Get to know Cao County
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- Administrative area
- County · 县
- Part of
- Heze
- Chinese name
- 曹县
- Local areas
- County guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 1,974.00 km²
- Population · 2019
- 1,421,200
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
A county shaped by water
Flooding prompted the administrative seat of Caozhou (曹州) to move to Panshi Town (盘石镇), today’s county town, in 1369. Two years later, Caozhou was reduced to a county, giving Cao County its name.
Clothing and craft traditions
Daji Town (大集镇) brings together embroidery, cutting, pattern-making, pleating and printing for hanfu (汉服), traditional-style clothing. Local makers also connect clothing with older crafts: shadow-puppet designs appear as patterns on mamian skirts (马面裙), willow weaving becomes clothing accessories, and woodcarving is used for hairpins. Shadow-puppet maker Ren Yinlai (任银来) supplies carved motifs to clothing designer Meng Xiaoxia (孟晓霞), who adapts them for the skirts.
Sources for this guide
曹县 - 菏泽史志网 · Heze Local History Research Institute
曹县 一袭汉服载风华（城市味道·行走县城看中国） · People's Daily
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-26.
Explore Cao County
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Cao County 曹县
Plan your visit
Getting there
Cao County is about 45 km in a straight line from central Heze. Search for 曹县 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →More in Heze
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.