Chengyang District 城阳区

Setting and landscape

Chengyang borders Laoshan District (崂山区) to the east, Licang District (李沧区) to the south and Jimo District (即墨区) to the north, and meets Jiaozhou City (胶州市) across the bay to the west. It measures 41.5 km from east to west and 24 km from north to south. The district government describes it as set between hills and sea with 'five waters' (五水) flowing around the town, and as an important water source for Qingdao.

Its stretch of the bay has wide mudflats and nutrient-rich water suited to shellfish farming; farmed species include Manila clams, ark clams, razor clams and Pacific oysters. Granite is found around Xiazhuang (夏庄), Xifuzhen (惜福镇) and Chengyang itself, and the same three areas have mineral springs.

History

The name means 'south of the city': the area lay south of the walled seat of Buqi County (不其县), which the Qin set up in 221 BC around today's Chengyang, Chengzi (城子) and Sixi (寺西) villages. The Northern Qi abolished Buqi in 556, and in 589 the Sui rebuilt the Jimo county seat, today's Jimo old town, on part of its land.

After Germany seized Qingdao in 1897, the land south of the Baisha River (白沙河) and Hongdao (红岛) was taken into the German leased territory; Japan replaced Germany in 1914. Chengyang was liberated on 31 May 1949, came under Laoshan County in 1961 and Laoshan District in 1988, and became a district of Qingdao in June 1994.

What to see

In Hongdao Subdistrict, the Hanjia Folk Village (韩家民俗村), a 3A scenic area, presents the 'fishing, salt, farming and study' traditions of Jiaozhou Bay, with the Langjun Temple (郎君庙), an old salt well and a fishing-folk museum. Qingdao Olympic Sculpture Culture Park (青岛奥林匹克雕塑文化园), a 4A park, opened in 2003 as Century Park and took its present name in 2009. Its north gate has an avenue on the history of the modern Olympics, its east gate a row of sculpted columns on China's Olympic record, and more than 50 groups of sports sculptures stand inside. In Xifuzhen, Maogong Mountain (毛公山) is named after a natural rock said to resemble a great leader in a Zhongshan suit gazing into the distance.

Getting oriented

The district government puts Chengyang at the geographic centre of greater Qingdao, 10 km from Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport (青岛胶东国际机场). The northern sections of Qingdao Metro Lines 1 and 8 serve the district. Chengyang Station lies on the Qingdao–Jinan railway, and Hongdao Station on the Jinan–Qingdao high-speed railway.