Haiyang was first settled with Laiyi people, one of the peripheral Chinese ethnic minorities, some 2,300 years ago, and was annexed into China proper over centuries of dynasty rule and wars. Haiyang was, consecutively, under administration of Qi Kingdom in Warring period, Jiaodong Province in Qin dynasty, Laizhou Prefecture in Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, and Dengzhou Prefecture in Ming dynasty.[citation needed]
Dasongwei Fortress
In 1389, Dasongwei Fortress, one of the nine coastal fortresses of the time to guard against Japanese invasion and pirate attacks, was set up to govern (both administratively and militarily) the area known today as Haiyang. In 1734, Dasongwei Fortress was officially renamed as Haiyang, which name is still used today for the land covering the south coast of Shandong Peninsula, with an area of more than 3,000 kilometers. In 1947, the newly founded communist government cut off the eastern land of Haiyang to create another county of Rushan, and since then, Haiyang's 1,886 kilometer area forms a shape that resembles a flying phoenix towards the Pacific Ocean.[citation needed]
European settlement
From the late 19th century until World War I, Haiyang was a strategic town on the route between the two European settlements of Qingdao and Weihaiwei, respectively taken by Germany in 1898 and Britain in 1898 on a lease basis, and commercial and trade activities were active until 1947 when the communist troops took over.[citation needed]
Economy
Haiyang Port
Haiyang Port is one of the pivotal ports along the south coastline of Shandong Peninsula with sea routes connecting to Korea, Japan and southern Chinese ports. In May 1860, the French Navy tried to land so they could take the fortress, but their invasion attempt failed. In August 1947, the government troops retreated from the port towards Qingdao after a defeat by the communists. In April 1963, the Taiwan-based Chinese nationalist troops tried to land to take back the city and all the troops were defeated and captured by the Chinese paramilitaries. Haiyang Port is one of the trade ports for the peninsula with active export-oriented manufacturies, and is administratively under Qingdao Customs and Port Authorities.[citation needed]
Clean energy transition
Due to natural gas shortages, the Chinese government implemented a 5-year plan in 2017 to convert half of northern China to clean energy for winter heating.[8] By the end of 2019 the Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant provided heating to 700,000 square meters of housing via non-radioactive steam, with the entire city expected to follow by 2021. This is anticipated to save 23,200 tons of coal each year,[9] and more than 60,000 tons of fossil fuel emissions.[10]
Tourism
Vacation facilities
Haiyang is nicknamed the West Pacific Paradise, partially due to its literal meaning of the city name, which means Ocean and Sun. With the Laoshan mountain range in the northwest, and the Kunyu mountain range in the northeast, Haiyang has some of the most popular facilities of beach sporting and leisure resorts in the area, including, but not limited to, Tiger Beach Golf Courses, Yachting Clubs, sailing events, Sand Carving Parks, Beach Volleyball Club, Beach Basketball Club, Music Festival, Japanese Village, seaview gardens and terrains, Phoenix Wetland Reserve, National Forest Park, and Coast Film Park. Rocky Islands, some 80 kilometers off the shore is another vacation resort of the city.[citation needed]
Leisure resorts
The city is a prime destination for beach sports[citation needed] with its 230 kilometer coastline, and topographically is quite similar to Scotland. In the past decade, this city has quickly become one of the top summer resorts and vacation getaways in China, and in northeast Asia in general.[citation needed]
^海阳市筹建峻青文学艺术馆 今年10月有望开馆 [Haiyang city preparing to build Junqing Literature & Art Museum, to be opened to the public this October] (in Simplified Chinese). Fenghuang Shandong. Retrieved 8 December 2017. 峻青,原名孙俊卿,1922年出生于烟台海阳市郭城镇西楼子村,当代著名作家、画家。
^历史行政区划 [Historical Administrative Divisions] (in Simplified Chinese). Haiyang government website. 13 July 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2017. 到2012年,全市辖14个镇、街道,分别是东村街道、方圆街道、凤城街道、龙山街道、里店镇、小纪镇、行村镇、辛安镇、留格庄镇、盘石镇、朱吴镇、发城镇、徐家店镇、郭城镇。