Matou Tourist Area

Matou Tourist Area

Matou Tourist Area is a national A-level tourist attraction.

Located in Matou Village in the southern part of Matou Town. It lies 2 kilometers south of Sanjiang Wharf and just 9 kilometers north of Dinghai District, nestled against mountains and by the sea with beautiful scenery. The tourist area leverages the over 2,000-acre natural forest resources of Wolong Mountain, connecting the vast bamboo groves, camphor forests, orchards, as well as mountain ponds, streams, and springs into one scenic line. Lush greenery all year round, with fruit trees in bloom, it is a tranquil and elegant natural oxygen bar.

The mountain forest coverage rate reaches 95%, with dense and verdant trees offering endless green views and immense charm, making it an excellent natural lung-renewing and fitness area. The tourist area adopts an eco-friendly architectural concept, integrating bamboo and wooden walking trails, bamboo and wooden huts, and other attractions seamlessly with nature. It not only provides an ecological agricultural leisure tourism base for visitors to reconnect with nature and enjoy the mountains and waters, but also serves as an experimental site for youths to engage in agricultural science and technology activities.

Matou Tourist Area is located in the northwest of Dinghai, Zhejiang Province, historically known as "Jingtao." Matou Town boasts abundant tourism resources and profound cultural heritage. According to research, Matou has nearly 6,000 years of maritime cultural history and is a renowned “hometown of maritime relics” in Zhejiang Province. The scenic area includes the Matou Ancient Cultural Ruins Cluster, Matou Museum, ancient dwellings, and beacon towers. Among them, the Matou Museum—the only township-level museum in the province—houses numerous unearthed cultural relics, showcasing the life and history of the island’s early inhabitants from six thousand years ago. With six thousand years of historical and cultural accumulation, rich cultural and natural landscapes, it possesses unique tourism resources themed around ancient culture.

Dinghai Matou has a long history and is a land of outstanding people. The hardworking and brave ancestors worked from sunrise to sunset, developing this marine sedimentary basin into a vibrant earthly paradise.

As early as around 6,000 years ago during the Neolithic Age, they began making pottery, grinding stone tools, using extra-large stone plows, and cultivating rice. Recently, more than 10 types of pottery patterns have been discovered at the site, along with the earliest known writing on seabirds.

These prehistoric cultures created by the ancestors of Matou possess unique connotations of maritime culture. Like the Hemudu Culture and Liangzhu Culture, they are also cradles of Chinese civilization.

The ancient culture of Matou provides physical evidence for tracing the origins of Japanese culture and served as a relay station for ancient Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges.

Matou has a long history and is a land of outstanding people. The hardworking and brave ancestors worked from sunrise to sunset, developing this marine sedimentary basin into a prosperous and vibrant earthly paradise. As early as around 6,000 years ago during the Neolithic Age, they began making pottery, grinding stone tools, using extra-large stone plows, and cultivating rice. Recently, more than 10 types of pottery patterns have been discovered at the site, along with the earliest known writing on seabirds. The prehistoric cultures created by the ancestors of Matou possess unique connotations of maritime culture. Like the Hemudu Culture and Liangzhu Culture, they are also cradles of Chinese civilization. The ancient culture of Matou also provides physical evidence for tracing the origins of Japanese culture and served as a relay station for ancient Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges. As time passed and the world changed, by the Tang Dynasty, Matou had become a prosperous and bountiful land with a thriving population. According to the Dinghai County Annals, during the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty, Matou was once considered as the site for the county seat. Matou has always been the transportation and trade hub of Zhoushan Island, as well as a military stronghold. The Sanjiangkou area, where the Huangdayang, Huibei, and Daiju oceans converge, was historically a commercial port connecting Daishan, Ningbo, Shanghai, and Shengsi. The remnants of the ancient post road, inns, and post stations from Sanjiangkou to the North Gate of Dinghai allow us to glimpse the former prosperity of the trading port. Matou was also a frontline position in the Ming Dynasty for resisting Japanese pirates along the southeast coast. The nine stone-built beacon towers on Zhaojun Mountain and Paotai Gang were military facilities used to monitor pirate movements and send smoke signals to report military intelligence. The ruins of the ancient anti-pirate battlefield in Houwan, the cemetery of Qi's Army on Pingshi Ridge, and the hundreds-of-meters-long stone city wall forming the ancient military pass at Changchun Ridge are all historical testimonies of the people of Matou resisting pirates and defending their homeland. During the Anti-Japanese War and the Liberation War, Matou became an important revolutionary transport hub and communication center between Zhoushan Island, Daishan, Shengsi, and Ningbo, with very active party organizations.

Attraction Location

Matou Town, Dinghai District, Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province