Get to know Weidu District
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- Administrative area
- District · 市辖区
- Part of
- Xuchang
- Chinese name
- 魏都区
- Local areas
- District guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 67.00 km²
- Population · 2019
- 520,400
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
The ground is flat and tilts gently from north-west to south-east. Low alluvial ridges in the west rise to 95 metres; the rest is part of the Huang–Huai alluvial plain (黄淮冲积平原), falling to 65 metres. Two rivers of the Ying River (颍河) system in the Huai basin, the Qingyi River (清潩河) and the Qingni River (清泥河), run north to south through the city. The climate is warm-temperate monsoon, with a mean annual temperature of 14.7°C and about 579 millimetres of rain a year.
History
Tradition holds that Xu You (许由) herded and farmed here in the age of Yao, which gave the area the name Xu. In 201 BC, early in the Western Han, Xu County was split and a new Yingyin County (颍阴县) was seated in what is now Weidu. The district itself dates from 1986, when the former Xuchang city was renamed Weidu District.
What to see
Chunqiu Tower (春秋楼), on Wenmiao Qianjie (文庙前街) in the city centre, is a provincial protected site and a national 3A scenic area. Legend places Guan Yu (关羽) here reading the Spring and Autumn Annals by candlelight while he served Cao Cao (曹操). The complex was first built in the Zhiyuan reign of the Yuan dynasty and is laid out as one residence split into two courtyards; its Guan Yu hall stands 33.1 metres high around a 15-metre statue, and the Confucian temple (文庙) adjoins it to the west. A stele in the calligraphy of the Yuan master Zhao Mengfu (赵孟頫) is kept there.
Baling Bridge (灞陵桥), formerly Bali Bridge (八里桥), crosses the Qingni River 4 kilometres west of the city, where tradition says Guan Yu lifted Cao Cao's parting gift of a robe on his blade. Beside it stands a stele set up by the late-Ming general Zuo Liangyu (左良玉), and a Guan Yu temple lies west of the bridge.
The Cao Chancellor's Mansion (曹丞相府), east of Weiwudi Square (魏武帝广场), is a Han-style complex built as a Cao Wei theme site; its three-storey poetry hall covers the literature of Cao Cao and his sons and the Seven Scholars of Jian'an (建安七子). The mansion and Chunqiu Tower anchor the north-south axis of the Cao Wei old city (曹魏古城), whose 1.87-square-kilometre core is the area inside the moat.
Highlights
- Chunqiu Tower 春秋楼: Yuan-founded complex linked to Guan Yu; provincial protected site and national 3A scenic area.
- Baling Bridge 灞陵桥: Bridge on the Qingni River 4 km west of the city, with a Guan Yu temple and Ming and Qing steles.
- Cao Chancellor's Mansion 曹丞相府: Han-style theme complex on Cao Cao, his sons and the Seven Scholars of Jian'an.
- Cao Wei old city 曹魏古城: Old-city area whose core lies inside the 5.3 km ring of the moat.
Sources for this guide
走进魏都_魏都区人民政府官方网站 · Weidu District People's Government, Xuchang
春秋楼_魏都区人民政府官方网站 · Weidu District People's Government, Xuchang
灞陵桥_魏都区人民政府官方网站 · Weidu District People's Government, Xuchang
曹丞相府_魏都区人民政府官方网站 · Weidu District People's Government, Xuchang
曹魏古城_魏都区人民政府官方网站 · Weidu District People's Government, Xuchang
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-24.
Explore Weidu District
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Weidu District
Guansheng Hall in the Chunqiu Tower complex · 许昌春秋楼关圣殿 Photograph date recorded by the source: 1 September 2013, 14:20:18.Chunqiu Tower春秋楼
Chunqiu Tower commemorates Guan Yu through the tradition that he read the Spring and Autumn Annals here while staying in Xuchang. The tower and monumental Guan Sheng Hall give the complex its martial focus, while an eastern…
Read the place guide →
Chancellor Cao's Mansion · 曹丞相府Chancellor Cao's Mansion曹丞相府
Cao Chengxiang Fu (曹丞相府), the Chancellor Cao residence, is a purpose-built attraction east of Weiwudi Square in central Xuchang, Weidu District, Henan, presenting the history and literature of Cao Cao and the Cao Wei state in a replica Han-style complex.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Weidu District is about 4 km in a straight line from central Xuchang. Search for 魏都区 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Chunqiu Tower and Chancellor Cao's Mansion are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Xuchang →More in Xuchang
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Photo: Chunqiu Tower · Zhangzhugang · Zhangzhugang — Xuchang Chunqiu Lou 2013.09.01 14-20-18.jpg — CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0. The exact downloaded source bytes are separately retained and hashed. Prepared JPEG is proportionally reduced to a maximum 720-pixel long edge; full frame retained, no subject alteration. Final website rendition: full frame retained, proportionally resized to at most 720 pixels and converted to WebP. No additional retouching or subject alteration. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Chancellor Cao's Mansion · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
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