Leizhou City, located in the central part of the Leizhou Peninsula at the southernmost end of Chinese mainland, faces the Leizhou Bay to the east, neighbors the Beibu Gulf to the west, borders Zhanjiang City and Suixi County to the north, and neighbors Xuwen County to the south. It has 20 towns under its jurisdiction, enjoys advantageous natural conditions, and is reputed as a land flowing with milk and honey.
With a long history, Leizhou boasts rich cultural heritage, and was inhabited by human beings as early as in the Neolithic Age four to five thousand years ago. In the pre-Qin period, it was the orbit of the Yue and Chu states in succession. From the sixth year (111BC) of the Yuanding reign in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) to the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Leizhou was a center of politics, economy and culture in the Leizhou Peninsula.
Due to historical and geological reasons, Leizhou became the converging place of Chu and Yue cultures, aboriginal culture, culture brought by immigrants from South Fujian, marine culture and culture from the Central Plains, and form its unique Leizhou culture. Leizhou is full of talents and historic sites. There are 57 cultural relics sites under the county-level protection or above, and the number and quality of collections in the Leizhou city museum top all county-level museums in the province. And, the museum is an outstanding patriotism education base in the national cultural relics system.
Many celebrities in the history came from Leizhou. For instance, Chen Wenyu served as governors of Donghezhou and Leizhou in succession, and was respectfully honored as Lei Ancestor due to his great achievements. Another example is Chen Bin, who served as county magistrate of Gutian and Taiwan in Fujian Province in succession, and provincial governor of Fujian Province and satrap of Fujian-Zhejiang area. For his incorruptibility and solicitude to the mass people, he was reputed as one of the three great honest and upright officials south of the Five Ridges in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
Leizhou has beautiful natural scenery, including the eight great sites in old Leizhou such as vast exuberance in West Lake, inscriptions in the goose pagoda, and so on, as well as new scenic spots like the Tiancheng Terrace, the Gaoshan Temple, and the Baolin Buddhist Temple. Looking eastwards from the Sanyuan Ancient Tower, one can see large expanse of fertile fields, chains of mountains and waves on the South China Sea. All visitors will gasp at the too many marvelous sites and the uncanny workmanship of the nature.
Folk customs in Leizhou are quite colorful. In the Lantern Festival, people hold rich activities in urban and rural areas, and the Tan Dance and the Flower Spreading Dance prevalent in March are quite fascinating.
Leizhou is a glittering pearl in south China, and a great garden full of historical culture. It is one of the 99 national level historical and cultural cities.
(Source: chinaculture.org)
