Dongying Aston

Dongying is a small city situated near the mouth of the Yellow River in Shandong Province. Although the village area had been settled by Han Chinese for more than three thousand years, Dongying boomed in the 1980s and because of this is considered a new city compared to other locations in the province such as Jinan and Qufu.

Twenty years ago the city had a population of several thousand residents. Since then, thanks to the economic boom also being experienced at similar hot spots throughout the country, this has grown into an urban population estimated at 700,000 and approximately two million people throughout the prefecture. Shandong being one of the most traditional areas of China means that the population is vastly Han Chinese with scatterings of Hui and Xinjiang communities.

What this has meant is that in a generation an ancient farming community has become a metropolis. With this massive influx of people has come modern urban development, international standard hotels, thousands of restaurants, residential districts, office towers, and a great number of people left behind struggling to keep up with it all. Dongying is a fantastic representation of China’s modern history.

The surrounding region is little explored by outsiders and offers a fascinating window into rural China. The wetlands surrounding the Yellow River Estuary abound in natural beauty. The coastline, about an hour away to the north, offers a multitude of opportunities for those interested in traditional coastal villages, quiet beaches, and rural travel. This is an ancient area of China and traditions run deep. This, combined with little to no contact with the outside world in recent history, has blessed rural Shandong with a landscape intimately attractive to our foreign teachers interested in adventurous travel.

Dongying today is an excellent place to experience urban Chinese life far from Western influences. The streets are bustling and crowded with bicycles, animals, and people at most hours engaging in a myriad of activities. There are dozens of market areas and thousands upon thousands of family-run restaurants serving traditional Shandong food. Despite being considered a “new” city, traditional culture is strong here as many are recent immigrants and this common experience gives residents a strong sense of identity. Local folks are extremely proud of their city and Chinese heritage, greeting visiting and resident foreigners as welcome guests in this most unlikely of places.

Shandong cuisine is considered on of the four great schools of Chinese cooking. The food on offer in Dongying represents this tradition most respectfully. Seafood is a highlight and several of the local specialties are unique seafood hot pot creations. The ancient Imperial recepies of Beijing also leave their mark on the local cooking style. Restaurants in town range from a woman on the roadside with a wok attached to her bicycle firing up dishes all the way up to luxury multi-star hotel dining in elegant surroundings. Surprisingly, there are also a number of Western-style and regional Asian restaurants as well. Excellent Korean and Japanese can be found, as well as European and North American representations.

The weather in Dongying is a seasonal four seasonal climate. Summers are hot and humid with occasional heavy thunderstorms. Winter is dry with little snow and will dip to just about freezing at night. Spring and autumn can be brief, but pleasant. Outside of summer and early autumn this region of Shandong experiences dry weather.

Although Dongying is connected to the rest of China by rail, it is usually more convenient to travel by bus. There are connections to destination throughout Shandong and the surrounding region. Jinan and Qingdao are each about 3 1/2 hours away. There are several direct busses daily to Beijing and Tianjin. An evening train departs for Nanjing, the ancient Chinese capital in the Yangtze Delta, every afternoon allowing convenient travel to that part of the country as well.