Get to know Yuncheng County
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- Administrative area
- County · 县
- Part of
- Heze
- Chinese name
- 郓城县
- Local areas
- County guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 1,643.00 km²
- Population · 2019
- 1,116,400
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and history
The Yellow River runs for 28 km along the county, with Taiqian (台前县) and Fan (范县) counties of Henan on the far bank. Liangshan and Jiaxiang (嘉祥县) counties lie to the east, Juancheng (鄄城县) to the west, and Juye (巨野县) and Mudan District (牡丹区) to the south. The county belongs to the Huai River basin.
In the winter of 587 BC the state of Lu (鲁国) built a walled town here named Yun (郓) for defence. The Sui set up Yunzhou (郓州) in 590 and in 598 renamed its Wan'an county Yuncheng. The county has been named a "thousand-year-old county" (千年古县) and a home of Chinese storytelling arts (中国曲艺之乡).
What to see
Shuihu Haohan City (水浒好汉城), the "Water Margin Heroes City", began in 2008 as a single old-style street and is now a national 4A scenic area of more than 600 mu. Its buildings include the Zhongyi Tower (忠义楼), the Yuncheng county yamen (郓城县衙), the Chao family manor (晁家庄), Wulong Yard (乌龙院), the Yuncheng Confucian temple (郓城文庙) and a Ming-Qing opera stage (明清戏楼). The scenic area also presents intangible heritage items such as Caozhou dough figurines (曹州面人), Water Margin playing cards (水浒纸牌) and Yuncheng guzheng making (郓城古筝制作技艺).
Other sites include the Xiaogudui ancient culture site (肖堌堆古文化遗址), the Huangnigang site (黄泥岗遗址), the Songjin River (宋金河), the Tang Pagoda (唐塔) and Song Jiang's home village (宋江故里).
The Song Jiang Martial Arts School (宋江武校) was founded in 1985 in Yuncheng, the hometown of Song Jiang (宋江), and teaches academic subjects alongside martial arts. Its pupils performed "Gouwa Naochun" (狗娃闹春) at the 1994 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, and took part in the opening ceremonies of both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics. The school keeps a Dahongquan (大洪拳) boxing squad and teaches the style, which is on the Shandong provincial intangible heritage list.
Getting oriented
Yuncheng lies about 150 km southwest of Jinan (济南). The Beijing-Kowloon Railway (京九铁路) and the Beijing-Xiong'an-Shangqiu high-speed railway (京雄商高速铁路) cross the county, with Yuncheng Station on the line.
Highlights
- Shuihu Haohan City 水浒好汉城: National 4A Water Margin theme town with a rebuilt county yamen, Chao family manor and Wulong Yard.
- Song Jiang Martial Arts School 宋江武校: Founded 1985; pupils performed at the 2008 and 2022 Olympic opening ceremonies.
- Dahongquan 大洪拳: Provincial intangible heritage boxing style taught at the Song Jiang school.
- Tang Pagoda 唐塔: Listed among the county's main sights.
Sources for this guide
郓城县 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
宋江武校给山东菏泽带来了什么？_中国品牌_人民论坛网 · People's Forum (rmlt.com.cn, People's Daily)
秀我中国｜这里就是水浒好汉城-新华网 · Xinhua News Agency
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-26.
Explore Yuncheng County
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Yuncheng County
Water Margin Heroes Town · Plan your visit
Getting there
Yuncheng County is about 60 km in a straight line from central Heze. Search for 郓城县 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Start with Water Margin Heroes Town. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Heze →More in Heze
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 郓城县 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Water Margin Heroes Town · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.