Shijiazhuang, China

Shijiazhuang (Simplified Chinese: 石家庄; Traditional Chinese: 石家莊; pinyin: Shíjiāzhuāng, literally: "The Shi Family Village") is a prefecture-level city about 320 kilometer south of Beijing and the capital of Hebei Province. Its population was estimated at around 9 million in total and at 2.1 million for the urban area in 2004.

Shijiazhuang is a young city, only established in the 1950s. Its name still retains the character for "village" (zhuang, T: 莊 / S: 庄). After becoming the capital of Hebei Province in the 1970s, it expanded rapidly. Its population increased from half a million to 2.1 million in only 30 years.

Administration

Night view

Shijiazhuang has direct juridiction over:

• Chang'an District (长安区, pinyin: Cháng'ān Qū)
• Qiaodong District (桥东区, pinyin: Qiáodōng Qū)
• Qiaoxi District (桥西区, pinyin: Qiáoxī Qū)
• Xinhua District (新华区, pinyin: Xīnhuá Qū)
• Yuhua District (裕华区, pinyin: Yùhuá Qū)
• Jingjingkuang District (井陉矿区, pinyin: Jǐngjìngkuàng Qū)
• Xinji City (辛集市, pinyin: Xīnjí Shì)
• Gaocheng City (藳城市, pinyin: Gàochéng Shì)
• Jinzhou City (Chinese: 晋州; pinyin: Jìnzhōu)
• Xinle City (新乐市, pinyin: Xīnlè Shì)
• Luquan City (鹿泉市, pinyin: Lùquán Shì)
• Jingjing County (井陉县, pinyin: Jǐngjìng Xiàn)
• Zhengding County (正定，pinyin: Zhèngdìng)
• Luancheng County (栾城县, pinyin: Luánchéng Xiàn)
• Xingtang County (行唐县, pinyin: Xíngtáng Xiàn)
• Lingshou County (灵寿县, pinyin: Língshòu Xiàn)
• Gaoyi County (高邑县, pinyin: Gāoyì Xiàn)
• Shenze County (深泽县, pinyin: Shēnzé Xiàn)
• Zanhuang County (赞皇县, pinyin: Zànhuáng Xiàn)
• Wuji County (无极县, pinyin: Wújí Xiàn)
• Pingshan County (平山县, pinyin: Píngshān Xiàn)
• Yuanshi County (元氏县, pinyin: Yuánshì Xiàn)
• Zhao County (赵县, pinyin: Zhào Xiàn)

Economy

Shijiazhuang is an important industrial city and is the economic center of Hebei. The main industries include textiles, pharmacy and chemical-related industries.

People and culture

As young industrial city, Shijiazhuang proper has few sights of historical or cultural interest. Exceptions are:

• Martyrs' Memorial (Lieshi Lingyuan) dedicated to Norman Bethune and Dwarkanath Kotnis
• Hebei Museum (Hebei Sheng Bowuguan)

However, several sites of historical and cultural significance are located in the surrounding areas such as:

• Longxing Monastery in Zhengding, 15 kilometer to the north
• Mount Cangyan, 50 kilometer to the southwest
• Zhaozhou Bridge, 40 kilometer to the southeast

Transportation

Downtown Shijiazhuang

Shijiazhuang is a transportation hub: it is at the intersection point of the Beijing-Guangzhou , Taiyuan-Dezhou, and Shuozhou-Huanghua railroads and many expressways, including the Beijing-Shenzhen and Taiyuan-Cangzhou Expressways. The airport has flight connections to major cities in China.