Heze: Where Peonies and Boredom Meet
i found myself in heze, one of those places you've probably never heard of unless you're really into chinese peonies or cotton farming. it's this prefecture-level city way out in the southwest of shandong province, basically as far west as you can get in this part of china without crossing into another province. and trust me, if you're looking for a place where you won't see many foreigners, you've come to the right spot. i've been here for a few days, and i think i've seen maybe three other non-chinese people.
the thing about heze is that it's huge-like, 12,239 square kilometers huge-with all these districts and counties i can barely keep track of. mostly it's just flat plains as far as the eye can see, with some low mountains thrown in if you happen to be in juye county. the yellow river runs through part of it, which i guess is nice, but let's be honest, one river looks pretty much like another after a while.
i just checked and it's...10.16 degrees celsius there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. feels like 8.43, which is basically the same thing but with a bit more disappointment. the pressure is 1017, which i think means it won't rain today, but who really knows. the humidity is 46%, which is probably why my skin feels like it's both dry and sticky at the same time. it's that kind of climate where you're never really comfortable, just slightly less uncomfortable than you were five minutes ago.
heze has this whole 4,000-year history thing going on, which is impressive if you're into that sort of thing. it used to be called caozhou, which honestly sounds a bit catchier if you ask me. someone told me that peonies have been grown here for over 1,500 years, which is why they call it china's biggest peony production, research, export, and viewing base. apparently peony viewing peaks in early summer, so if you come at any other time, you're basically out of luck unless you really enjoy looking at fields of cotton and peanuts.
if you get bored in heze (and you probably will), jining is just a short drive away to the east. or you could head west into henan province, south to anhui, or southwest to jiangsu. basically, you're surrounded by other provinces if you feel like making a day trip out of it. though honestly, after a few days in heze, i was kind of happy to stay put.
the city's got some attractions, like sun bin tourist town and fulong lake tourism resort, which someone told me is also called furong lake or floating dragon lake. zhaowang river park sounds nice too, with 8 kilometers of green space and over 100 hectares of water. but let's be real, unless you're really into chinese opera, martial arts, calligraphy, and painting (which they apparently call themselves the hometown of), there's not a ton to do here.
someone told me that heze is china's largest peony production, research, export, and viewing base, which sounds impressive until you realize that means most of the interesting stuff happens in early summer when everything's in bloom. outside of that, you're basically looking at plains, cotton fields, and the occasional historical site.
the population is somewhere between 8.6 and 10.58 million people, which seems like a lot for a place that feels so quiet and off-the-beaten-path. then again, china has a lot of people. heze is apparently a major agricultural base for grain, cotton, peanuts, fruits, vegetables, and those peonies i keep mentioning. they're also big on coal, iron, oil, and gas, which explains all the industrial areas i've been driving through.
overall, heze is one of those places that's interesting in a "i can't believe i'm here" kind of way. it's not exactly what i'd call a tourist destination unless you're really into agricultural products or want to see peonies when they're in season. it's got a certain charm, mostly in how unapologetically ordinary it is. if you're looking for somewhere quiet where you won't be surrounded by other tourists, heze might just be your spot. just maybe check the weather first.
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