Weifang, renowned as the World Capital of kites, is a rising tourism city located at East China’s Shandong
Province. It is the headquarters of International Kite Federation
and hosts the International Kite Festival every year. The city is tranquil and clean. It is the transport juncture of
Shandong Peninsula, 183 kilometers west from Jinan (the capital
city of Shandong Province), 410 kilometers northwest from Beijing.
It is against Yi Mountain to the south, and faces Bohai Sea to the
north and borders famous coastal cities Qingdao and Yantai to the
east.
Weifang has a long history. The human inhabitation of Weifang dates
back to Neolithic Period. It is the hometown of many well known
figures, including Emperor Shun of the Three Sovereigns and Five
Emperors period, the politician Yan Ying of the Spring and Autumn
Period (770 BC to 476 BC), the Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan of the
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 AD to 220 AD), the agriculturist Jia Simiao
of the Northern Wei Dynasty(386 AD to 534 AD)and the artist Zhang
Zeduan of North Song Dynasty (960 AD to 1127 AD), whose masterpiece
Along the River during the Qingming Festival is displayed in the
Imperial Palace of Beijing.
Rich history endows Weifang with thousands of cultural relic sites, ancient
buildings and ancient stone inscriptions, among them, three are
under national protection and twenty-seven are under provincial
protection, including Shihu Garden (from the Late Ming and early
Qing Dynasty), Fangong Pavilion (from the Song Dynasty), fossile
sites (including dinosaur fossils, in Shanwang, Linqu), Yangjiabu
Folk Grand Viewing Garden (The woodcut New Year Painting from
Yangjiabu are well known) and the Old Dragon Spring.
Weifang is a historical handcraft industry city of China and has gained an equally fame with Suzhou of Zhejiang Province
since the reign of Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty. It was China’s
biggest Kite and Chinese Woodcut New Year Painting producing area
and distributing center during the past dynasties. The folk-custom
and the technique of kite and Chinese Woodcut New Year Painting
making are well –preserved and concentrate in Weifang. With
abundant folk-custom resources, Weifang has promoted itself as the first and influential folk-custom tour destination since 1980s and attracts lots of tourists from other places of
China and abroad every year.