Shijiazhuang Travel Guide - Brief Information on Shijiazhuang

As the capital city of Hebei, north China, Shijiazhuang is the province’s center of politics, economy, technology, finance, culture, and information. Formerly known as Shimen, Shijiazhuang was approved by the State Council to be a coastal open city and a city which opens up its finance.

With a permanent population of 1.395 million, Shijiazhuang covers a total area of 15,800 square miles. It consists of 6 districts, 12 counties, 5 county-level cities, and one state-level hi-tech development zone. Its urban area covers 455.8 square kilometers, with a population of 2.6 million as of 2008 end. Because Tianjin was separated from Hebei in 1967 as a municipality directly under the Central Government, Baoding replaced Tianjin as the capital city of Hebei then. And due to the Cultural Revolution in China (1966-1976), Shijiazhuang in 1968 was appointed as the capital city of Hebei.

Located on the edge of the North China Plain in China, Shijiazhuang is about 283 kilometers south of Beijing. Because of the fast railway construction there, it has become a boomtown in the north China, with a GDP of CNY 283.8 billion in 2008, hiking 11% over a year earlier. As the largest industrial base in Hebei, Shijiazhuang mainly focuses on the growth of light industry, textile industry, pharmaceutical industry, electronics industry, chemical industry, and building material industry. In addition, the city’s fast-growing economy and industries has catapulted itself into one of the major cities in the north.

Shijiazhuang embodies convenient transportation. There are many highways in the city. And it is at the intersection point of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, Shijiazhuang-Dezhou Railway, Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan Railway, and Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway. The Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport, the airport of Shijiazhuang, is 32 kilometers away from downtown. The airport is one of the alternate airports for the Beijing Capital International Airport during the Beijing Olympics 2008.

As a young city, Shijiazhuang, impressively, has some historical and cultural places of interest, including Hebei Museum, and Martyrs' Memorial. And it also has some attractions around, such as Xibaipo, Zhaozhou Bridge, Mount Cangyan, Bailin Temple, Longxing Monastery, and so forth.