Guanhaiwei Town

Guanhaiwei Town

Guanhaiwei, a key commercial hub in the eastern part of Cixi, has an extraordinary historical background. In ancient times, it was located at the junction of land and sea, occupying a strategically vital position. As early as the Song Dynasty, a military garrison was established here to control the maritime routes. During the early Ming Dynasty, when pirate attacks were frequent, Emperor Hongwu sent his founding hero Tang He in the 19th year of the Hongwu era (1386) to the coast to construct military strongholds. At Langgangshan Mountain, he built a fortress, dug moats, stationed troops, and established a garrison. The military post was named Guanhaiwei because "the city was completed with the sea right in front of it."

A "wei" was a type of military unit during the Ming Dynasty, with a defensive zone that could encompass several prefectures. Each "wei" was further divided into "suo." Guanhaiwei had two such subdivisions: Longshan Suo (now Longshan Town) to the east and Sanshan Suo (now Hushan City) to the west, forming a complete defensive system known as "three towns along one vein."

As a city built according to coastal defense requirements, every aspect of Guanhaiwei’s design served military purposes. Its square-shaped walls had four gates, each protected by a barbican, which in turn contained water gates. The perimeter featured watchtowers, guard posts, and a surrounding moat, making it an impregnable fortress. Legend has it that there were thirty-six streets and seventy-two lanes within the town. The main roads were paved with large stone slabs, wide enough for five horses abreast, while the smaller lanes came in various forms—straight, winding, dead-end, bifurcated, double-looped, single-looped, clamp-shaped, and pocket-shaped—creating a maze-like layout ideal for tactical defense. It is often said, "Every twenty li of street is a fortress, and every road hides a secret sentry."

During the mid-Ming Dynasty, when Japanese pirates were rampant, Guanhaiwei became a crucial stronghold against them and successfully repelled several major attacks. Legend has it that the famed anti-pirate general Qi Jiguang once stationed his vanguard troops in Guanhaiwei and Dongshantou, leaving behind place names such as "Xiaying" (Lower Camp) and "Yingfang" (Barracks) that are still used today. Locals refer to mass graves of pirates as "Maiwo Ling" (Pirate-Burying Ridge) and call fava beans "Wo Dou" (Pirate Beans), subtle remnants of the area’s martial past.

Even today, a unique local dialect is spoken within the town, unintelligible to outsiders and thus dubbed "secret language." Locals call it "Yan Hua" (Swallow Talk). This originated when, shortly after the town’s establishment in the early Ming Dynasty, soldiers from Funing Wei in Fujian were stationed here permanently, passing down their legacy—including the "Wei Wine" (a Fujian-style banquet), martial arts styles such as "Jin Suo Quan," "Kaozi Quan," and "Zuoshou Gun"—as well as the Yan Hua dialect, a variant of Fujianese.

Guanhaiwei Town: Located in the eastern part of Cixi, Guanhaiwei Town covers an area of 150.20 square kilometers with a total population of 200,000, including 50,000 migrants. It serves as the eastern wing of Cixi’s "one body, two wings" urban development strategy, and is recognized as a provincial-level central town in Ningbo and a pilot town for comprehensive small-town reform in Zhejiang Province.

Guanhaiwei Town enjoys favorable conditions for economic development, with significant progress in both economic growth and social progress. In 2001, the town achieved a GDP of 2.064 billion yuan, per capita GDP of 13,760 yuan, and fiscal revenue of 114 million yuan. Guanhaiwei... [More details about Guanhaiwei Town]++