Shijiazhuang

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Shijiazhuang (Simplified Chinese: 石家庄; Traditional Chinese: 石家莊; pinyin: Shíjiāzhuāng, literally, "The Shi Family Village" or "Stone Family Village") is a prefecture-level city about 320 kilometers south of Beijing and the capital of Hebei province.

1 Name and history
2 Administration
3 Economy
4 People and culture
- 4.1 Sister cities
5 Transportation
6 External links

[edit] Name and history

Shijiazhuang is a relatively new city, whose main growth began in the 1950s, but really dates to the 1920s when it was still (Simplified Chinese: 十家庄; Traditional Chinese: 十家莊; pinyin: Shíjiāzhuāng, literally, "Ten Family Village"). What was literally a tiny village of little more than ten families found itself at the junction of three major rail lines and thereafter its growth soared. Once it became so large that "ten family village" was no longer a suitable name, the "Shi" meaning "ten" was changed to "Shi" meaning "stone". But the name still retains the character for "village" (zhuang, T: 莊 / S: 庄). English speakers are known to have a notorious pronunciation of the city's name, therefore most people refer to Shijiazhuang as "Shi-City" or the "S-City". The city is actually pronounced along the lines of "Sh-e-dj'ia-jwong".

Shijiazhuang was the first large town or city to fall to the Communists in the North in 1949, and thereafter was long considered a stronghold of support for the Communist Party. After becoming the capital of Hebei province in the 1970s, it expanded rapidly. The population of the urban core increased from half a million to 2.1 million in only 30 years. In 1989, one of the two garrisons despatched to quell the student and worker uprising in Beijing came from Shijiazhuang. Its population was estimated at around 9 million in total and at 2.1 million for the urban area (city proper) in 2004.

[edit] Administration

Image:ShijiazhuangNight.jpg

Shijiazhuang has direct jurisdiction 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)

[edit] Economy

Shijiazhuang is an important industrial city and is considered the economic center of Hebei. Main industries include textile-, pharmaceutical- and chemical-related industries.

[edit] People and culture

As a young industrial city, Shijiazhuang city proper is generally considered to have relatively few sights of historical or cultural interest. Exceptions are:

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

However, several sites of historical and cultural significance are located in the surrounding area, including:

Longxing Monastery in Zhengding, 15 kilometers to the north
Mount Cangyan, 50 km to the southwest
Zhaozhou Bridge, 40 km to the southeast
Bailin(Cypress Grove) Temple, 40 km to the southeast

Shijiazhuang has had a history of competition with Baoding as the most important city in Hebei. The two cities have been involved numerous times with gang violence.

[edit] Sister cities

[edit] 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.