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Area Converter

Convert between Chinese land units (1 mu = 666.67 m²), metric hectares/km² and imperial acres/square feet with exact factors.

Land is measured in mu, apartments in square metres, property listings in square feet, agricultural subsidies in hectares — area straddles the metric system, imperial units and East Asian land units at once. This tool converts between mu, fen, qing, square metres, hectares, square kilometres, square feet and acres; the anchors are 1 mu = 666.67 m² and 1 hectare = 15 mu = 10000 m².

On conventions: in the traditional system 1 mu is 10 fen and 1 qing is 100 mu, and the mu-to-hectare conversion is not a whole number, so land contracts and statistical tables have to be read carefully for which system they use. Formal land-agency documents use hectares while everyday speech uses mu, so when both appear, convert them to one system before doing any arithmetic.

How to use

  1. Enter the area in the unit you have.
  2. Read the value in every other unit.
  3. Check whether a document is using metric or traditional land units.
  4. Convert both to one system before comparing or calculating.

How it works

Chinese market area units (mu, fen)

Chinese market basis: 1 mu = 2000/3, about 666.67 square meters; 1 fen = 1/10 mu, about 66.67 sq m; 1 qing = 100 mu, about 66666.7 sq m.

Metric area units

Metric: 1 hectare = 15 mu = 10000 sq m; 1 square kilometer = 100 hectares = 1500 mu.

Imperial area units

Imperial: 1 acre is about 4046.86 sq m, about 6.07 mu; 1 square foot is about 0.0929 sq m.

Code example

JavaScript Square metres as the hub

const M2 = { mu: 666.6667, fen: 66.66667, qing: 66666.67,
             m2: 1, ha: 10000, km2: 1e6, ft2: 0.09290304, acre: 4046.8564224 };

const convert = (v, from, to) => v * M2[from] / M2[to];

convert(1, "mu", "m2");     // 666.6667
convert(1, "ha", "mu");     // 15.0000
convert(1, "acre", "m2");   // 4046.8564

Python The same coefficient table in Python

M2 = {"mu": 666.6667, "m2": 1, "ha": 10000,
      "ft2": 0.09290304, "acre": 4046.8564224}

convert = lambda v, f, t: v * M2[f] / M2[t]

convert(100, "m2", "mu")   # 0.15 mu
convert(3, "mu", "ha")      # 0.2 ha

FAQ

How big is one mu exactly?

1 mu = 666.67 sq m, roughly a 25.8 m x 25.8 m square, or a 100 m by 6.67 m strip. A mnemonic: "add half, shift three left" — add half the square-meter figure and move the decimal three places left to get mu.

How do hectares and mu convert?

1 hectare = 15 mu, so 100 mu is about 6.67 hectares. Rural land certificates use mu; planning documents use hectares.

What is a fen?

1 fen = 0.1 mu, about 66.67 sq m, common for rural homesteads and small plots. For example 3 fen is about 200 sq m.

How do mu and square meters convert?

1 mu is about 666.67 sq m, and 1 sq m = 0.0015 mu. For a quick estimate divide square meters by 667; one mu is roughly a square about 25.82 m per side.

Is there a reliable mental shortcut between square meters and mu?

Old mnemonics get muddled; safer to remember two constants: 1 mu is about 666.7 sq m, 1 sq m = 0.0015 mu. Estimate with "square meters / 667" — within 1% error, fine for judging land size.

How much do acre, mu and hectare differ?

1 acre is about 4046.86 sq m, about 6.07 mu, about 0.405 hectare. An acre is smaller than a hectare but far larger than a mu — watch for this when reading overseas farm or property material; don't treat acre as mu.

Does the gross-vs-net floor area issue relate to unit conversion?

No — that's about measuring conventions, not units. Gross floor area includes shared space (elevators, corridors, exterior walls); net floor area covers only usable interior space, and their ratio is the efficiency rate. Both are in square meters, unrelated to mu or hectare conversion.