The Liu'ao Peninsula () is located in the southern part of China's Fujian Province's coast. Administratively, it is incorporated as Liu'ao Town () within Fujian's Zhangpu County.

Geography

Liu'ao Peninsula is about 12 km long, stretched along the north-south axis. In the north, it is connected to the mainland by a fairly narrow isthmus. Its western coast is separated from Fujian's mainland by the shallow Jiuzhen Bay; its eastern coast and southern coasts face the open sea ( Taiwan Strait). Most of the peninsula is flat and sandy. However, it also incorporates several rocky hills. It is the outlines of these hills which may have given the peninsula its name, which means "six '' ao''".

History

During the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, founding emperor of the Ming dyna ...

reign, a fortress was constructed at the foot of one of the hills of the Liu'ao peninsula, a bit inland from the main business district of today's Liu'ao town. This was part of a concerted program to fight the ''

wokou ''Wokou'' ( zh, c=, p=Wōkòu; ; Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ; ; literal Chinese translation: "dwarf bandits"), which translates to "Japanese pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 17 ...

'' pirates; other fortresses built at the same time period include Chongwu (in Hui'an County) and Pucheng. While little remains of the old Liu'ao fortress, a section of its wall has been restored, and is preserved as a historic site called Liu'ao Old Walled Town ().

Economy

Historically, the peninsula's economy was based on fishing and farming. Root crops, such as sweet potatoes, onions, and radishes are grown widely in its sandy soil. In the 21st century, a large number of wind turbine towers have been erected on the peninsula's windy west coast. Projects exist for constructing offshore wind towers as well.China to build first offshore wind farm
29 January 2013

Notes and references

{{coord, 23.9371, N, 117.7459, E, source:wikidata, display=title Township-level divisions of Fujian Peninsulas of China Zhangpu County