Laobian District 老边区

Setting and landscape

The district is narrow in the south and wider in the north, and its average elevation is only 2 to 7 metres, the ground sloping down from northeast to southwest. Thirty-four rivers and channels cross it, among them the Dahan (大旱河) and Huzhuang (虎庄河) flood channels. Five low hills break the plain; the highest, Wuguan Mountain (五棺山), reaches 176.7 metres. Dapingshan (大平山) and Dalongshan (大龙山) are two of the others.

History

The district government explains the name this way: in the early Qing a family named Ma settled here beside a boundary ditch, a 'bian', and the place became Laobian. Finds in the district include Neolithic stone axes and hammers, the Warring States site at Dapingshan (大平山战国遗址) in Liushu town (柳树镇), the base of a Tang-era Koguryo mountain fort, and a Liao-dynasty earth-walled town at Tuchengzi (土城子遗址).

In 1908 its villages were divided between Haicheng and Gaiping counties, and in 1909 most of them passed to the new Yingkou sub-prefecture (营口直隶厅). In 1950 it became Yingkou's Fifth District, renamed the suburban district in 1957, and it took the name Laobian District in July 1984.

Food and local products

Its sea area of about 600,000 mu yields shellfish, prawns, sea cucumbers, jellyfish, Chinese white shrimp and Chinese mitten crab, which the government says are known across the country. Rice and maize take up most of its grain fields.

Getting oriented

Laobian borders Dashiqiao (大石桥) to the east and north and Zhanqian District (站前区) and Liaodong Bay to the west. The Harbin–Dalian high-speed railway and National Highway 305 run north–south through it, and Yingkou East Station (营口东站) on the high-speed line lies inside the district, 4 kilometres from its centre. Yingkou Lanqi Airport (营口兰旗机场) is 13 kilometres from the centre.

Highlights

• Dapingshan Warring States site 大平山战国遗址: Warring States to Han tombs and dwelling remains in Xida village, Liushu town.
• Tuchengzi site 土城子遗址: Remains of a Liao-dynasty earth-walled town in the former Erdao town.
• Wuguan Mountain 五棺山: Highest of the district's five hills at 176.7 metres.
• Yingkou East Station 营口东站: High-speed rail station inside the district, 4 km from its centre.