遗产数字博物馆 · China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (Chinese National Academy of Arts)
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-23.
Explore Haifeng County
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Haifeng County
The red-painted former Confucian Temple building that houses the Red Palace of the Red Palace and Red Square site, Haifeng · 海丰红宫红场旧址（原孔庙），汕尾市海丰县 Source-recorded photograph date: 2017-10-22 13:04:03.Red Palace and Red Square红宫红场
Hong Gong Hong Chang (红宫红场), the Red Palace and Red Square, is a former Confucian temple and adjoining public square in Haicheng town, Haifeng County, Guangdong, where the Haifeng Soviet government, described by the heritage record as the country's first Soviet-style regime, was proclaimed in 1927.
Read the place guide →
Lianhua Mountain (莲花山), Haifeng County. Photograph: "20260722-莲花山邓小平铜像".Lianhua Mountain莲花山
Lianhuashan (莲花山) is a forest park in Haifeng County, Guangdong, taking in the mountain's main peak and a run of named gorges, waterfalls and a mountain pool.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Haifeng County is about 20 km in a straight line from central Shanwei. Search for 海丰县 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Red Palace and Red Square and Lianhua Mountain are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Shanwei →More in Shanwei
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 海丰红宫、红场旧址 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Red Palace and Red Square · Skywalk1722 · CC BY-SA 4.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Lianhua Mountain · BMSBridge · CC BY-SA 4.0. Full frame retained; EXIF orientation normalized, proportionally resized to at most 800 pixels and converted to WebP. No generated pixels or subject changes. Cards may crop the display.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.