Yuanjia'ao (袁家嶴) is a village in

Fenghua Fenghua (; ) is a district (China), district of the city of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China. The district and its administrative hinterlands have a population of over 480,000. Fenghua is the hometown of two former president of the Republic of ...

municipality,

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Situated at approx. 280m above sea level in the

Tiantai Mountain Tiantai Mountain (also Tí Taî in the local language) is a mountain in Tiantai County, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China. Its highest peak, Huading, reaches a height of . The mountain was made a national park on 1 August 1988. One of nine ...

range, its main products are

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

and timber. The village is traditionally considered the ancestral home of the Yuans of the greater

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

, who have been estimated to number some 20,000. The village itself is split in two by the Tangqi River, a small stream which can flood in the autumn months. Yuanjia'ao is famous in Fenghua because it is a thoroughfare to

Malongkeng Malongkeng (马龙坑; also Malukeng 马陆坑, 马鹿坑) is a religious site located south of Yuanjia'ao, China, dedicated to the Zhouji Dragon King. The site is revered by villagers of the surrounding hills and the greater Fenghua area for it ...

, a religious site near the peak of Mount Dalei. There is a narrow concrete road to Yuanjia'ao from

Xiaowangmiao Xiaowangmiao Subdistrict () is a Subdistricts of China, subdistrict in Fenghua District, Ningbo, Zhejiang province China. It lies on the south bank of the Shan River, and takes its name from the Temple of King Xiao. The subdistrict includes the Vi ...

in the north, which follows the Tangqi River all the way to Xujiashan in the south. On the 18th day of the sixth lunar month, when the religious festival to honour the dragon king of Malongkeng is held, the road becomes heavily congested. Of the 400 families of Yuanjia'ao, over 90% are surnamed Yuan. According to the ' of 1923, all the Yuans of the village are descended from a certain Yuan Rong (袁蓉), who moved from Xinchang county and settled at the site in the tenth century. The village also has wider significance as the ancestral home of the Yuan clans of Ningbo and its hinterlands. Efforts have been made in recent years to revive and restore the clan monuments and religious buildings which were destroyed during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. In 1997, a clan hall was reopened, and the Duling Temple and its connected memorial arch was erected. Since 2001, clan members have been studying the last remaining copy of the clan genealogy held by the Fenghua government and liaising with members of the Cilin Yuan clan to republish the genealogy.

References

{{coord missing, Zhejiang Geography of Ningbo Villages in China