Penglai, formerly known as Dengzhou or Tengchow, is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

belonging to the prefecture-level

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Yantai Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao on the ...

, Shandong

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It lies on the northwest corner of the

Shandong Peninsula The Shandong (Shantung) Peninsula or Jiaodong (Chiaotung) Peninsula is a peninsula in Shandong Province in eastern China, between the Bohai Sea to the north and the Yellow Sea to the south. The latter name refers to the east and Jiaozhou. Geo ...

on the southern coast of the

Gulf of Bohai The Bohai Sea () is a marginal sea approximately in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects to the east via the Bohai Strait. It has a mean depth of a ...

. Penglai is famous for its mirages out at sea, which are frequent during May and June. Formerly a

county-level city A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...

, Penglai became a district of Yantai City in 2020.

Geography

Penglai is entirely surrounded by other divisions of Yantai:

Fushan District Fushan () is a district of the city of Yantai, Shandong province, near the shore of the Bohai Gulf. To the east is Zhifu District and Laishan District, to the southeast is Muping District, to the southwest Qixia City, to the northwest is Pe ...

is to the east, Longkou City to the west, and Qixia City to the south. Its limits in

geographic coordinate The geographic coordinate system (GCS) is a spherical or ellipsoidal coordinate system for measuring and communicating positions directly on the Earth as latitude and longitude. It is the simplest, oldest and most widely used of the various ...

s are 37° 25'–37° 50' N, 120° 35'–121° 09' E.

Climate

History

The Red Cliffs () of the area are reputed to have been the site where the

Eight Immortals The Eight Immortals () are a group of legendary '' xian'' ("immortals") in Chinese mythology. Each immortal's power can be transferred to a vessel () that can bestow life or destroy evil. Together, these eight vessels are called the "Covert Eight ...

set out for the land of the immortals and where

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of " king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Empero ...

later sent off five hundred boys and five hundred girls on ships to search for them.

Chinese legends Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...

held that a mystic dolphin was seen from the cliffs above and, missing it with his spear, the emperor knew that his days were numbered. The Martial Emperor of

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

(''Han Wudi'') later also visited the area while searching for the

elixir of immortality The elixir of life, also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to cure all diseases. Alchemists in various ages and cultures sought the means ...

. The old city walls incorporate guard towers of three stories (rather than the usual two) because the uncle of the first emperor of the 6th-century Sui dynasty had been

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

of the area. Under the

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

, the harbor was fortified and used by the war junks of the imperial navy. During the early years of the Manchu invasion of China,

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

artillerists were instructing

forces at Dengzhou when it was besieged by a mutinous army under

Kong Youde Kong Youde ( zh, c=, p=Kǒng Yǒudé; mnc, , v=; Transliteration of Manchu: kung ioo de; died August 7, 1652) was a Chinese adventurer and Ming dynasty military officer who served under the warlord Mao Wenlong until Mao's death in 1629. Subsequen ...

in February 1632. Captain Gonçalo Teixeiro was killed during its sack, but the 70-year-old Jesuit linguist João Rodrigues escaped by jumping from the city walls into the sea. Kong's forces then seized the Portuguese cannon and used them to pillage the countryside before joining the Manchu invaders who eventually established China's

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

. Following the Second Opium War, Dengzhou became the first port opened to foreigners on the

in 1858.Brown, Arthur Judson (1904) ''New forces in old China: an unwelcome but inevitable awakening'' F.H. Revell Co., New York, Chapter IVOCLC 2177558
/ref> Christian missions were quickly established. The harbor was found inadequate for the traders, however, and Zhifu (now central

) was developed away to function as Dengzhou's port. Penglai is mentioned in the fictional stories about Judge Dee by Robert van Gulik, first mentioned in the book The Chinese Gold Murders. In 2020,

Changdao County Changdao County ) was a county in Yantai, a prefectural area of Shandong in the People's Republic of China. It consists of the Changshan Islands within the Bohai Strait, directly north of Penglai. They were known for their sandy beaches and pic ...

, consisting of the Changdao Islands in the Bohai Strait, was merged into Penglai.

Administration

The city contains five subdistricts (),seven townships () and three development zones (): ;Subdistricts *

Dengzhou Subdistrict Dengzhou Subdistrict () is a subdistrict of Penglai, Shandong, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous cou ...

(): where

reputedly visited to gain

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...

;Towns ;Others * Penglai Economic Development Zone (): contains three industrial parks * Penglai Tourism-Vacation Area () * Penglai Urban District () Together, the three ''qu'' (zone, district, and area) co-exist with the coastal Xingang Subdistrict.

Economy

374,400 Penglai citizens work in agriculture, with the remaining 75,600 in various other sectors.

Tourism

Penglai has been ranked by the Chinese government as a top domestic tourist destination. Its Water Fortress (, ''Shuíchéng''), a fortified harbor, is one of China's oldest military ports. It was built under the

in 1376 and housed a fleet of warjunks. It is now a protected historical monument being renovated at a cost of 500m

RMB The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

(more than $60m). There is a plank walk along the cliffs nearby. More than US$25 million has also been invested into developing the Penglai Pavilion and other sites. The Penglai Pavilion is a large park of ancient buildings, palaces and temples, that have been restored and rebuilt. It has been a tourist goal for more than a thousand years, and the site features inscriptions from famous poets and calligraphers like

Su Shi Su Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, gastronomer, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and travel writer during the Song dynasty. A major personality of ...

and

Dong Qichang Dong Qichang (; courtesy name Xuanzai (玄宰); 1555–1636), was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, politician, and art theorist of the later period of the Ming dynasty. Life as a scholar and calligrapher Dong Qichang was a native of Hua Ting (l ...

. Among other cultural attractions of Penglai are the Naval Museum with exhibits of ancient ships and the restored residence of the famous patriotic general

Qi Jiguang Qi Jiguang (, November 12, 1528 – January 17, 1588), courtesy name Yuanjing, art names Nantang and Mengzhu, posthumous name Wuyi, was a Chinese military general and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for leading the defense on the ...

. Penglai also has the largest ocean aquarium in Asia. It includes a polar area, a shark hall, a tropical rainforest, and a theater with mermaids, dolphins and sea lions. A picturesque festival takes place in January for the birthday of Tianhou, a local sea goddess. While tourism is the mainstay of Penglai's economy, bringing more than two million tourists annually, in fact the entire center of the town around the harbour was walled off and completely razed in 2006.

Wine industry

The production of wine is the second largest industry in the province. Agriculture is first. However, in Penglai,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

is the primary industry, and wine-making is second. The hills south of Penglai have an average elevation of , while the

coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

areas are relatively flat. Most of the soil is loose, well-aerated, and rich in minerals and organic matters that enable full development of the root systems. The wineries are located mainly in the Nanwang Grape Valley and along the Yan-Peng Sightseeing Highway. The main varieties grown there, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Gernischt, Merlot,

Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...

and Chardonnay, are all reaching 20 years of age, considered to be the golden stage for these grapes. Most of them maintain an average sugar content of above 20%. The Cabernet is especially typical, with good color and a dense

fragrance An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavoring, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficiently ...

Notable residents

(戚继光, 1528－1588)

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

general and national hero who fought Japanese pirates * Henry Luce (1898–1967) - born in Penglai, founder of ''

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', '' Fortune'', and ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

''. *

Ida Pruitt Ida C. Pruitt (1888–1985) was a China-born American social worker, author, speaker, interpreter and activist in Sino-American understanding. Her biographer called her "China's American Daughter." In the 1920s and 1930s she supervised social wor ...

(1888–1985) - born in Penglai, spoke fluent Chinese, prolific writer on China *

Wu Peifu Wu Peifu or Wu P'ei-fu (; April 22, 1874 – December 4, 1939) was a major figure in the struggles between the warlords who dominated Republican China from 1916 to 1927. Early career Born in Shandong Province in eastern China, Wu initi ...

(吴佩孚, 1874–1939) - army general, later became one of the most powerful military rulers in China during the Warlord Era (1916–1928) * Meng Xuenong ( 1949- ) - vice-governor and acting governor of Shanxi (as of 2007) and disgraced former Mayor of Beijing Municipality

Notes

References

* *

External links

中国蓬莱 (Penglai, China)
official municipal government (in

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

)
Rare Mirage Lasts for 4 Hours off East China Shore

Article about a visit to Penglai

Article describing the Water City
{{Shandong topics Cities in Shandong Yantai