Heze

City overview

Heze, located in southwestern Shandong Province, is known as the 'Peony Capital' with the world's largest peony planting base. Although classified as a fifth-tier city, it is a megacity with 8.51 million residents and an area of 12,256 km². With a long history as the homeland of ancient sages like Fuxi and Yao-Shun, its economy features agriculture, biomedicine, and energy chemicals. Rich in culture and a relaxed pace of life, Heze offers international students an authentic Chinese traditional experience.

Basic information

Geography and climate

Detailed introduction

Heze, located in southwestern Shandong Province, is a key part of the Yellow River alluvial plain, renowned as the 'Peony Capital' and 'Home of Calligraphy and Painting'. As the birthplace of Chinese peony culture, Heze boasts hundreds of thousands of acres of peony fields, hosting the International Peony Cultural Tourism Festival every April. Historically, it is the homeland of ancient sages like Fuxi, Yao, Shun, and Emperor Liu Bang, with cultural sites such as Caozhou Ancient City and the Water Margin Heroes City. Economically, Heze is a major national base for grain, cotton, and oil production, while biomedicine, energy chemicals, and e-commerce are growing rapidly, with GDP exceeding 400 billion yuan in 2023. In education, Heze University and Heze Medical College offer special programs in Chinese language, traditional Chinese medicine, and agriculture for international students. The cost of living is low, with high greenery coverage and numerous parks like Peony Park and Zhaowang River Park, providing a peaceful environment for study. The local dialect belongs to Central Plains Mandarin, but Mandarin is widely spoken, ensuring easy communication.