Get to know Putuo District
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- Administrative area
- District · 市辖区
- Part of
- Zhoushan
- Chinese name
- 普陀区
- Local areas
- District guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 461.48 km²
- Population · 2017
- 1,284,700
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
Almost all of the district is water: of 6,728 square kilometres, 6,269.4 are sea. Its 454.5 islands, a figure that counts its share of Zhoushan Island as a half, run in a band from southwest to northeast over about 105 kilometres north to south and 85 kilometres east to west; 30.5 of them are inhabited and the coastline totals 831.43 kilometres. Chinese Wikipedia places the district at the centre of the Zhoushan fishing ground (舟山渔场).
History
Putuo County was split off from Dinghai County (定海县) in March 1953, when the Zhoushan prefecture office was set up. It was abolished in November 1958, when Zhoushan was reduced to a county, and restored in April 1962. In March 1987 Zhoushan became a city and the county became Putuo District.
What to see
Mount Putuo is one of China's four famous Buddhist mountains and a seat of the bodhisattva Guanyin (观音), and the only one of the four at sea. The island covers about 12.5 square kilometres and rises to about 300 metres at Foding Peak (佛顶山). Among its twenty-odd temples the largest are Puji (普济禅寺), Fayu (法雨禅寺) and Huiji (慧济禅寺); Chinese Wikipedia gives Bukenqu Guanyin Hall (不肯去观音院) as its earliest Guanyin shrine. A 33-metre bronze standing Guanyin was consecrated on 30 October 1997.
A 2017 Zhejiang Online report carried by People's Daily Online gives the district's labels for its islands and its port: Zhujiajian (朱家尖), the "home of sand sculpture"; Taohua Island (桃花岛), linked with the novels of Jin Yong (金庸); Shenjiamen, the "eastern fishing capital"; and Dongji Island (东极岛), the "far edge of the East China Sea".
Food and local products
The district's seventh heritage list, issued in December 2025, adds several island skills: making dried fish (鱼鲞) on Liuheng (六横镇), red-roe qiangxie crab (红膏呛蟹) in Zhanmao (展茅街道), the large sesame cake of Xiazhi (虾峙大麻饼), Putuo aluminium carving (普陀铝雕) in Shenjiamen, and sail making (篷帆制作技艺) in Donggang (东港街道).
Highlights
- Mount Putuo 普陀山: One of China's four famous Buddhist mountains and the only one at sea; seat of Guanyin.
- Puji Temple 普济禅寺: One of the three largest temples on Mount Putuo.
- Bukenqu Guanyin Hall 不肯去观音院: The earliest Guanyin shrine on Mount Putuo, according to Chinese Wikipedia.
- Zhujiajian 朱家尖: Island promoted as the home of sand sculpture.
- Taohua Island 桃花岛: Island linked with the novels of Jin Yong.
- Dongji Island 东极岛: Promoted as the far edge of the East China Sea.
Sources for this guide
历史简介 - 舟山.普陀人大 · Standing Committee of the Putuo District People's Congress, Zhoushan
普陀区 (舟山市) - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
普陀山 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
做好海岛“美”的文章 普陀着力打造海上花园--旅游--人民网 · People's Daily Online (report from Zhejiang Online)
舟山市普陀区人民政府关于公布第七批普陀区非物质文化遗产代表性项目名录的通知 · Putuo District People's Government, Zhoushan
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-25.
Explore Putuo District
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Putuo District
Dongji Islands · 东极镇诸岛Dongji Islands东极镇诸岛
Dongji Town in Putuo District is an island group whose four inhabited islands—Miaozihu, Qingbang, Huangxing and Dongfushan—share a history of fishing and settlement far offshore.
Read the place guide →
A coastal path on Mount Putuo. Photograph date recorded by the source: 2006-09.Mount Putuo普陀山
Mount Putuo is an island pilgrimage landscape devoted to Guanyin, combining temple compounds with wooded hills and shorelines. Puji and Fayu temples are major religious anchors, while the large Guanyin image at Zizhulin creates…
Read the place guide →
Zhujiajian Nansha Beach and Daqing Mountain · 朱家尖南沙与大青山Zhujiajian Nansha Beach and Daqing Mountain朱家尖南沙与大青山
Nansha and Daqingshan show two aspects of Zhujiajian Island: a beach associated with sand sculpture and a coastal hill landscape of sandy coves, sea cliffs and wide views.
Read the place guide →
AI illustration · AI 示意图（仅供参考，非该地点实拍）Taohua Island桃花岛
Taohua Island in Putuo District combines rocky coastal scenery and Anqi Peak with a visitor landscape shaped by Jin Yong's martial-arts fiction and its screen adaptations.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Putuo District is about 20 km in a straight line from central Zhoushan. Search for 普陀区 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Dongji Islands and Mount Putuo are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Zhoushan →More in Zhoushan
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 普陀区 (舟山市) — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Some facts checked against 普陀山 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Dongji Islands · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Photo: Mount Putuo · Don-kun · CC BY 3.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Zhujiajian Nansha Beach and Daqing Mountain · 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.