Yiyuan Cuiping Mountain Scenic Area

Yiyuan Cuiping Mountain Scenic Area

The Yiyuan Cuiping Mountain Scenic Area is a national AA-level tourist attraction.

The Yiyuan County Cuiping Mountain Scenic Area is located ten kilometers west of Zhongzhuang Town in Yiyuan County. It is a municipal-level scenic spot, covering a total area of 40 square kilometers, and mainly consists of two major scenic zones: the Orchard Grand View Garden and Cuiping Mountain.

The scenic area features a charming fruit-covered mountain village, high-altitude forests, and pristine natural landscapes. With 40,000 mu of orchards, the town is recognized as a specialized fruit-producing township in Shandong Province and a national production base for pollution-free fruits.

The Cuiping Mountain Scenic Area primarily consists of an integrated agricultural development project zone and a two-mu ecological forest linking four reservoirs—Shezhuang, Gengzhuang, Shangzhuang, and Lieli—as well as two contiguous mu of orchards. It is divided into two unit scenic areas: the Orchard Grand View Garden and Cuiping Mountain.

The Cuiping Mountain Scenic Area is located in the southwest of Zhongzhuang Town. It mainly includes 20,000 mu of ecological forest on Cuiping Mountain, the Cuiping Mountain Grand Canyon, Shangzhuang Reservoir, Dragon King Pool, Gengzhuang Reservoir, agritainment sites, and an orchard sightseeing belt, covering an area of 24 square kilometers. The area features numerous peaks such as Cuiping Mountain, Motian Ridge, and Jieshi Fortress, with the convergence and flow of the Han Zhuang River, Yangjiazhuang River, and Yi River. Water features such as Shangzhuang Reservoir, Gengzhuang Reservoir, and Dragon King Pool complement the natural scenery, creating pleasant landscapes. Vast fields of Fuji apples have been cultivated on the mountainsides. Cuiping Mountain, also known as Daping, is composed of peaks such as East Daping, West Daping, Zuopan Peak, and Motian Ridge. The 10,000-mu high-end fruit demonstration garden is the highest-altitude apple orchard in Shandong Province. It is situated within a national agricultural comprehensive development project zone and one of China’s top 1,000 small watersheds for soil and water conservation. The area involves Shezhuang Village, Xiliuyu Village, and Gengzhuang Village, with 1,350 households, a population of 4,500, land area of 15,600 mu, and arable land of 10,000 mu. The Cuiping Mountain Scenic Area contains 20,000 mu of ecological forest primarily composed of Japanese red pine. The lush, evergreen pine and cypress trees cover the mountains year-round. The shape of Cuiping Mountain resembles a peacock spreading its tail, while the Langyu Grand Canyon is deep, serene, and richly vegetated with oddly shaped rocks, murmuring springs, and flowing waterfalls, creating enchanting scenery. Currently, the third phase of the national comprehensive agricultural development project for the 10,000-mu orchard ecological agriculture in the Shangzhuang watershed runs throughout the scenic area, with roads, water conservancy, and other facilities under active construction. The entire scenic area features a harmonious blend of mountains and water, abundant flora and fauna, unique local architecture, and simple rural customs, making it highly valuable for sightseeing, leisure vacations, and scientific research.

Infrastructure is well-developed, and tourism is beginning to take shape. The scenic area has 80 kilometers of hardened roads, with complete water, electricity, and communication facilities, and the surrounding areas have been landscaped and beautified. In 2005, relying on the development of eco-folk tourism villages, multiple model “agritainment” reception households were newly built with success. On this basis, the first apple-picking event was successfully held, becoming a new highlight. Yiyuan County is located at the junction of five prefecture-level cities: Zibo, Tai’an, Laiwu, Linyi, and Weifang. To the east lies the Yellow Sea, to the west is Mount Tai, to the southwest are the hometowns of Confucius and Mencius, and to the northeast is the “Pigeon Capital,” Weifang. It serves as an important hub for tourism and transportation. Provincial highways such as the Boyi Road, Taixue Road, Zhonglin Road, and Hanlai Road run through the region, connecting all directions. The under-construction southern section of the Jiqing Expressway, scheduled for completion in 2007, is just 10 kilometers from the scenic area and will greatly enhance Yiyuan’s transportation accessibility.