Understand
There are about 1,800,000 people live in Dongying, but it is still only a small city of China. However, it has the second biggest oil field in China and the estuary of Yellow River the second longest river in China located there. Because of the oil field, the oil industry is developed in Dongying and the University of Petroleum located there. Furthermore, it was oil that created this city, in 1974 people discovered the first oil well in a village called Dongying, so they named this new city after the name of this village. Now the city is divided into two districts called Eastern City which is new and has the city government, and the Western City which has more business streets. Both of them have perfect high ways which are ones of the best high ways in China. However, you have to be careful to the taxis, because they drivers always drive too fast and carelessly, but taxis are very cheap in the city 6 Yuan. Dongying could be boring to travelers since the soil contains a lot of salt so that almost no plants can grow there healthily. However, it is suitable to do business here because of the oil field and the citizens who have large disposable incomes.
Dongying is split into two areas, West City and East City. West City is the older and more developed area of Dongying, whilst East City is quieter and more residential. For expats the main difference is that West City has the Western restaurants and bars.
In 2008, Dongying received a formal introduction to the West when photos of the city and its people appeared in American travel photographer Tom Carter's photobook China: Portrait of a People. Carter was a former English teacher in Dongying and began photographing the city during his first year. Included in his journalistic photoessays are behind-the-scenes at Shengli Oilfield, KTV girls from Dongying's infamous karaoke street, nightlife at the old JJ's Disco, and many of Carter's primary school students. The tributary photos capture perfectly the sights most evident to expats living in Dongying.
