Dongping County 东平县

Setting and landscape

The land falls from northeast to southwest. The northern hills are an outlying spur of Mount Tai with 218 summits; the highest, Wailaopo Peak (歪老婆顶) in Timen (梯门镇), reaches 451 metres. Along and south of the Daqing River (大清河) lies farmland on the alluvial plain of the Dawen River, while the west is low lake basin on the Yellow River plain, broken by isolated hills such as Mount La (腊山) and Mount Kun (昆山).

The county government lists Dongping Lake as the second-largest freshwater lake in Shandong. It is the only remaining water of the old "eight hundred li" Liangshan marsh (八百里梁山水泊), and today it serves as a flood-detention basin on the Yellow River and a hub of the eastern route of the South-North Water Transfer Project (南水北调).

History

The old name Dongyuan (东原), "eastern plain", is generally traced to a line in the Tribute of Yu (禹贡) chapter of the Book of Documents (尚书); the county name Dongping dates from the Tang dynasty, when Sucheng County (宿城县) was renamed. In the year 1000 a Yellow River breach drowned the town of Xuchang (须昌城), and a new town, today's Zhoucheng (州城), replaced it. Song Jiang's (宋江) rebels were active here at the end of the Northern Song.

Once the Grand Canal opened under the Yuan, Dongping stood where the canal met the Ji River (济水) and grew into a water-transport hub that Marco Polo called a grand and splendid city; it declined after the Ming as the canal silted up. In 2007 builders preparing a shopping-mall site found a Western Han tomb whose wall paintings include an early scene of Confucius meeting Laozi.

What to see

The county has four national key protected cultural sites and three national 4A scenic areas. Daicun Dam (戴村坝), known as the "heart of the canal" (运河之心), is part of the Grand Canal World Heritage listing. Dongping Lake is itself a 4A scenic area. Baifo Mountain (白佛山), "White Buddha Mountain", holds a temple fair on the second day of the second lunar month that has run since the Tang, when tens of thousands of people climb it to pray.

Two local traditions are on the national intangible cultural heritage list: Duangu singing (端鼓腔) and the Taoist music of Mount La (腊山道教音乐).

Highlights

• Daicun Dam 戴村坝: The "heart of the canal", part of the Grand Canal World Heritage listing.
• Dongping Lake 东平湖: Where the Yellow River, Grand Canal and Dawen River converge; a national 4A scenic area.
• Baifo Mountain 白佛山: Scene of a temple fair on the second day of the second lunar month, held since the Tang.
• Taoist music of Mount La 腊山道教音乐: On the national intangible cultural heritage list.