County · Henan

Yucheng County 虞城县

Yucheng County (虞城县) lies in eastern Henan, directly east of the city of Shangqiu (商丘), on the south bank of the old Yellow River bed where Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui meet. The county government names it as the birthplace of the heroine Hua Mulan (花木兰).

Location of Henan, the surrounding province-level areaView province guide

Get to know Yucheng County

Yucheng County (虞城县) — representative view · 虞城县城区河岸航拍
Representative view in Yucheng County · 虞城县代表景观。虞城县城区河岸航拍 · Source photographer · License not provided
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EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.

Administrative area
County · 县
Part of
Shangqiu
Chinese name
虞城县
Local areas
County guide

Area & population

Population · 2019
826,500

Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.

Getting oriented

To the north, across the old course of the Yellow River, lies Shan County (单县) in Shandong; Bozhou (亳州) in Anhui borders the county to the south and Dangshan (砀山) in Anhui to the north-east, with Xiayi (夏邑) to the east. The Longhai and Beijing-Kowloon railways cross here, and the Lianhuo and Jiguang expressways meet in the county. There are four railway stations, among them one named Mulan (木兰) and one named Yi Yin (伊尹).

History

Tradition holds that Yu the Great enfeoffed Shangjun (商均), son of the sage-king Shun, at Yu (虞), later called the state of Yu. The Qin created Yu County, and in 596, under the Sui, it became Yucheng. In 1217 the county was submerged by Yellow River floodwaters and abolished, and it was re-established in 1252. The county government also calls Yucheng the cradle of the culture of Yi Yin (伊尹), revered as the founder of Chinese cooking and of herbal decoctions.

What to see

The Mulan Shrine (木兰祠) at Dazhouzhuang (大周庄) in Yingkuo town (营廓镇) keeps a stone stele erected in 1334, in the Yuan dynasty; its text of more than 3,000 characters records Mulan's birthplace, surname, deeds and family. Two steles in the shrine, one Yuan and one Qing, are a Henan provincial protected site, and the Mulan legend (木兰传说) as told in Yucheng entered the national intangible-heritage list in 2008. Other provincial protected sites are the Yingguo site (营郭遗址), with remains from the Palaeolithic to the Han, the Weigudui site (魏固堆遗址), with Neolithic, Shang and Zhou layers, and the Qing-period Ren family compound (任家大院).

Food and local products

Steel tape measures and related hardware, centred on Shaogang town (稍岗镇), are the county's main industry, and the China Metrology Association named Yucheng China's steel tape-measure city.

Highlights

  • Mulan Shrine 木兰祠: Holds a Yuan stele of 1334 recording Mulan's birthplace and family; two steles there are a provincial protected site.
  • Mulan legend 木兰传说: Entered the national intangible-heritage list in 2008 for Yucheng.
  • Yingguo site 营郭遗址: Provincial protected site with remains from the Palaeolithic to the Han.
  • Ren family compound 任家大院: Qing-period provincial protected building.
Sources for this guide

县情简介_走进虞城_虞城县人民政府 · Yucheng County People's Government

历史沿革_走进虞城_虞城县人民政府 · Yucheng County People's Government

地理位置_走进虞城_虞城县人民政府 · Yucheng County People's Government

木兰传说 - 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 (ihchina.cn)

虞城县各级文物保护单位列表 - 维基百科 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0

虞城县 - 维基百科 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-24.

Explore Yucheng County

Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.

Plan your visit

More in Shangqiu

Sources & geographic information

Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.

Some facts checked against 虞城县各级文物保护单位列表 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Some facts checked against 虞城县 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.