Hebei - kuchewar

Hebei is a coastal province of the People’s Republic of China, and is part of the North China region. The modern province was established in 1911 as Chihli Province (Zhili Province). Its capital and largest city is Shijiazhuang. Its one-character abbreviation is “冀” (Jì), named after Ji Province, a Han dynastyprovince (zhou) that included what is now southern Hebei. The name Hebei literally means “north of the river”,referring to its location entirely to the north of the Yellow River.

The province is one of the first regions in China to develop civilization.During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, it was ruled by the states of Yan and Zhao, and has long been in the northern borders of the Zhongyuan culture. Since Beijing and its surrounding regions is often chosen as the capital, Hebei serves an important role of containing and protecting the city since the Jin dynasty. During the Yuan dynasty, it was called Zhongshu Province, during the Ming Dynasty, it was North Zhili, and during the Qing dynasty, it was Zhili Province. The province was renamed as “Hebei” in 1928.

Abundant in important natural produce, such as grain, cotton and fruit, Hebei was also one of the first provinces to be industralized. As a major manufacturingcenter, its steel productionhas long been ranked first in China, but the industry has also brought about serious air pollution.Hebei was included in the Jing-Jin-Ji coordinated development strategy, with Xiong’an New Area becoming the first national-level new district to be established by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Chinaand the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.

Beijing and TianjinMunicipalities, which border each other, were carved out of Hebei. The province borders Liaoningto the northeast, Inner Mongolia to the north, Shanxi to the west, Henanto the south, and Shandong to the southeast. Bohai Bay of the Bohai Sea is to the east. A small part of Hebei, SanheExclave, consisting of Sanhe, Dachang Hui Autonomous County, and Xianghe County, an exclave disjointed from the rest of the province, is wedged between the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin. Five UNESCO World Heritage Sitesare located in the province, including Chengde Mountain Resort, the Great Wall, the Grand Canal, and the Easternand Western Qing tombs, as well as five National Famous Historical and Cultural Cities: Handan, Baoding, Chengde, Zhengding and Shanhaiguan.

With a population of over 74 million people, Hebei is China’s sixth most populous province. The Han majority comprise 96% of the population, followed by a minority of Manchu, Hui and Mongol peoples.

Etymology
History
- Early history
- Pre dynasty reign
- Qin and Han dynasties
- Jin, Northern, Southern dynasties and Three Kingdoms
- Tang and Five dynasties
- Song, Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties
- Ming and Qing dynasties
- Republic of China
- People’s Republic of China
Geography
- Climate
Administrative divisions
- Urban areas
Politics
Economy
- Economic and technological development zones
Demographics
- Religion
Culture
Notable individuals
Media
Transportation
Tourism
Sports
Education
Sister subdivisions
See also
Notes
References
- Citations
- Sources
External links

Etymology

Hebei Province is named so because it is located in the North China Plain, entirely north of the Yellow River. Since the province is recorded in Yu Gong as Ji Province, or Jizhou, it is abbreviated as Ji (Chinese: 冀).

A nickname of the province is “Yanzhao” (Chinese: 燕赵), which is the collective name of the Yan and Zhao states that once controlled the region during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period. In 1421, when the Yongle Emperor moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, the province starts to be called as “North Zhili” (Chinese: 北直隶) or just “Zhili” (Chinese: 直隶), which means “Directly Ruled (by the Imperial Court)”. When the aforementioned province was abolished in 1928 to reflect Nanjing being made the capital of the Republic of China, the province was given its present name, Hebei.

History

Early history

Plains in Hebei were the home of Peking man, a group of Homo erectus that lived in the area around 200,000 to 700,000 years ago. Neolithic findings at the prehistoric Beifudi site date back to 7000 and 8000 BC.

Many early legends in Chinese mythology took place in the province: Fuxi, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, is said to have lived in present-day Xingtai. The mythical Battle of Zhuolu, won by the Yellow Emperor, Yan Emperor and their Yanhuang tribes against the Chiyou-led Jiuli tribes in present-day Zhangjiakou, initialized the Huaxia civilization.

Pre dynasty reign

During the Spring and Autumn period (722 BC – 476 BC), Hebei was under the rule of the states of Yan in the north and Jin in the south. Also during this period, a nomadic people known as Dí invaded the plains of northern China and established Zhongshan in central Hebei. During the Warring States period (403 BC–221 BC), Jin was partitioned, and much of its territory within Hebei went to Zhao.

Qin and Han dynasties

The Qin dynasty unified China in 221 BC. The Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220) ruled the area under two provinces (zhou), You Prefecture in the north and Ji Province in the south. At the end of the Han dynasty, most of Hebei came under the control of warlords Gongsun Zan in the north and Yuan Shaofurther south; Yuan Shao emerged victorious of the two, but he was soon defeated by rival Cao Cao (based further south, in modern-day Henan) in the Battle of Guandu in 200. Hebei then came under the rule of the Kingdom of Wei (one of the Three Kingdoms), established by the descendants of Cao Cao.

1500-year-old Iron Lion of Cangzhou

Jin, Northern, Southern dynasties and Three Kingdoms

After the invasions of northern nomadic peoples at the end of the Western Jin dynasty, the chaos of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern and Southern dynastiesensued. Hebei, firmly in North China and right at the northern frontier, changed hands many times, being controlled at various points in history by the Later Zhao, Former Yan, Former Qin, and Later Yan. The Northern Wei reunified northern China in 440, but split in half in 534, with Hebei coming under the eastern half (first the Eastern Wei; then the Northern Qi), which had its capital at Ye (鄴), near modern Linzhang, Hebei. The Sui dynasty again unified China in 589.

Tricolor Duck-Shaped Cup, Tang Dynasty, unearthed from Anxin County

Tang and Five dynasties

During the Tang dynasty (618–907), the area was formally designated “Hebei” (north of the Yellow River) for the first time. During the earlier part of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Hebei was fragmented among several regimes, though it was eventually unified by Li Cunxu, who established the Later Tang (923–936). The next dynasty, the Later Jin under Shi Jingtang, posthumously known as Emperor Gaozu of Later Jin, ceded much of modern-day northern Hebei to the Khitan Liao dynasty in the north; this territory, called the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, became a major weakness in the Chinese defense against the Khitans for the next century, since it lay within the Great Wall.

Song, Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties

During the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), the sixteen ceded prefectures continued to be an area of hot contention between Song China and the Liao dynasty. The Southern Song dynasty that came after abandoned all of North China, including Hebei, to the Jurchen Jin dynasty after the Jingkang Incidentin 1127 of the Jin–Song wars.

The Putuo Zongcheng Temple of Chengde, Hebei, built in 1771 during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.

The Mongol Yuan dynasty divided China into provinces but did not establish Hebei as a province. Rather, the area was directly administrated by the Secretariat (中書省) at capital Dadu.

Ming and Qing dynasties

The Ming dynasty ruled Hebei as “Beizhili” (simplified Chinese: 北直隶; traditional Chinese: 北直隸; pinyin: Běizhílì), meaning “Northern Directly Ruled”, because the area contained and was directly ruled by the imperial capital, Beijing; the “Northern” designation was used because there was a southern counterpart covering present-day Jiangsu and Anhui. When the Manchu Qing dynastycame to power in 1644, they abolished the southern counterpart, and Hebei became known as “Zhili”, or simply “Directly Ruled”. During the Qing dynasty, the northern borders of Zhili extended deep into what is now Inner Mongolia, and overlapped in jurisdiction with the leagues of Inner Mongolia.

Republic of China

Hebei in 1936

The Qing dynasty collapsed in 1912 and was replaced by the Republic of China. Within a few years, China descended into civil war, with regional warlords vying for power. Since Zhili was so close to Peking (Beijing), the capital, it was the site of frequent wars, including the Zhiwan War, the First Zhifeng War and the Second Zhifeng War. With the success of the Northern Expedition, a successful campaign by the Kuomintang to end the rule of the warlords, the capital was moved from Peking (Beijing) to Nanking (Nanjing). As a result, the name of Zhili was changed to Hebei to reflect the fact that it had a standard provincial administration, and that the capital had been relocated elsewhere.

During the Second World War, Hebei was under the control of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, a puppet state of Imperial Japan.

People’s Republic of China

The founding of the People’s Republic of China saw several changes: the region around Chengde, previously part of Rehe Province (historically part of Manchuria), and the region around Zhangjiakou, previously part of ChaharProvince (historically part of Inner Mongolia), were merged into Hebei, extending its borders northwards beyond the Great Wall. Meanwhile, the city of Puyang was carved away, causing Hebei to lose access to the Yellow River. The city first became part of the short-lived Pingyuan Province, before eventually annexed into Henan. The capital was also moved from Baodingto the upstart city of Shijiazhuang, and, for a short period, to Tianjin.

On July 28, 1976, Tangshan was struck by a powerful earthquake, the Tangshan earthquake, the deadliest of the 20th century with over 240,000 killed. A series of smaller earthquakes struck the city in the following decade.

Today, Hebei, along with Beijing and Tianjin municipalities which it enclaves, make up the Jing-Jin-Ji megalopolis region. With a population of 130 million, it is about six times the size as the New York metropolitan area and is one of the largest megalopolis cluster in China. Beijing had also unloaded some of its non-capital functions to the province with the establishment of the Xiong’an New Area, which will further facilitate the integration of the three regions.

Geography

Langyashan (Wolf Tooth Mountain), in Yi County

Section of the Great Wall of Chinaat Jinshanling

The geography of Hebei is quite diverse. It is the only province in China to contain plateaus, mountains, hills, shorelines, plains, and lakes.

Most of central and southern Hebei lies within the North China Plain. The western part of Hebei rises into the Taihang Mountains (Taihang Shan), while the Yan Mountains (Yan Shan) run through northern Hebei, beyond which lie the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. The Great Wall of Chinacuts through northern Hebei from east to west as well, briefly entering the border of Beijing Municipality, and terminates at the seacoast of Shanhaiguan in northeastern Hebei. The highest peak is Mount Xiaowutai(小五台山) in Yu County in the northwest of the province, with an altitude of 2,882 m (9,455 ft).

Hebei borders the Bohai Sea on the east. The Hai River watershed covers most of the province’s central and southern parts, and the Luan Riverwatershed covers the northeast. Not counting the numerous reservoirs to be found in Hebei’s hills and mountains, the largest lake in Hebei is Baiyangdian, located mostly in Anxin County, Baoding.

Major cities in Hebei include:

Shijiazhuang
Baoding
Tangshan
Qinhuangdao
Handan
Zhangjiakou

Climate

Bashang Meadows in Fengning County

Hebei has a continental monsoonclimate, with cold, dry winters, and hot, humid summers. Temperatures average −16 to −3 °C (3 to 27 °F) in January and 20 to 27 °C (68 to 81 °F) in July; the annual precipitation ranges from 400 to 800 mm (16 to 31 in), concentrated heavily in summer.

**Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected locations in Hebei Province, China**
City	July (°C)	July (°F)	January (°C)	January (°F)
Baoding	31.7/22.6	89.1/72.7	2.5/–7.7	36.5/18.1
Qinhuangdao	28.1/21.7	82.6/71.1	0.1/–8.8	32.2/16.2
Tangshan	30.2/21.7	86.4/71.1	0.9/–10.2	33.6/13.6
Zhangjiakou	29.4/18.7	84.9/65.7	2.2/–12.9	36.0/8.8

Administrative divisions

Hebei is made up of eleven prefecture-level divisions: all prefecture-level cities:

Administrative divisions of Hebei
Shijiazhuang Tangshan Qinhuangdao Handan Xingtai Baoding Zhangjiakou Chengde Cangzhou Langfang ↗ Hengshui Beijing Tianjin
Division code	Division	Area in km²	Population 2010	Seat	Divisions
Division code	Division	Area in km²	Population 2010	Seat	Districts	Counties	Aut. counties	CL cities
130000	Hebei Province	187700.00	71,854,202	Shijiazhuangcity	49	91	6	21
130100	Shijiazhuangcity	15848	9,547,869	Chang’an District	8	11		3
130200	Tangshancity	14334.59	7,577,284	Lunan District	7	4		3
130300	Qinhuangdaocity	7791.57	2,987,605	Haigang District	4	2	1
130400	Handan city	12066.00	9,174,679	Congtai District	6	11		1
130500	Xingtai city	12433.00	7,104,114	Xindu District	4	12		2
130600	Baoding city	22185.00	10,029,197	Jingxiu District	5	15		4
130700	Zhangjiakoucity	36861.55	4,345,491	Qiaoxi District	6	10
130800	Chengde city	39512.98	3,473,197	Shuangqiao District	3	4	3	1
130900	Cangzhoucity	14305.28	7,134,053	Yunhe District	2	9	1	4
131000	Langfang city	6417.29	4,358,839	Anci District	2	5	1	2
131100	Hengshuicity	8836.90	4,340,773	Taocheng District	2	8		1

showAdministrative divisions in Chinese and varieties of romanizations

These eleven prefecture-level divisions are subdivided into 168 county-level divisions (47 districts, 21 county-level cities, 94 counties and 6 autonomous counties). Those are, in turn, divided into 2207 township-level divisions (1 district public office, 937 towns, 979 townships, 55 ethnic townships, and 235 subdistricts). At the end of 2017, the total population of Hebei is 75.2 million.

Urban areas

hidePopulation by urban areas of prefecture & county cities
#	City	Urban area	District area	City proper	Census date
1	Shijiazhuang	2,770,344	2,834,942	10,163,788	2010-11-01
(1)	Shijiazhuang (new districts)	461,738	1,208,046	see Shijiazhuang	2010-11-01
2	Tangshan	2,128,191	3,187,171	7,577,289	2010-11-01
(2)	Tangshan (new district)	109,126	184,931	see Tangshan	2010-11-01
3	Handan	1,316,674	1,445,338	9,174,683	2010-11-01
(3)	Handan (new districts)	627,869	1,757,637	see Handan	2010-11-01
4	Baoding	1,038,195	1,138,521	11,194,382	2010-11-01
(4)	Baoding (new districts)	459,153	1,377,399	see Baoding	2010-11-01
(4)	Baoding Xiong’an	405,661	1,055,063	see Baoding	2010-11-01
5	Qinhuangdao	967,877	1,029,670	2,987,605	2010-11-01
(5)	Qinhuangdao (new district)	120,710	517,073	see Qinhuangdao	2010-11-01
6	Zhangjiakou	924,628	1,060,605	4,345,485	2010-11-01
(6)	Zhangjiakou (new districts)	209,414	591,334	see Zhangjiakou	2010-11-01
7	Xingtai	668,765	670,154	7,104,103	2010-11-01
8	Chengde	540,390	634,229	3,473,201	2010-11-01
9	Langfang	530,840	868,066	4,358,839	2010-11-01
10	Cangzhou	499,411	536,795	7,134,062	2010-11-01
11	Dingzhou	482,121	1,165,182	see Baoding	2010-11-01
12	Renqiu	430,896	822,455	see Cangzhou	2010-11-01
13	Hengshui	389,447	522,147	4,340,773	2010-11-01
(13)	Hengshui (new district)	165,363	362,013	see Hengshui	2010-11-01
14	Sanhe	386,902	652,042	see Langfang	2010-11-01
15	Qian’an	308,849	728,160	see Tangshan	2010-11-01
16	Zunhua	299,759	737,011	see Tangshan	2010-11-01
17	Huanghua	296,978	548,507	see Cangzhou	2010-11-01
18	Wu’an	293,151	819,000	see Handan	2010-11-01
19	Bazhou	291,710	622,975	see Langfang	2010-11-01
20	Gaobeidian	274,853	323,671	see Baoding	2010-11-01
21	Zhuozhou	260,493	303,125	see Baoding	2010-11-01
22	Botou	258,203	584,308	see Cangzhou	2010-11-01
23	Hejian	243,458	810,306	see Cangzhou	2010-11-01
24	Xinji	236,658	615,919	see Shijiazhuang	2010-11-01
25	Shahe	218,958	498,416	see Xingtai	2010-11-01
(26)	Luanzhou	208,212	554,315	see Tangshan	2010-11-01
27	Shenzhou	207,945	566,087	see Hengshui	2010-11-01
28	Xinle	194,480	487,652	see Shijiazhuang	2010-11-01
29	Nangong	188,260	469,030	see Xingtai	2010-11-01
30	Jinzhou	160,284	537,679	see Shijiazhuang	2010-11-01
(31)	Pingquan	136,401	229,622	see Chengde	2010-11-01
32	Anguo	135,524	185,386	see Baoding	2010-11-01

^ Jump up to:^a ^b New districts established after census: Gaocheng (Gaocheng CLC), Luquan (Luquan CLC). These new districts not included in the urban area & district area count of the pre-expanded city.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b New district established after census: Caofeidian (Tanghai County). The new district not included in the urban area & district area count of the pre-expanded city.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b New districts established after census: Yongnian (Yongnian County), Feixiang (Feixiang County); Handan County merged into Hanshan & Congtai. These new districts not included in the urban area & district area count of the pre-expanded city.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b New districts established after census: Mancheng (Mancheng County), Qingyuan (Qingyuan County), Xushui (Xushui County). These new districts not included in the urban area & district area count of the pre-expanded city.
^ Xiong’an New Area is a special urban area jurisdiction consist of Rongcheng County, Anxin County, & Xiongxian County established after census.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b New district established after census: Funing (Funing County). The new district not included in the urban area & district area count of the pre-expanded city.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b New districts established after census: Wanquan (Wanquan County), Chongli (Chongli County); Xuanhua County merged into Xuanhua. These new districts not included in the urban area & district area count of the pre-expanded city.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b New district established after census: Jizhou (Jizhou CLC). The new district not included in the urban area & district area count of the pre-expanded city.
^ Luanxian County is currently known as Luanzhou CLC after census.
^ Pingquan County is currently known as Pingquan CLC after census.

Politics

The politics of Hebei is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China.

The Governor of Hebei is the highest-ranking official in the People’s Government of Hebei. However, in the province’s dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Hebei Communist Party of China Provincial Committee Secretary (CPC Party Chief).

Economy

Downtown Shijiazhuang.

In 2014, Hebei’s GDP was 2.942 trillion yuan (US$479 billion),ranked 6th in the PRC, with its GDP per capita reaching 40,124 Renminbi. As of 2011, the primary, secondary, and tertiarysectors of industry contributed 203.46 billion, 877.74 billion, and 537.66 billion RMB respectively. The registered urban unemployment rate was 3.96%.

A building in downtown Zhangjiakou.

Hebei’s industries include textiles, coal, steel, iron, engineering, chemical production, petroleum, power, ceramics and food.

40% of Hebei’s labor force works in the agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry sectors, with the majority of production from these industries going to Beijingand Tianjin. Hebei’s main agricultural products are cerealcrops including wheat, maize, millet, and sorghum. Cash crops like cotton, peanut, soybeans and sesame are also produced.

Hebei’s also abundant in natural resources. The Kailuan mine in Tangshan, with a history of over 100 years, is one of China’s first modern coal mines, and remains a major mine with an annual production of over 20 million metric tonnes. Much of the North China Oilfied is found in Hebei, and there are also major iron mines at Handan and Qian’an. Iron, as well as steel, manufacturing are the largest industries in Hebei, and are likely to remain so as these industries consolidate and Hebei continues to grow as a manufacturing and transportation center for the region.

Economic and technological development zones

Baoding Hi-Tech Industry Development Zone
Langfang Export Processing Zone
Qinhuangdao Economic & Technological Development Zone
Qinhuangdao Export Processing Zone
Shijiazhuang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone
Xiong’an New Area

Demographics

The Lingxiao Pagoda of Zhengding, Hebei Province, built in AD 1045 during the Song dynasty

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1912	26,658,000	—
1928	31,232,000	+0.99%
1936–37	28,644,000	−1.08%
1947	28,719,000	+0.02%
1954	35,984,644	+3.27%
1964	45,687,781	+2.42%
1982	53,005,876	+0.83%
1990	61,082,439	+1.79%
2000	66,684,419	+0.88%
2010	71,854,202	+0.75%
Hebei Province was known as Zhili Province until 1928. Beijing was part of Hebei Provinceuntil 1928. Tainjin was part of Hebei Province until 1928 and 1954 to 1967. Rehe Province dissolved in 1955 and parts were incorporated into Hebei Province. Qahar Province dissolved in 1952 and parts were incorporated into Hebei Province.

The population is mostly Han Chinese. 55 ethnic minorities are present in Hebei, representing 4.27% of the total population. The largest are Manchu (2.1 million people), Hui people (600000 people) and Mongol(180000 people).

Ethnic groups in Hebei, 2000 census
Nationality	Population	Percentage
Han Chinese	63,781,603	95.65%
Manchu	2,118,711	3.18%
Hui	542,639	0.78%
Mongol	169,887	0.26%
Zhuang	20,832	0.031%

It excludes members of the People’s Liberation Army in active service.
Source: Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China and Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China, eds. Tabulation on Nationalities of 2000 Population Census of China. 2 vols. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House (民族出版社), 2003. (ISBN 7-105-05425-5)

In 2004, the birth rate was 11.98 births per 1,000 people, while the death rate was 6.19 deaths per 1,000 people. In 2000 the sex ratio at birth was 118.46 males to 100 females.

Religion

Religion in Hebei

Deity worshippers, Taoists, Buddhists, Confucians, folk religious sects, or not religious people (90.61%)

Chinese ancestral religion(5.52%)

Christianity (3.05%)

Islam (0.82%)

The predominant religions in Hebei are Chinese folk religions, Taoist traditionsand Chinese Buddhism. According to surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, 5.52% of the population believe in and are involved in ancestor veneration, while 3.05% of the population identify as Christian, mostly of the Catholic Church. Local worship of deities in the region began to organise into “benevolent churches” as a reaction to Catholicism in the Qing dynasty.

The reports didn’t give figures for other types of religion; 90.61% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in worship of nature deities, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and folk religious sects. Zailiism is a folk religious sect that originated in Hebei. There is a presence of Tibetan Buddhist schools in the province.

Hebei has the largest Catholic population in China, with 1 million members according to the local government. and 1.5 million Catholics according to the Catholic Church. The province is considered as the center of Catholicism in China. The town of Donglu in Baoding, where an apparition of the Virgin Mary was reported to have occurred in 1900, is reportedly “one of the strongholds of the unofficial Catholic Church in China”.

A large number of Catholics in Hebei remain loyal to the Pope and reject the authority of the Catholic Patriotic Church. Four of Hebei’s underground bishops have been imprisoned in recent years: Bishop Francis An Shuxin of Donglu since 1996; Bishop James Su Zhimin since October 1997; and Bishops Han Dingxiang of Yongnian who died in prison in 2007 and Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding since late 1999. In 2003 there were 350.000 Protestants and 580.000 Muslims according to government statistics.According to a survey, as of 2010 Muslims constitute 0.82% of the population of Hebei.

The giant Bodhisattvastatue of Puning Templecomplex (Tibetan Buddhism).

Great Temple of Zhang Hui (张挥公大殿 Zhāng Huī gōng dàdiàn), the central ancestral shrine of the Zhang lineage, in Qinghe (Zhangs’ ancestral home).

Culture

Heijian-styled donkey burger

Dialects of Mandarin are spoken over most of the province, and most Mandarin dialects in Hebei are in turn classified as part of the Ji Lu Mandarin subdivision. Regions along the western border with Shanxi, however, have dialects that are distinct enough for linguists to consider them as part of Jin, another subdivision of Chinese, rather than Mandarin. In general, the dialects of Hebei are quite similar to and readily intelligible with the Beijing dialect, which forms the basis for Standard Chinese, the official language of the nation. However, there are also some distinct differences, such as differences in the pronunciation of certain words that derive from entering tone syllables (syllables ending on a plosive) in Middle Chinese.

Traditional forms of Chinese opera in Hebei include Pingju, Hebei Bangzi(also known as Hebei Clapper Opera), and Cangzhou Kuaiban Dagu. Pingju is especially popular: it tends to be colloquial in language and hence easy to understand for audiences. Originating from northeastern Hebei, Pingju has been influenced by other forms of Chinese opera like Beijing opera. Traditionally Pingju makes use of just a xiaosheng (young male lead), a xiaodan (young female lead), and a xiaohualian (young comic character), though it has since diversified with the use of other roles as well.

A Ding ware bowl

Quyang County, in central Hebei, is noted for Ding ware, a type of Chinese ceramics which includes various vessels such as bowls, plates, vases, and cups, as well as figurines. Ding ware is usually creamy white, though it is also made in other colors.

Hebei cuisine is typically based on wheat, mutton, and beans. The donkey burger, originating from the cities of Baoding and Hejian, Cangzhou in the central part of the province, is perhaps the most popular. A staple in the provincial cuisine, it has spread into the two municipalities as well. Other dishes include local variants of shaobing. The city of Baoding is also home to the Baoding balls, a kind of metal ball for exercise and meditation.

Notable individuals

As Han Yu described in Sending Off Dong Shaonan (送董邵南序), “The land of Yanzhao is said to be home of heroes with tragic fates since ancient times (燕赵古称多感慨悲歌之士)”, many famous warriors, generals, and politicals, both real and fictional, had hailed from Hebei:

Qin Shi Huang (259 BC–210 BC)- Founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China.
Jing Ke (?–227 BC) – An assassin and retainer of Crown Prince Dan who attempted to murder Qin Shi Huang.
Zhang Fei (?–221) – Military general during the late Eastern Han dynastyand early Three Kingdoms period who became sworn brothers with Liu Bei and Guan Yu.
Zhao Yun or Zhao Zilong (?–229) – Military general who lived during the same period as Zhang Fei.
Lin Chong – Also known as “Panther Head”; fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature.
Wu Song – Nicknamed “Pilgrim”; also a famous character in Water Margin and famous for slaying a man-eating tiger.
Liu Zhesheng (柳哲生, 1914-1991) – Ace-fighter pilot of Nationalist Air Force of China, veteran of the War of Resistance-WWII

Well-known people of other expertise include:

Zu Chongzhi (429–500) – Astronomer, mathematician, politician, inventor, and writer who’s known for calculating pi to an accuracy that won’t be surpassed for 800 years.
Feng Dao (881–954) – Confucian minister
Yan Yuan (1635–1704) – Confucian philosopher
Zhao Lirong (1928 – 2000) – Singer, film actress, and Ping operaperformer.
Xia Gengqi (1933 – ) – Curator in the Beijing Palace Museum.
Zheng Yuanjie (1955 – ) – Children’s books author, and founder and sole writer of King of Fairy Tales (童话大王).
Guo Jingjing (1981 – ) – Multi-time Olympic gold medalist and world champion who won the most Olympic medals of any female diver.
Zanilia Zhao (1987 – ) – Actress who starred in multiple television series.
Deng Lun (1992 – ) – Actor who gained popularity from the xianxia drama, Ashes of Love.
Liu Shichao or Hebei Pangzai – Internet personality known for his food and drink stunts.

Media

Hebei is served by the province-wide Hebei Television, abbreviated HEBTV. It also covers parts of Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia. Shijiazhuang Radio & Television is a regional TV network that covers the provincial capital. Hebei is also served by three main newspapers, Hebei Daily, Yanzhao Metropolis Daily, and Yanzhao Evening News, all published by the Hebei Daily Newspaper Group.

Transportation

Because Hebei surrounds Beijing and Tianjin, all the numerous important railway lines radiating out of these two cities pass through Hebei. The Beijing–Guangzhou Railway is one of the most important: it passes through many major cities such as Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Xingtai and Handan on its way south to Henan. Other important railways include the Beijing–Kowloon Railway, Beijing–Shanghai Railway, Beijing-Harbin Railway, Beijing–Chengde Railway, Beijing–Tongliao Railway, Beijing-Baotou Railway and Fengtai–Shacheng Railway. High-speed rail lines crossing the province include the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, Beijing-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway and Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan High-Speed Railway. Future high-speed rail lines from Beijing and Tianjin to Northeast China and Northwest China will traverse northern Hebei.

During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, Beijing and Hebei were collaborating on a new passenger railway. The RMB 82.6 billion network will add 844 kilometers to the system. Current railway systems for Hebei trains are also being upgraded and will soon be able to travel at speeds of between 160 and 200 kilometers per hour.

As of the early 2013, railway schedule systems listed 160 passenger train stations within the province.

The recent expressway boom in China has not left Hebei behind. There are expressways to every prefecture-level city of Hebei, totaling approximately 2,000 kilometers. The total length of highways within Hebei is around 40,000 kilometers.

There are a number of ports along the Bohai Sea, including Qinhuangdao(the second busiest in China with a capacity of over 100 million tons), Huanghua, and Jingtang. Shijiazhuang’s Zhengding Airport is the province’s center of air transportation, with domestic and international flights. Parts of Hebei are served by the Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing.

The Shijiazhuang Metro is the only operational metro system in Hebei. Xiong’an Rail Transit is a planned metro system in Xiong’an.

Tourism

The Xumi Pagoda of Zhengding, Hebei province, built in 636 AD during the Tang dynasty

The Ming Great Wall crosses the northern part of Hebei and the eastern end is located on the coast at Shanhaiguan (Shanhai Pass), near Qinhuangdao. Informally known as the “First Pass of The World” (天下第一關), Shanhaiguan was the place where Ming general Wu Sangui opened the gates to Manchu forces in 1644, beginning nearly 300 years of Manchu rule; Shanhai Pass also marks the psychological entrance / exit of Manchuria, so that for centuries Manchuria was known as “outside the Pass” or “east of the Pass”. Beidaihe, located near Shanhaiguan, is a popular beach resort well known as a former meeting place for top governmental officials.

The Chengde Mountain Resort and its outlying temples are a World Heritage Site. Also known as the Rehe Palace, this was the summer resort of the Manchu Qing dynasty emperors. The Chengde Resort was built between 1703 and 1792, and consists of a palace complex, a large park area composed of lakes, pavilions, causeways, bridges, etc., and a number of Tibetan Buddhist and Han Chinese temples in the surrounding area.

View of the Chengde Mountain Resort

There are Qing dynasty imperial tombs at Zunhua (Eastern Qing Tombs) and Yixian (West Qing Tombs). The Eastern Qing Tombs are the resting place of 161 Qing emperors, empresses, and other members of the Qing imperial family, while the West Qing Tombs have 76. These are also part of a World Heritage Site.

The Zhaozhou, or Anji Bridge, built by Li Chun during the Sui dynasty, is the oldest stone arch bridge in China, and one of the most significant examples of pre-modern Chinese civil engineering.

Baoding, the old provincial capital, contains the historical Zhili Governor’s Residence and the former court.

Xibaipo, a village about 90 km (56 mi) from Shijiazhuang, in Pingshan Countywas the location of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Chinaand the headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army during the decisive stages of the Chinese Civil War between May 26, 1948 and March 23, 1949, at which point they were moved to Beijing. Today, the area houses a memorial site.