Mengyin County 蒙阴县

Setting and landscape

The county counts more than 520 peaks, 179 rivers and 103 reservoirs. The county describes Mount Meng as the second-highest mountain in Shandong and Yunmeng Lake (云蒙湖) as the province's second-largest reservoir. Daigu Town (岱崮镇) alone has more than 30 flat-topped peaks ringed by sheer cliffs above gentler slopes. The Chinese Academy of Sciences named them the Daigu landform (岱崮地貌), placing it alongside Danxia, Zhangjiajie, Zhangshiyan and karst as a fifth type of rock landform in China.

History

A county was first set up here early in the Western Han. Mengyin is the home of the Qin general Meng Tian (蒙恬) and of Liu Hong (刘洪), the Eastern Han astronomer and mathematician remembered as the "sage of calculation" and credited with inventing abacus arithmetic. In the war years the county was the core of the Yimeng Mountains revolutionary base; it saw two defences of the Daigu peaks and the Battle of Menglianggu (孟良崮战役), and produced the Six Sisters of Yimeng (沂蒙六姐妹), celebrated for supporting the front. In 1959 the building of the Andi Reservoir (岸堤水库) displaced 38,000 people.

What to see

The Yunmeng Scenic Area of Mount Yimeng (沂蒙山云蒙景区), 18 kilometres south of the county town, is a 5A scenic area, part of a world geopark and a national forest park. Its sights include the Big and Small Yunmeng peaks, Tianhu Peak (天壶峰) and the Rain King Temple (雨王庙).

The Menglianggu scenic area lies 30 kilometres south of the county town. A martyrs' cemetery was built there with state funds in 1954; the Menglianggu Battle Memorial Hall (孟良崮战役纪念馆) stands at the foot and the battle monument on the summit, reached by a 3.5-kilometre path of 13,868 granite steps that follows the attack route of the Sixth Column of the East China Field Army. The Daigu Landform scenic area (4A) in Daigu Town has a geological museum and the sites of the Daigu battles.

Food and local products

Mengyin peaches (蒙阴蜜桃) are a national geographical indication product, with more than 200 varieties of downy peach, nectarine and flat peach that ripen from late May to late October. Mengyin bachelor chicken (蒙阴光棍鸡) is Mount Meng free-range rooster fried and simmered over a wood fire with a seasoning of thirty medicinal herbs; the joking name comes from the all-male kitchen staff and the use of cockerels only.

Getting oriented

National Highways 205 and 342 cross the county. The Menglianggu exit of the Beijing–Shanghai Expressway is 2 kilometres from the Menglianggu scenic area, which lies 50 kilometres north of central Linyi.

Highlights

• Yunmeng Scenic Area of Mount Yimeng 沂蒙山云蒙景区: 5A forest and mountain area 18 km south of the county town.
• Menglianggu Battle Memorial Hall 孟良崮战役纪念馆: Memorial hall at the foot of Menglianggu, with the battle monument on the summit.
• Daigu landform 岱崮地貌: More than 30 flat-topped, cliff-ringed peaks around Daigu Town.
• Mengyin peaches 蒙阴蜜桃: Geographical indication product with more than 200 varieties.
• Mengyin bachelor chicken 蒙阴光棍鸡: Rooster cooked over a wood fire with thirty medicinal herbs.