Liangshan Marsh and Mount Liang

Liangshan county lies in southwestern Shandong, west of Dongping Lake on the south bank of the Yellow River, north-west of Jining and against the border of Henan. Its one hill is called Liangshan and stands 197.9 metres above sea level; the hill was formerly called Liangshan with a different first character, and tradition holds that a prince of the Han hunted here and gave it the name it now bears. The county presents the hill as the origin of the novel Water Margin, and the marsh in its name, Shuipo Liangshan, is the mountain's literary self-image. What is actually there is a plain county, 66,556 hectares under the plough and 11,187 hectares of water. The standing water is now a wetland site and a reservoir dug on the plain, and the old course of the Grand Canal crosses the county.