Muping District 牟平区

Setting and landscape

The name refers to the level land on the sunny side of Mount Mu (牟山). The Qinshui (沁水河) and Yuniao (鱼鸟河) are the main rivers. Hot springs are common around Kunyu Mountain, and the Longquan hot spring (龙泉温泉) on its northern foot has long been known.

Kunyu Mountain itself sits at the eastern end of the Jiaodong Peninsula and is shared between Muping and Wendeng (文登区) in Weihai. Its main peak, Taibo Ding (泰礴顶), reaches 923 metres, and granite is the most widespread rock.

History

A Muping county was set up in 665 on the site of the old Dongmou (东牟) city, the present town. In 1131 a Ninghai garrison (宁海军) was set up at the county seat, and in 1182 the Jin raised it to Ninghai Prefecture (宁海州), still seated in Muping and governing Muping and Wendeng. The area was formerly known as Ninghai, or Ninghaichow, and the district government now sits in Ninghai subdistrict (宁海街道). On 2 July 1994 the county became a district, and its Laishan and Xiejiazhuang towns were split off to form Laishan District (莱山区).

What to see

Kunyu Mountain is a Taoist mountain and the birthplace of the Quanzhen (全真) school: Wang Chongyang (王重阳) took his seven disciples here, and Shenqing Temple (神清观), the school's ancestral temple founded over 800 years ago, has been rebuilt. The mountain also carries a rock-cut text of Laozi's Daodejing and a Han-dynasty inscription of the Yongkang period.

Yangma Island (养马岛) lies off the north of the district, 4.2 kilometres from the mainland at its closest. It runs southwest to northeast, flat in the south and rocky in the north, and a small islet shaped like an elephant drinking gives it the nickname Elephant Island (象岛). The Zhaogezhuang site (照格庄遗址) belongs to the Yueshi culture (岳石文化).

Food and local products

The coast yields abalone, scallops, sea cucumber and the purple clam (紫石房蛤); sea cucumber from the waters behind Yangma Island is counted the best. Cash crops include apples, pears, cherries and chestnuts, and local specialities are wool embroidery (绒绣), hand embroidery and drawn-thread work (抽纱).

Highlights

• Kunyu Mountain 昆嵛山: Taoist mountain shared with Wendeng, birthplace of the Quanzhen school; main peak 923 metres.
• Yangma Island 养马岛: Island off the district's north coast, 4.2 km from the mainland, known for sea cucumber.
• Longquan hot spring 龙泉温泉: Long-established hot spring on the northern foot of Kunyu Mountain.