Meihekou 梅河口市

Getting oriented

Three railways meet in the city: the Shenyang–Jilin (沈吉铁路), Siping–Meihekou (四梅铁路) and Meihekou–Ji'an (梅集铁路) lines. The city government counts the G1112 Ji'an–Shuangliao and G1212 Shenyang–Jilin expressways and national roads G202, G303 and G504 among the routes crossing its territory. In 2021 the Jilin provincial authorities approved the Meihe New Area (梅河新区), whose management committee and the city government work as a single administration.

History

The Qing set up a hunting-ground headquarters at Hailong town (海龙镇) in 1879, and Hailong became a prefecture in 1902, with Liuhe (柳河县) and three other counties under it. The county seat moved from Hailong to Meihekou town in 1956, and Hailong County was abolished in 1985 in favour of Meihekou city.

The Meihekou Conference site (中共中央东北局梅河口会议会址) is a two-storey brick building of 1936, built by the South Manchuria Railway as staff housing near the station. Between March and April 1946 the Northeast Bureau of the Communist Party, led by Peng Zhen (彭真), met here eight times to assess the military situation in the north-east. A small second-floor room of under 30 square metres, where the meetings took place, is now an exhibition room set out with period tables and chairs. It became a national key cultural relic site in 2019.

What to see

The city government lists Hailong Lake (海龙湖), Zhibei village (知北村) and the Dongbei Buyecheng (东北不夜城) night street among its landmark tourism projects. Zhibei village is a national 4A scenic area, and Dongbei Buyecheng is a national tourism and leisure street. Hailong Lake Park is one of nine parks the city has built, alongside a 35-kilometre network of urban waterways.

Food and local products

Meihe rice (梅河大米) carries a national geographical indication; the city government says it was chosen as imperial tribute rice in the Shunzhi reign of the Qing, and in 2019 the city was named China's home of tribute rice. Meihekou also processes and trades tree nuts, especially pine-nut kernels, and has turned cold noodles (冷面) and rice noodles into a local food industry.

Highlights

• Meihekou Conference site 中共中央东北局梅河口会议会址: A 1936 railway building where the Northeast Bureau met in 1946; a national key cultural relic site since 2019.
• Hailong Lake 海龙湖: A lake park named by the city government as one of its landmark tourism projects.
• Meihe rice 梅河大米: A geographical-indication rice, described by the city as Qing tribute rice.