Core answer: 1 亩 (mu) = 666.67 m²; 1 hectare = 15 mu = 10,000 m²; 1 km² = 1,500 mu. Quick mental conversion: mu × 667 ≈ m², or m² ÷ 667 ≈ mu. A standard football pitch (105 × 68 m = 7,140 m²) is about 10.7 mu — use it as your mental ruler for land size.
The land-unit ladder
| Unit | Equals | In m² |
|---|---|---|
| 1 平方丈 | 100 平方尺 | 11.11 |
| 1 分地 | 0.1 亩 | 66.67 |
| 1 亩 | 60 平方丈 | 666.67 |
| 1 公顷 | 15 亩 | 10,000 |
| 1 顷 | 100 亩 | 66,667 |
| 1 km² | 1,500 亩 | 1,000,000 |
Fast mental math
- mu → m²: double the mu, then ÷3, then ×1,000. 6 亩 → 12/3 = 4 → 4,000 m² ✓
- m² → mu: ×1.5 then ÷1,000. 2,000 m² → 3 → 3 亩 ✓
- Because 1 m² = 0.0015 亩 exactly (1/666.67).
Worked examples
Example 1 — Orchard. A family contracts 12 亩 of apple trees: 12 × 666.67 = 8,000 m² = 0.8 hectare ≈ 1.1 football pitches. At 40 trees/mu spacing, that's ~480 trees.
Example 2 — Property plot. A villa listing says "占地1.2亩": 800 m² of land — a generous plot; the building itself might occupy only 200–300 m² of it.
Example 3 — Crop yield math. Wheat yielding 500 kg/亩 on 3 亩: 1,500 kg. Per hectare that's 7,500 kg — right at China's intensive-farming average.
Example 4 — Tea plantation. A Hangzhou tea garden of 50 亩 = 3.33 hectares; premium 明前龙井 yields maybe 15 kg of dry tea per mu per year → ~750 kg total.
Common mistakes and myths
- Assuming 亩 is square-shaped — mu is an area, not a dimension; 1 亩 could be 25.8 × 25.8 m or 10 × 66.7 m.
- Confusing 亩 with 分 — rural speech uses 分地 (0.1 亩 = 66.7 m²); "三分地" is 200 m², a typical vegetable plot.
- Mixing mu with acre — 1 acre ≈ 6.07 mu; a US "100-acre farm" is 607 mu = 40.5 hectares.
- Forgetting policy still runs on mu — the 18亿亩 red line (1.8 billion mu of farmland) is 120 million hectares; official statistics mix mu and hectares, so keep 15:1 handy.
- Rounding 666.67 to 700 — a 5% error that compounds on big parcels; use ×2/3×1000 for exactness.