Weifang is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People’s Republic of China. It borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao to the east, and looks out to the Laizhou Bay to the north.

Weifang is a historical city with well known figures. Emperor Shun of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, the politician Yan Ying of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the agriculturist Jia Simiao of the Northern Wei Dynasty were all from Weifang. Kong Rong, Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Su Dongpo, Zheng Banqiao, et al. have worked in Weifang historically. In more recent years, revolutionists, litterateurs and artists, such as Wang Jinmei, Chen Shaomin, Wang Yuanjian, Wang Tongzhao, Zang Kejia are well known in China. Weifang also boasts of historical relics and other tourist sites, such as Shihu Garden (from the Late Ming and early Qing Dynasty), Fangong Pavilion (from the Song Dynasty), fossil sites (including dinosaur fossils, in Shanwang, Linqu), Yi Mount National Forest Park, Qingyun Mount and the Old Dragon Spring. Weifang is the world capital of kites. The woodcut New Year’s paintings from Yangjiabu are well known.

Local Products

Kite

Kite-flying is a traditional custom among the people in Weifang in spring. There is an outstanding handicraft skill of kites produced in Weifang, as well as the special atmosphere which is quite suitable for flying kites that make Weifang Kites more and more popular not only in China but also in the other countries.

In 1984, the first International Kite Festival was held in Weifang. More than ten thousand kite fans attended the opening ceremony. People from eleven different countries and regions, including the United States, Canada and so on, took part in the festival and performed flying kites. Since then, Weifang holds the International Kite Festival every year in April and is well-known as the “International Kite Capital” all over the world.

Annual Broad of Yangjiabu

Annual Broad of Yangjiabu, which is one of the three most famous Chinese folk paintings in history, began from the end of the Ming Dynasty. It reached the peak of its development during the Qing Dynasty. People usually replace the old Annual Broads with the new ones on the eve of Spring Festival, which is the most important festival in China, in order to give blessings to the family and friends for the following year. The subjects of Annual Broad of Yangjiabu are various, which include flowers, beauties, landscapes, characters from myths and legends. The architecture skills such as concise lines and bright colors reflect the distinctive characteristics of people in Weifang.

Paper Cutting

Paper cutting in Gaomi has a long history for more than four hundred years. Mostly, women are good at paper cutting. This widely spread handicraft has the unique style, such as strong contrast in color, straight and simple line and exaggerated outline. The characters mostly come from the drama stories, flowers and birds, as well as some fantastic symbols.

Scenic Spots

Shihu Garden

Situated in the center of Weifang city, Shihu Garden is of the Qing Dynasty architectural features and called “the Dings’ Garden” as well. This garden is small, exquisite and well arranged, which is an excellent representative of private gardens with the characteristics of the gardens of both south and north China. It used to be the old residence of Hu Bangzuo, deputy minister of Punishments of the Jiajing reign period of the Ming Dynasty (1521AD-1566AD). In 1885 (the eleventh year of the Guangxu reign period of the Qing Dynasty), Ding Shanbao, the richest man in Weixian county and the next-door neighbor of this garden, bought it and repaired the three old buildings in the north, naming them Yanxiang Building. Digging pools and heaping up rockeries, he built this residence into a garden. Now, Shihu Garden is a museum, specializing in the history of the west of Jiaolai plains, folklore, and painting and calligraphy by Zheng Banqiao.

The garden has three architectural axes, the east one, the middle one and the west one, with three or four courtyards respectively. The main architectures on the east axis, Blue Cloud Hall used to be the Dings’ living room. On the west are Songfen Study Room, Shenliu Reading Room, Qiusheng Room and Jingrushan Room, which were the old-style private school and parlor of the Dings. And on the middle axis are the center of the garden with Shihu paintings in front of the pool, Sizhao Pavilion inside the pool, and Yanxiang Building and North Hall behind.

Qingyun Mountain Folk Custom Amusement Park

Qingyun Mountain Folk Custom Amusement Park, one of the first batches of travel scenic spots of AAA grade, is located in the Kite Capital of the World—thirty kilometers in the south of Weifang. Having typical characteristics of folklore culture, it is a large-scale comprehensive travel scenic spot that integrates travel, tour, recreation, relaxation, and shopping. Relying on its natural topography, the garden consists of six zones: gardens featuring beautiful landscape, ethical custom, wild animals, recreation, the folk customs of Qi, Lu states, and the peach blossom land. The performance of typical characteristics in the park has continuous excellent plays with splendor appearance.

Qingzhou Yunmen Mountain

Yunmen Mountain is located in 2.5 kilometers south of Qingzhou and its highest peak is 421m high. The different mountains are protruding like a continuous high mountain. On the top of the mountain lies a cave running from the south to the north. Seen from the distance, it looks like a mirror hanging in the sky. In summer and fall, cloud and mist curl across Yunmen Mountain like a fairyland. That is the reason why Yunmen Mountain gains its name. Five Buddhist Caves and 272 Buddhist statues were built in Sui and Tang dynasties (581AD-907AD)—the earliest statues during the reign of Emperor Kaiyuan (the first emperor of Sui dynasty during 581AD to 618AD). In the different dynasties, numerous celebrities and scholars, such as Ouyang Xiu, Fu Bi, Wang Shizhen, Zhong Yuzheng and so on, inscribed numerous precious cliff-side inscriptions at the mountain. Among them there is the biggest “longevity” symbol (7.5m high and 3.5m wide). The Chinese character that means “longevity” has a height of 2.3m. So there is an old saying that may your age be as the southern mountain. A renowned grotto like a winding well in the west of Yunmen Cave is too deep to see the bottom. In the summer and fall, cloud and mist fill Yunmen Cave and hurry to and fro.

Transportation

Airliners destined for Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, Haikou, Guangzhou, as well as cargo airlines to Shengyang, Shanghai are available at the airport of Weifang.

Jiaozhou-Ji’nan and its double-tracking railways traverse the Weifang City. Located in the south of the District of Weifang City, Weifang station is on the main railway line of Jiaozhou-Ji’nan Railway. now a variety of expresses and air-conditioned trains can reach a lot of large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Taiyuan, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Ji’nan, Zhenzhou, Xi’an, Lanzhou, Xi’ning, Qingdao, Weihai, Yantai, Guangzhou, etc.

Ji’nan-Qingdao freeway, Weilai freeway, and Dongqing freeway, are main arteries of transportation in the Weifang city’s heart. Besides, numerous provincial and rural roads are also important ingredients of municipal network of traffic. Weifang long-distance bus terminal and commercial town bus terminal are main ones with regular buses destined for big and medium cities nationwide and main cities within Shandong province.