Shijiazhuang (, literally: Stone Home 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 '50s of 20th century. Its name still retains the character for "village" (zhuang, in Chinese 莊 or 庄). After becoming the capital of Hebei Province in '70s of 20th century, it expanded rapidly. Its population increased from half million to 2.1 million in the short space of 30 years.

Administration

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 ()
• 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 dedicated to Norman Bethune and Dwarkanath Kotnis
• Hebei Museum

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

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.

External Links

• official site