Baoding
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox settlement Template:Infobox Chinese
Baoding is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately Template:Convert southwest of Beijing. As of the 2020 census, Baoding City had 11,544,036 inhabitants, of which 2,549,787 lived in the metropolitan area made of 4 out of 5 urban districts: Lianchi, Jingxiu, Qingyuan, and Mancheng all of which are largely conurbated.<ref name = "Geo Background"/> Accounting for about one-sixth of the population of Hebei Province.<ref name="保定简介-保定市戴维软件科技有限公司">Template:Cite web</ref> Baoding is among 13 Chinese cities with a population of over 10 million, ranking seventh.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Zhuozhou City in the northern part has now grown into part of the Beijing metro area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Citation needed
Baoding was the capital of Zhili Province and the residence of the Viceroy of Zhili in the Qing dynasty. The city was also the capital of Hebei province until 1968, and is now a national historical and cultural city and one of the central cities in the Jing-Jin-Ji cluster,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with the Xiong'an new area located within its jurisdiction.
Name
Baoding was known as Shanggu, Baozhou, Shoocheng and Baofu in ancient times.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The city's name, Baoding (Template:Lang-zh),<ref name="seltzer">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> dates back to the Song and Yuan dynasties, In 1239, the Yuan Dynasty changed the name of Shuntian Army to Shuntian Road, which means "complying with the destiny of heaven", and Baozhou was renamed Luzhi (Template:Zhc). Because Baozhou was the southern gate of the capital in the Yuan Dynasty, Shuntian Road was changed to Baoding Road in 1275, which means "defend the capital and stabilize the world".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The name is roughly interpreted as "protecting the capital", referring to the city's proximity to Beijing.
History
Template:Unreferenced section Baoding has a history dating back to the Western Han Dynasty.
Prehistory
The Nanzhuangtou site near Baiyang Lake is one of the earliest Neolithic site discovered in North China, dating back approximately 10,500–9,700 years.<ref name="LL">Template:Cite book</ref> Other Neolithic sites in Baoding include Diaoyutai and Beifudi.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Early history
During the Warring States period, what is now Baoding was along the dividing line between the Yan and Zhao states.
One of the capitals of Yan during this period, Xiadu, is located in what is now Yi County, and from 400 to 300 BC may have been the largest cities in the world, with an estimated population of over 300,000.<ref>George Modelski, World Cities: –3000 to 2000, Washington DC: FAROS 2000, 2003. Template:ISBN.</ref>
Imperial era
In 960 the Song dynasty established the Bao prefecture ("Baozhou") with the administrative office in Baosai County (modern Baoding).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This lasted until 1241, when the Mongol Empire (who conquered the Jin dynasty in 1234) abolished it, incorporating Baozhou into the Central Region.
In the year 1213 the Mongol army invaded and destroyed Baozhou, leaving it in ruins until it was reconstructed in 1227 during the Yuan dynasty. The region acquired the name "Baoding" in 1275.
In 1669, Baoding became the capital of Zhili, ruled over by a Viceroy until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912.
In 1902, Yuan Shikai, then Viceroy, established the Baoding Military Academy. Birthplace of many famous ROC and Communist generals in the early 20th century.
Contemporary history
On August 1, 1949, the People's Government of Hebei province was established, Baoding was the capital of the province, and the city of Baoding was a provincial municipality. On August 9, the administrative inspector's office of the Baoding district was established, and it was established as the administrative inspector's office of the county district.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In May 1958, the capital of Hebei was moved to Tianjin, then back to Baoding in January 1966, to Shijiazhuang in February 1968. In December 1994, the Baoding area merged with Baoding to become a provincial city.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In April 2017, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council announced the decision to transform Baoding's Xiong, Rongcheng, and Anxin counties into Xiong'an New Area, a new development area of national significance, with a focus on innovation, sustainability and quality of life, following the successes of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and Shanghai's Pudong New Area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Geography
Baoding is located in the west-central portion of Hebei province and lies on the North China Plain, with the Taihang Mountains to the west. Bordering prefecture-level cities in the province are Zhangjiakou to the north, Langfang and Cangzhou to the east, and Shijiazhuang and Hengshui to the south. Baoding also borders Beijing to the northeast and Shanxi to the west.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The geographical coordinates of Baoding are between 113°40'-116°20' east longitude and 38°10'-40°00' north latitude.<ref name="保定简介-保定市戴维软件科技有限公司"/>
Elevations in Baoding's administrative area decrease from northwest to southeast. The western parts are dominated by mountains and hills that are generally more than Template:Convert tall; this area includes parts of Laishui, Yi, Mancheng, Shunping, Tang, and Fuping Counties as well as the entirety of Laiyuan County, occupying 30.6% of the prefecture's area.<ref name = "Geo Background"/> The highest peak is Mount Waitou (Template:Lang-zh), with an elevation of Template:Convert.<ref name = "Geo Background"/> Moving southeast from this area, one encounters low-lying mountains and hills, taking up 18.9% of the prefecture's area.<ref name = "Geo Background"/> Further to the east lies generally flat terrain of Template:Convert elevation. Here the primary rivers are the Xiaoyi River (Template:Lang), Fu River (Template:Lang), Bao River (Template:Lang), Ping River (Template:Lang), Juma River (Template:Lang), Yishui River (Template:Lang), Tang River (Template:Lang), Cao River (Template:Lang), Zhulong River (Template:Lang), Qingshui River (Template:Lang), and Sha River (Template:Lang).<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> Baiyangdian Lake, the largest natural lake in northern China, can be found nearby.
Climate
Baoding has a continental, monsoon-influenced humid continental climate/semi-arid climate (Köppen Dwa/BSk),<ref>Peel, M. C. and Finlayson, B. L. and McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11: 1633-1644. ISSN 1027-5606.</ref> characterised by hot, humid summers due to the East Asian monsoon, and generally cold, windy, very dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone. Spring can bear witness to sandstorms blowing in from the Mongolian steppe, accompanied by rapidly warming, but generally dry, conditions. Autumn is similar to spring in temperature and lack of rainfall. The annual rainfall, about 60% of which falls in July and August alone, is highly variable and not reliable. The average annual runoff is 2.45 billion cubic meters.<ref name="保定简介-保定市戴维软件科技有限公司"/> In the city itself, this amount has averaged to a meagre Template:Convert per annum. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from Template:Convert in January to Template:Convert in July, and the annual mean is Template:Convert. There are 2,500 to 2,900 hours of bright sunshine annually, and the frost-free period lasts 165−210 days.
Administrative divisions
Bǎodìng prefecture-level city consists of 5 municipal districts, 4 county-level cities, 15 counties:
- Dissolved districts: Beishi District and Nanshi District
Demographics
| Division name | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residence population<ref>Template:LangTemplate:Full citation needed</ref> (November 2010) | Hukou population<ref>Template:LangTemplate:Full citation needed</ref> (end of 2010) | |||
| Total | Ratio (%) | Population density (persons/km2) | ||
| Baoding City | 11,194,379 | 100 | 504.55 | 11610199 |
| Xinshi District | 482,768 | 4.31 | 2540.88 | 459038 |
| Beishi District | 387,339 | 3.46 | 5164.52 | 322205 |
| Nanshi District | 287,784 | 2.57 | 2877.84 | 279725 |
| Mancheng District | 387,307 | 3.46 | 615.75 | 411417 |
| Qingyuan District | 631,659 | 5.64 | 728.56 | 648645 |
| Laishui County | 339,063 | 3.03 | 204.50 | 352993 |
| Fuping County | 205,299 | 1.83 | 82.28 | 223846 |
| Xushui County | 563,030 | 5.03 | 778.74 | 586104 |
| Dingxing County | 517,873 | 4.63 | 725.31 | 585913 |
| Tang County | 529,066 | 4.73 | 373.37 | 590575 |
| Gaoyang County | 345,160 | 3.08 | 695.89 | 340163 |
| Rongcheng County | 258,179 | 2.31 | 822.23 | 265389 |
| Laiyuan County | 260,678 | 2.33 | 106.49 | 283537 |
| Wangdu County | 250,014 | 2.23 | 781.29 | 265525 |
| Anxin County | 437,378 | 3.91 | 604.11 | 440817 |
| Yi County | 537,564 | 4.80 | 212.14 | 570806 |
| Quyang County | 588,559 | 5.26 | 542.95 | 610065 |
| Li County | 505,574 | 4.52 | 775.42 | 532322 |
| Shunping County | 295,764 | 2.64 | 417.75 | 317484 |
| Boye County | 245,504 | 2.19 | 741.70 | 268941 |
| Xiong County | 359,506 | 3.21 | 686.08 | 375470 |
| Zhuozhou City | 603,535 | 5.39 | 813.39 | 645542 |
| Dingzhou City | 1,165,182 | 10.41 | 914.59 | 1214852 |
| Anguo City | 370,314 | 3.31 | 761.96 | 409834 |
| Gaobeidian City | 640,280 | 5.72 | 938.83 | 608991 |
| Note: The 58,709 people residing in Baoding High Technology Product Development Zone and the 124,274 in the Baigou New City are not listed separately. | ||||
According to the 2010 Census, the residence population stood at 11,194,382, an increase of 605,100 (5.71%) from 2000. The male-female ratio was 101.94:100. Children aged up to 14 numbered 1,915,800 (17.11% of the population), citizens 15 to 64 numbered 8,370,600 (74.78%), and 65+ numbered 908,000 (8.11%). The urban area of Baoding made of 5 urban Districts had a population of around 2,739,887 (2010 census). The overwhelming majority of the population is Han Chinese. The language of Baoding is Mandarin Chinese — specifically, the Baoding dialect of Ji-Lu Mandarin. Despite Baoding's proximity to Beijing, the Chinese spoken in Baoding is not particularly close to the Beijing dialect — rather, it is more closely related to Tianjin dialect.
Economy
Baoding is located in the centre of the Bohai Rim economic area which includes Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang. One of the largest employers in Baoding is China Lucky Film, the largest photosensitive materials and magnetic recording media manufacturer in China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> And, Yingli group, 2010 World Cup sponsor, has its headquarters in Baoding, who is the Global Top 10 solar panel manufacturer. More renowned companies include ZhongHang HuiTeng Windpower Equipment Co., Ltd (Wind Turbine), Baoding Tianwei Group Co., Ltd (Transformer), and Great Wall Motor.
In April 2017, an area in Baoding was designated as a Xiong'an New Area, a development zone of initially 100 km2 and up to 2000 km2, the site of what will eventually be a new city and the hub of the Beijing-Tinajin-Hebei development area.
- Baoding High-tech Industrial Development Zone<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Great Wall Motors Company Limited is a Chinese automobile manufacturer headquartered in Baoding, Hebei, China. The company is named after the Great Wall of China and was formed in 1984. It is China's largest sport utility vehicle (SUV) and pick-up truck producer. It sells passenger cars and trucks under the Great Wall brand and SUVs under the Haval and WEY brands.
In 2016, Great Wall Motors set a historical sales record of 1,074,471 cars worldwide, increased by 26% compared to 2015.
Renewable energy
Baoding City has one of China's biggest plants which manufactures blades used in wind turbine generators, catering mainly to the domestic market. Tianwei Wind Power Technology is one of the three main plants in Baoding that produces wind turbine generators. It wheeled out its first 20 turbines in 2008, and it will produce 150 units in 2009 and another 500 in 2010. Nevertheless, Baoding is currently listed as the most polluted city in China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Transport
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Baoding has good connections to other cities, being located on one of the main routes in and out of Beijing. The Jingshi Expressway connects the two cities, and Baoding is also the western terminus of the Baojin Expressway linking Baoding with Tianjin, which is one out of two nearest ports (Huanghua is the other one). The Jingguang Railway provides frequent services to Beijing West railway station. On 30 December 2012, a new Baoding station was opened, while the old train station was closed for passengers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Baoding East railway station lies Template:Convertto the east on the Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong high-speed railway. On October 1, 2018, the east square of Baoding Railway Station was officially put into use, and the east station building of the railway station was also opened at the same time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Military
Baoding is headquarters of the 38th Mechanized Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of the three group armies that comprise the Beijing Military Region responsible for defending the PRC capital.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Citation needed
Culture
Perhaps the best-known item to supposedly originate in Baoding are Baoding balls, which can be used to relax one's keyboard hand and strengthen one's wrist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The most famous local specialty food is the donkey burger.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (Template:Lang-zh)
Anxin County is home to the Quantou Village Music Association (Template:Lang-zh), a well-known traditional music group performing on guan (oboes), sheng (mouth organs), and percussion. The village of Quantou is located on an island in Lake Baiyangdian.
<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The city's streets follow a rough grid pattern, although this is less obvious in the older part of the city. The traditional main street of old Baoding is Yuhua Road, running from the city's centre to its eastern edge. Most of Baoding's historic buildings are located in this area, along with some of its larger shopping centres.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other major streets include Dongfeng Road and Chaoyang Avenue. There is a ring road around the city.
Baoding is home to Hebei University, North China Electric Power University, three other universities and twelve colleges.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Historic sites
Baoding contains a number of notable historic sites. In the city proper, there can be found a historic provincial governor's mansion and an ancient lotus garden. In the hills to the northwest of the city, near the suburb of Mancheng, there are the Mancheng Han Tombs, where Prince Liu Sheng and his wife Dou Wan were buried.
The greater Baoding administrative area has 16 designated state-level cultural relics:
- Yan State Capital Relics (475BC-221BC, Yixian County)
- Great Wall at Zijinguan Pass (1368–1644, Yixian County and Laiyuan County)
- Stele of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching (618-907, Yixian County)
- Western Qing Tombs (1730–1915, Yixian County)
- Geyuan Temple (916-1125, Laiyuan County)
- Ciyun Pavilion (1306, Dingxing County)
- Yicihui Stone Pillar (550-577, Dingxing County)
- Kaiyuan Temple (960-1127, Dingzhou County)
- Kaishan Temple (618-907, Gaobeidian County)
- Dingzhou Porcelain Kiln Relic (960-1127, Quyang County)
- Beiyue Temple (386-543, Quyang County)
- Jin-cha-ji Border Region Headquarters Ruins (1938, Fuping County)
- Ranzhuang Underground Tunnel (1937–1945, Qingyuan County)
- Mancheng Han Tombs (154BC-113BC, Mancheng County)
- Zhili Provincial Governor Office (1730–1911, Baoding)
- Historical Site of the Baoding Military Academy (1902–1923)
Notable people
- Abbie Goodrich Chapin (1868–1956), American missionary teacher based in Baoding
- Chen Xu, Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office
- Fan Hongbin—gymnast, Olympic silver medalist in 1996 Summer Olympics
- Fan Ye—gymnast, 2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships balance beam gold medalist
- Guo Jingjing—diver and Olympic gold medalist in 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics
- Qian Hong—swimmer and Olympic gold medalist in 1992 Summer Olympics
- Shi Changxu—materials scientist, recipient of the 2010 State Preeminent Science and Technology Award
- Tie Ning—author, president of the China Writers Association
- Wei Jianjun—billionaire, chairman of Great Wall Motors<ref name=Forbes>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Yan Su—Chinese playwright and lyricist
- Xie Jun—chess grandmaster and Women's World Chess Champion 1991–1996, 1999–2001
- Zhang Shangwu–gymnast, 2001 Summer Universiade still rings gold medalist
Sister cities
Baoding is twinned with:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flagu, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1987-09-29<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flagu, Yonago, Tottori, 1991-10-13<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flagu, Saijō, Ehime, 1994-9-21<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flagu, Hafnarfjörður, 1994-10-09<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flagu, Kushima, Miyazaki, 2000-11-20<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flagu, Dongdaemun District, Seoul, 2001-02-19<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flagu, Gravenhurst, Ontario, 2002-12-5<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flagu, Santiago de Veraguas, 2006-12-15<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flagu, Sønderborg Municipality, 2012-04-23<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gallery
- Images from Baoding
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Temple in the centre of old Baoding
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Dongfeng Road, Baoding
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Part of Yuhua Road, the main street of old Baoding
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Arch on Yuhua Road, old Baoding
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An intersection in Yuhua Road's shopping district
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The Wanbo Tower in a sunny afternoon, Baoding CBD
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A civic monument
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A public park
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A public park
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Baoding Cathedral
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Baoding Railway Station
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Baoding East Railway Station for High-Speed Rail Trains
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Baoding city buses before 2007
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Baoding in the evening
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Old Baoding railway station
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Old Baoding railway station
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Baoding Old Quarter
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Skylines in Baoding CBD
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Closer look at the Wanbo Tower in a sunny day
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Closer look at the Maoye Tower in a sunny day, Baoding CBD
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The Wanbo Plaza at night, Baoding CBD
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The Wanbo Plaza at night, Baoding CBD
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The Wanbo Plaza at night, Baoding CBD
See also
References
External links
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Template:Hebei topics Template:Hebei Template:Prefectural-level divisions of the People's Republic of China