Baoding

Baoding City is a medium-sized industrial city in Hebei province near the coast. It is about 150 kilometers from Beijing and east of the Taihang Mountains. It is in the western part of the Jizhong Plain. About a million people live in the urban area, and about 11 million people live in the area under its government's jurisdiction in outlying suburbs, towns, and villages.

It is halfway between Beijing and Shijiazhuang. Baoding's central district is about 125 kilometers (78 miles) away from Shijiazhuang that is the capital city of Hebei Province. So it takes less than two hours to drive there. The total area of Baoding is 22,000 square kilometers (8,500 square miles).

It has one national 6A scenic spot, six 4A scenic spots, two world geoparks, three national geoparks, four national forest parks, one national key scenic spot and 15 historical sites designated as nationally important by the Chinese government.

Baoding City is an ancient city with a long history, and there are lots of places of historical interest and natural scenic areas. For example, the Ancient Lotus Lake Garden in the city center used to be an institution of higher education during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty. It was one of the famous gardens of that time.

There is a stone carving called "Lian Ye Tuo Tao" on an ancient pavilion in the garden. This might be a satire about how the Empress Dowager Cixi fled from Beijing overnight when the Eight-Power Allied Forces (Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Russia, Japan, Italy and Austria) sent troops to Beijing in 1900 to suppress the anti-imperialist Yihetuan Movement (Boxer Rebellion).

In addition, there are other places of cultural and historical interest like the Han Dynasty Tombs in Mancheng County (154 BC-113 BC) that are famous for the suits made of jade pieces that were sewn together with gold wire and the Mausoleums of the Qing Dynasty (1730-1915, Yixian County) where 4 emperors of the Qing Dynasty were buried.

Telephone Area Code: 0312
Postal Zip Code: 071052