Dongying District 东营区

Setting and landscape

The Yellow River is the district's main outside source of water, and the Zhimai River (支脉河) and Guangli River (广利河) also flow into it. Oil and gas lie mainly under Xianhe (现河), Dongxin (东辛), Liuhu (六户), Niuzhuang (牛庄) and Wanggang (王岗). The district government lists the whooper swan, hooded crane and great bustard among its rare birds, and Yellow River carp and the Yellow River knifefish (黄河刀鱼) as its best-known freshwater fish.

Lü opera

Lü opera grew out of Shandong qinshu (山东琴书), a sung storytelling form whose performers played and sang at once, then known simply as yangqin (扬琴). In the winter of 1900 (some accounts say February 1901) the performer Shi Dianyuan (时殿元) and his troupe staged the ballad "Wang Xiao Drives the Donkey" (王小赶脚) in costume in his home village of Shijia (时家村), now in the district; because a donkey prop was used, audiences nicknamed the troupe the "donkey opera troupe". The form took the name Lü opera in 1953, and Dongying District's Lü opera entered the first Shandong provincial intangible-heritage list in 2006.

What to see

Lancui Lake Resort (揽翠湖旅游度假区), south of the district government in the central business area, covers more than 5,000 mu with over 170 plant species and is a national 4A scenic area. The Yellow River Delta Zoo (黄河三角洲动物园), also 4A, keeps more than 80 species of rare wild animals. The Shengli Oilfield Science and Technology Exhibition Centre (胜利油田科技展览中心) in the western city has halls on exploration, technology and the oilfield's history and about 600 rock, mineral and fossil specimens and models. The district's Salt Culture Museum (东营区盐文化博物馆) presents the salt culture of the Yellow River delta, and the Longju Yellow River Forest Park (龙居黄河森林公园) holds a 41,000-mu forest farm.

The China University of Petroleum (中国石油大学) moved to Dongying in 1969; its main campus left for Qingdao in 2011, keeping only research-transfer and teaching-practice bases in Dongying.

Highlights

• Shijia village 时家村: Where Shi Dianyuan first staged qinshu in costume in 1900, the start of Lü opera.
• Lancui Lake Resort 揽翠湖旅游度假区: National 4A scenic area of more than 5,000 mu in the central business area.
• Shengli Oilfield Science and Technology Exhibition Centre 胜利油田科技展览中心: Halls on oil exploration, technology and oilfield history, with about 600 specimens and models.
• Yellow River Delta Zoo 黄河三角洲动物园: National 4A scenic area with more than 80 species of rare wild animals.