Shouqiu is said to be the birthplace of Yellow Emperor, founder of the Chinese nation. Today Shouqiu is paved with 2,662 slab stones, and perhaps because that figure would not quite sing in a place name, Shouqiu is also known, with more than a dash of hyberbole, as the Hill of Ten Thousand Stones. Any sign of opulence in which the palaces and altars would have once been decked is long gone. Still, there is enough here to remind visitors of the turmoil from which the Yellow Emperor delivered the ancestors of the Chinese.

Shaohao, son of the Yellow Emperor, was one of three sovereigns and five emperors of ancient China. The tomb seen today is dubbed the Oriental Pyramid, reflecting the fact that it resembles one of the great Egyptian monuments.