Dafeng District 大丰区

Setting and landscape

Much of Dafeng is young land: in ancient times the area was open sea, and dry ground began to form only in the middle of the Ming dynasty. Inside the district lies the Shanghai Dafeng Farm (上海驻大丰农场), 307 square kilometres run by Shanghai and described as the largest enclave Shanghai holds outside its own territory. Some 80,000 educated youth from Shanghai once lived and worked there, and a Shanghai Educated Youth Memorial Hall (上海知青纪念馆) now records that period.

History

The county began in May 1942 as Taibei County (台北县), named for lying north of Dongtai (东台). Because Taiwan also had a Taibei County, it was renamed Dafeng in August 1951, taking one character each from the towns of Dazhong (大中) and Xinfeng (新丰); the Dafeng Salt Reclamation Company (大丰盐垦公司) founded by the industrialist Zhang Jian (张謇) had also operated there. Dafeng became a district of Yancheng in July 2015. The Ming-dynasty Caoyan stone sluice (草堰石闸) in Caoyan (草堰镇) is a Jiangsu provincial protected monument.

What to see

The Jiangsu Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve (江苏大丰麋鹿国家级自然保护区) is a 5A-rated scenic area. The Yancheng culture and tourism bureau reports that by 2019 the milu herd had grown to 5,016 animals, 1,350 of them living wild, and that visitors to the Chinese Milu Park (中华麋鹿园) can also see red-crowned cranes, swans and white-tailed eagles among more than 30 protected species.

The Dutch Flower Sea (荷兰花海) was built around the story of Zhang Jian hiring a Dutch water engineer for his water-control works. It grows over 3,000 mu of tulips in more than 300 varieties, and its core area holds the immersive theatre complex Only Love: Theatre Fantasy City (只有爱·戏剧幻城), conceived by the director Wang Chaoge (王潮歌).

Food and local products

Local products include Dongsha laver (东沙紫菜), Hengbei early pears (恒北早酥梨), drunken mud snails (醉泥螺), five-spice dried tofu (五香茶干) and fish-soup noodles (鱼汤面). Dafeng porcelain carving (大丰瓷刻), on the national intangible-heritage list since 2021, dates from the Tongzhi reign of the Qing: craftsmen chip images into porcelain with steel chisels and hammers, a technique likened to embroidery on porcelain.

Highlights

• Jiangsu Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve 江苏大丰麋鹿国家级自然保护区: 5A scenic area; 5,016 milu by 2019, 1,350 of them wild.
• Dutch Flower Sea 荷兰花海: Over 3,000 mu of tulips in more than 300 varieties, built around the story of a Dutch engineer hired by Zhang Jian.
• Shanghai Educated Youth Memorial Hall 上海知青纪念馆: Records the 80,000 Shanghai youth who worked on the Dafeng farms.
• Caoyan stone sluice 草堰石闸: Ming-dynasty sluice, a Jiangsu provincial protected monument.
• Dafeng porcelain carving 大丰瓷刻: National intangible heritage (2021); images chipped into porcelain with chisel and hammer.