Rongjiang West Lake

Jieyang is situated in the southeastern part of Guangdong Province. The city is adjacent to Shantou to the east, Chaozhou to the northeast, Meizhou to the north, Shanwei to the west and faces the South China Sea to the south. It has an area of 5,138 sq km and a population of 6.35 million.

History

Jieyang has over 2,200 years' history. The name of “Jieyang” firstly appeared in the history in the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC). In the Han Dynasty (206BC-220), it was an independent shire controlling several districts. In the following dynasties, it was separated and combined again and again and once belonged to Shantou. In 1991, Jieyang was turned into a prefecture-level city under the approval of the State Council. Jieyang residents mainly consist of Chaozhou and Hakka people, while the unique Chaoshan culture is dominant in the city.

Tourist Attractions

Huangqishan Mountain Scenic Area

Jieyang is famous for its majestic mountain and ocean scenery, historical landmarks and temples, colorful folk customs and delicious cuisines. It was appraised as a Town of Traditional Chinese Painting, Town of Fruits and Town of Folk Drama. Landmarks of Jieyang include Shuangfeng Temple, Huangqi Mountain Scenic Area, Guizhu Park Scenery Area, and Huilaijin Bay Botanical Garden.

Shuangfeng Temple is one of the three most famous Buddhist temples in Chaoshan (east Guangdong) region. The other two are Chaozhou Kaiyuan Temple and Chaoyang Lingshan Temple. Shuangfeng Temple is built in Lianhuaxin (lotus’ heart), Dongshan, Rongcheng District, Jieyang. It was first built in 900 years ago in Dushuang Mountain, Panxi, and later moved to the current site. There are two steles in Shuangfeng Temple: one with a Chinese character “longevity” in it, which was carved by a famous person Chen Tuan several thousand years ago and was copied and carved in many other places in the country; the other stele has Chinese character “tiger”. Best time to visit the temple is when the sun sets and birds are busy home coming, and the monks are doing their evening prayers. One can feel free as if is standing aloof from worldly affairs.

Confucius Temple in Jieyang

The Xiaocui Road extends to the gate of the Huangqi Mountain Park. The North Rongjiang River slowly flows by the foot of the Huangqi Mountain. Huangqi Mountain covers an area of 1,180 hectare. Its main peak is 293.1 meters above sea level. Owning to the scene of “Dusk in Huangqi”, it has been rated as one of eight scenes of Jieyang. There are nine temples and eighteen cliffs on the mountain. The Qishan Tower is located at the summit of the mountain. There're many places of interest in the mountain, such as, the Yuerong Tomb, the Lvyun Temple and the Woyun Cave. In addition, there are more than twenty Cliffside inscriptions, rare old-aged pagoda tree, beautiful reservoir and good fruits produced from South Guangdong.  It’s a natural scenic area which is characterized by mountain, rock, forest, water and place of interest. It includes three main scenic areas and eight main scenic spots. Eight famous scenic spots are: Overlook on the Qishan Tower, spring in the Cave, Spring Scenery of the Ancient Pavilion, Bell of the Lvyun Temple, Perching Phoenix in the Woyun Cave, Dusk in Zhugang, Morning Light in Shangjie, and All Birds Worshiping Phoenix. Climb up Hangqi Mountain and overlook the Rongjiang River. It looks like a colorized silk which embraces the mountain. When the sun sets in a blaze of glory and birds fly back to their nests, the scenery is very beautiful.

Jieyang cuisine is one of important branches of Yue Cuisine (Guangdong Cuisine) and boasts fine ingredients and delicate cooking methods.Seafood dishes are the most famous representatives of Jieyang cuisine. Kongfu tea (Gongfu ca), which dates back to the Song Dynasty (440-479AD), is still flourishing and remains an important part of social etiquette in Jieyang and offers a very good opportunity for travelers.

Folk craftworks and activities such as stone carving, Chaozhou woodcarving, paper cutting, inlay porcelain, Chaozhou opera, Chaozhou music and lion dance add a lot of interest and charm to the city.

Climate

Jieyang belongs to the subtropical monsoon climate zone. It is endowed with rich sunshine, rain but nearly no snow. The annual average temperature is about 21.4 C (70.5 F).