Mentougou District

Mentougou District (simplified Chinese: 门头沟区; traditional Chinese: 門頭溝區; pinyin: Méntóugōu Qū) is a district in western Beijing. Spanning 1,321 square kilometres (510 sq mi), with 266,591 inhabitants (2000 Census), it is subdivided into 4 subdistricts of the city proper of Beijing and 9 towns (1 of which is a suburb of the city proper of Beijing). It borders the Beijing districts of Changping to the northeast, Haidian and Shijingshan to the east, Fengtai to the southeast, and Fangshan to the south, as well as Hebei province to the west and northwest.

Mentougou 门头沟区
District
Tanzhe Temple's Entrance
Location of Mentougou District in Beijing
Coordinates (Mentougou government): 39°56′25″N 116°06′05″E
Country	People's Republic of China
Municipality	Beijing
Township-level divisions	4 subdistricts 9 towns
Area
• Total	1,321 km2 (510 sq mi)
Population  (2000)
• Total	266,591
• Density	200/km2 (520/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Area code(s)	0010

It lies in the Western Hills of Beijing and is mountainous in terrain. In fact, the mountainous terrain—including a hundred or more peaks—occupy a stunning 93% of the entire area.

It is a treasure trove of natural resources, including coal, limestone, and granite. Mentougou also supplies Beijing with agricultural produce such as roses, wild jujubes, mushrooms, and Beijing white pears.

The district was purely a rural area well into the early 1990s and was not considered as part of Beijing by the urban population, and as of today, many parts of Mentougou remain quite rural. The 6th Ring Road cuts through the eastern, more urbanised section of Mentougou Precinct.

Mining is one of the key industrial activities. Around 10 medium and large mining companies once operated in Mentougou, but some of them have ceased operations as mineral deposits have been depleted. The first known mining activity in Mentougou was documented during the Ming Dynasty.