Heze

The "Peony Capital of China," where vast fields of peonies bloom at Caozhou Peony Garden every April, and Yuncheng's Water Margin Heroes City, Liangshan Marsh and the stone archways of Shan County make up a southwestern Shandong itinerary.

Heze, known in ancient times as Caozhou, lies in southwestern Shandong where Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan and Anhui meet, with the Yellow River flowing past to the northwest. It administers Mudan and Dingtao districts and the counties of Cao, Shan, Chengwu, Juye, Yuncheng, Juancheng and Dongming. It is the "Peony Capital of China" and one of the regions where the hero tales of the classic novel Water Margin are best known. The climate is warm-temperate monsoon with four distinct seasons. The best time to visit is the peony bloom from mid-to-late April: during the Heze International Peony Culture Tourism Festival, Caozhou Peony Garden, China Peony Garden and Gujin Garden form continuous seas of flowers and draw the biggest crowds. The rest of the year, the focus is Water Margin culture, historic architecture and southwestern Shandong food; summers are hot and winters dry and cold. Sightseeing falls into three areas. In the north of the city are the three big peony gardens and Tianxiang Park, and the newly built Heze Museum in town displays a Yuan-dynasty shipwreck. To the northeast lies the Water Margin culture route: Yuncheng has the Water Margin Heroes City and the hometown of Song Jiang, and about 85 km farther east is Liangshan Marsh in Liangshan County, Jining, where you can climb the mountain to see the Hall of Loyalty and Black Wind Pass. To the southeast, Shan County has the Ming and Qing stone archways of the Hundred Lions and Hundred Longevity arches and the Fulong Lake wetlands, and Shan County mutton soup is a famous local dish. Getting there: Heze East Station has high-speed trains toward Jinan, Zhengzhou, Beijing and Shanghai, and Heze Mudan Airport has domestic flights; Yuncheng is about 1 hour and Shan County about 1.5 hours by car from the city, so driving or hiring a car with driver is recommended to link them up. Allow 2–3 days: one day devoted to peonies during the bloom, one for the Water Margin route and one for Shan County. Weekends during the bloom are crowded and hotel prices rise, so book ahead and arrive early on off-peak days. Renting hanfu (traditional Chinese clothing) for photos is very popular during the bloom, and Cao County is the national center of the hanfu industry.

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