Monday, October 13, 2008


Zunhua is a county-level city of Tangshan, Hebei, China. Historic sites include the Eastern Qing Tombs .


Zhuozhou City is a Chinese city with 600,000 inhabitants in the province of Hebei.


Zhangjiakou is a city in the Hebei Province of northern China. It has a population of 4.3 million, and covers 36,947 square kilometers. Zhangjiakou's mayor is Zheng Xuebi .


Zhangjiakou is written 张家口 in simplified Chinese characters and 張家口 in . It is ''Zhāngjiākǒu'' in pinyin and means " gate." Older names for the town in Chinese include ''Zhāngyuán'' , used in the era, and ''Zhāngjiābǎo'' .

Zhangjiakou was historically known to the Europeans as Kalgan until the mid 20th century. This name derives from the Mongolian name of the city, or, shorter, , where the ''Qaala'' means "gate" . In , the city is known as .

Zhangjiakou has been nicknamed "Beijing's Northern Door" due to its strategic location.

Geography and transport

The entire jurisdiction of Zhangjiakou City extends beyond just central Zhangjiakou , but extends also into other outlying areas such as Zhangbei, Yangyuan, and even Huailai County, which is less than 20 km away from Beijing.

The city lies in the northwestern corner of the province and is linked from Datong in Shanxi by the Xuanda Expressway and from Beijing by means of the Jingzhang Expressway. Zhangjiakou is further linked by a freeway to Inner Mongolia which opened on September 7, 2005.


The water-scarce city was historically the chief northern gate in the Great Wall to China for Europeans travelling along the Tea Road .

In the 19th century, the town was the seat of a very extensive transit trade. In early autumn long lines of camels would come in from all quarters for the conveyance of the tea chests from Zhangjiakou, the Kalgan, to Kyakhta; and each caravan usually made three journeys in the winter. Some Russian merchants had permanent residences and warehouses just outside the gate.

In October 1909, Kalgan was connected by railway with Peking. The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica noted that, in Kalgan, "the ordinary houses have an unusual appearance, from the fact that they are mostly roofed with earth and become covered with green-sward" and that "on the way to Peking the road passes over a beautiful bridge of seven arches, ornamented with marble figures of animals".

In the early 1960s at the height of Sino-Soviet tensions, Zhangjiakou was considered one of the most important cities in China for military strategy reasons. Zhangjiakou was aptly nicknamed, "Beijing's Northern Door", because whoever controlled Zhangjiakou was in a good position to either attack or defend Beijing.

Economy and education

The vicinity of Zhangjiakou is rich in coal and iron ore, making it an ideal location for developing iron and steel industry. Apart from metallurgy, the city is home to one of China's most important industries, with the Great Wall Wine Company being located in Shacheng , Huailai County.

Zhangjiakou is home to Hebei North University.

Friendship Agreements

*Province of Bolzano-Bozen,Italy

Zhangjiakou in fiction

In the novel ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'', the two main characters, Guo Jing and Huang Rong are first met in this city.
Zhangjiakou was the setting for Zhang Yimou's film ''Not One Less'' .

Zhangbei (town)

Zhangbei is a in and the seat of government of Zhangbei County, Hebei, China.


Xinji is an administrative division of Hebei province in northern China. As of 2005, it had a population of 146, of 2007it's population is 200,000


Xingtai is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, China. In 2004 it had an urban population of 561,400 and a total population of 6.73 million. It borders Shijiazhuang and Hengshui in the north, Handan in the south, and the provinces of Shandong and Shanxi in the east and west respectively.

Xingtai is a prefectur-level city in southern Hebei Province, China.
The prefecture-level city of Xingtai, with a total area of 12,486 square kilometers, administers 2 , 2 county-level cities and 15 .

*Qiaodong District
*Qiaoxi District
*Nangong City
*Shahe City
*Ren County
*Xingtai County
*Baixiang County
*Qinghe County
*Ningjin County
*Longyao County
*Lincheng County
*Guangzong County
*Neiqiu County
*Pingxiang County
*Julu County
*Xinhe County
*Nanhe County


The history of Xingtai can date back to 3500 years ago.Since the Shang Dynasty, Xingtai became the capital of China.During the Zhou Dynasty, the city was founded the state of Xing,and since then named.During the Warring States Period,the state of Zhao made Xingtai, its provisional capital.During the Qin Dynasty,the city was known as Xindu,and than after The Battle of Julu as Xiangguo,capital of the state of Zhao.When the Later Zhaowas founded by Shi Le of the Jie ethnicity,the capital was at Xiangguo.During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the city was known as Xingzhou.When the Yuan Dynastiy to the Ming and Qing Dynasties,Xingtai was
called Shundefu,a prefecture in China.


Wu'an is a city in Hebei province in northern China. As of 2005, it had a population of approximately 66,000.