Hongwei District 宏伟区

What the district is

Industry is the mainstay of the district economy. The district government names two clusters, aromatics (芳烃) and industrial aluminium profiles, and the centrally owned Liaoyang Petrochemical branch (辽阳石化分公司) is based here. The Liaoyang High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, founded in 1992, merged with the district in 1999 and became a national-level zone in 2010. The Liaoyang branch of Shenyang University of Technology (沈阳工业大学) is in the district, and the district holds the titles "home of Chinese poetry" and "home of Chinese couplet culture".

What to see

The Longshi Scenic Area (龙石风景旅游区) is a national 4A-rated area with a planned extent of 20.3 km² and more than 90% plant cover. It combines Longding Mountain (龙鼎山) and the Shidonggou valley (石洞沟). Among 17 man-made features are the "Wansheng Dragon Cauldron" (万盛龙鼎), which local people call the first cauldron of China, the "Wanhe Bell" (万和钟), billed as the first bell of the Northeast, and a replica stretch of Great Wall. Each year people climb the 365 steps of Longding Mountain to pray for good fortune, and sunrise over the mountain is one of the area's popular sights.

Liaoyang Zoo lies inside the Longshi area on about 300 mu (20 ha), with aviaries, a primate area, a carnivore section, a crane garden and a swan lake. The former home of Bai Yihua (白乙化), an anti-Japanese fighter placed in 2014 on the Ministry of Civil Affairs' first list of 300 noted anti-Japanese martyrs, is a provincial patriotic-education base. It is made up of the house, which largely keeps its original appearance, and a themed square, and shows period exhibits and photographs, documentary films and a wall of his poems.

Crafts and heritage

The Jiangguan kiln cultural-creative park (冮官窑文创园), led by Li Boyang (李博杨), eighth-generation holder of the Jiangguan kiln craft, opened its first phase in June 2024 and makes everyday and art ceramics as well as reproductions of Liao porcelain (辽瓷). In Xujiatun village, Shuguang town (曙光镇), Bai Chengzhi (白成志) carves gourds by needle and knife, combining engraving, pyrography and painting. The district's intangible-heritage hall at the cultural centre on Huiwen Road dates from 2008.

Getting oriented

Hongwei lies about 70 km south of Shenyang (沈阳) and 30 km north of Anshan (鞍山), on the south-eastern outskirts of Liaoyang.

Highlights

• Longshi Scenic Area 龙石风景旅游区: National 4A area of Longding Mountain and Shidonggou, 20.3 km² planned.
• Wansheng Dragon Cauldron 万盛龙鼎: Called by local people the first cauldron of China.
• Liaoyang Zoo 辽阳动物园: About 300 mu inside the Longshi area.
• Bai Yihua Former Residence 白乙化故居: Provincial patriotic-education base.
• Jiangguan kiln cultural-creative park 冮官窑文创园: Ceramics workshop reproducing Liao porcelain; first phase opened June 2024.