Zhifu Island


Zhifu Island or North Island, is an islet with historical significance in Shandong Province, China. The name of the islet Chefoo was generalized to mean the entire Yantai region in older western literature.

Etymologies

Possibilities include:
  1. "A Barrier in the Shape of a Magical Plant"
  2. * Zhi is a magical and powerful plant, which the island's shape resembles
  3. * Fu a barrier of ocean
  4. A magical mountain name
  5. * From Qin dynasty's Zhifu, officially changed to the present character during the late Qing dynasty.

Administration

Administratively, Zhifu Island is a part of Dàtuǎn Village, Xingfu Sub-district, Zhifu District, Yantai City, Shandong Province. Dàtuǎn has a part on the mainland, where the offices and most residents are.

History

Archeological excavations have uncovered over 200 artifacts, including stone axes, and short axes, pottery fragments, bone needles, and bone hairpins. These and Carbon-14 dating indicated that the island has been settled since the Neolithic period.
People were buried here during the Zhou dynasty, including Duke Kang of Qi, who died on the island in 379 BC. The ruins of the cemetery still exist today. The Lord Yang Temple was built during the early Zhou dynasty by rulers of the State of Qí in honor of Lord Yang, the fifth deity of the Eight Divine Generals.
Because of a legend of a Mountain of Immortality, China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang is traditionally said to have visited the island while searching for the elixir of life. Local tradition attributes these visits to his quest for immortality and later place names on the island, although no Qin-era stone inscriptions from Zhifu Island have been archaeologically verified.
Today, there are places like Shihuang Avenue, and Fish-shooting Tower named after the emperor. Having failed to discover the elixir, Qin Shihuang dispatched the court sorcerer Xu Fu from Yantai, to sail away and find the elixir of life with hundreds of men and women.
After performing a ceremony in the Yangzhu Temple, Emperor Wudi of the Han dynasty also left an inscription in 94 BC: "Arrived at Zhifu, which floats on Great Ocean. Mountains call out 'Ten thousand years!".
Now, the island is mainly a tourist attraction where clams and abalone can be fished here in abundance.

Geography

Located in the Bohai Sea, the island is 4 km from downtown Zhifu and is 10 km x 1 km. Part of Public Road No. 26 connects the western end of the island and the north part of the mainland peninsula. Originally, the island was disconnected from the mainland, but for a period of millennium of years, the sand and soil in the ocean floor built up a 600-metre wide pathway. Thus the island is called the "Mainland-connecting Island" in Chinese ; it could even be considered a small peninsula.
The island's largest mountain is Laoye Mountain at 294.1m. The Old Lady Stone is on a cliff, at 43.49 metres above sea level, named because of its resemblance to a woman hugging the ocean waves. The southern part of the island is forested.