Tangshan

History

Early history

Tangshan has a long history, with ancient humans living in the area as early as 4,000 years ago. It fell within the territory of the Guzhu Kingdom (1600 BC) at the time of the Shang dynasty and later became a part of the State of Yan, one of the seven Warring States (403 – 221 BC). During the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) it became part of the ancient province of Youzhou. It was under the jurisdiction of Zhili province and Zunhua State successively during the Qing dynasty.

Tang, Ming and Qing dynasties

Tangshan was a village at the time of the Tang dynasty (619–907) and developed further in agriculture, oil exploitation and ceramics during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).

During the Hundred Days' Reform in the late Qing dynasty, the Kaiping Mining Administration was established in the third year of the Guangxu Emperor (1877). In 1878, Qiaotun town was established at Tangshan and renamed Tangshan Town in 1889. In 1938, Tangshan City was formally founded. The administrative system of Tangshan during the Republic of China Republican era continued to follow the Qing system. In 1929, Zhili Province changed its name to Hebei Province. On January 28, 1939, because of Tangshan's special economic and political position, the East Hebei Autonomous Government established Tangshan City which was initially called “Tangshan Municipal Government” and later changed to “Tangshan Municipal Office”. After Japan surrendered in 1945, the Chinese Nationalist Party in Peking (now known as Beijing) took over the political control of Tangshan from Japan and set up an Administration Inspectors Office. In April 1946, it was decided at the 132nd Meeting of the Chinese Communist Party Hebei Provincial Committee to set up Tangshan City and on May 5 of the same year, the Tangshan Municipal government was founded.

People's Republic

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, Tangshan remained a provincially administered municipality with 12 areas under its jurisdiction. In March 1955, it was decided at the 2nd session of the first People's Congress of Tangshan City to change Tangshan Municipal people's government to Tangshan people's committee without changing its administration areas.

On April 28, 1958, the State Council approved the establishment of Tangshan prefecture. On August 29, 1958, it was decided at the Seventh Session of the first People's Congress of Hebei Province to move the Tangshan Commissioner Office from Changli County to Tangshan City.

The CPC Central Committee decided to designate Tangshan city as one of the 45 cities open to the world on June 3, 1959. On June 8, 1959, the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee and the Hebei Provincial People's Congress decided to combine the Tangshan Commissioners Office and the Tangshan People's Committee into the Tangshan People's Committee. On April 2, 1960, the State Council officially approved the abolition of Tangshan prefecture. Qinhuangdao city, Qian'an, Changli, Laoting, Baodi, Yutian, Jixian County and Zunhua which were formerly administered by Tangshan Prefecture were incorporated into the Tangshan Municipality. Luanxian County, Fengrun County (formerly a district) and Baigezhuang Farm were also incorporated into Tangshan Municipality. Meanwhile, Tangshan became a provincially administered municipality.

On May 23, 1961, the State Council approved the reinstatement of Tangshan prefecture, which was adopted at the 14th Meeting of the Hebei Provincial People's Committee on June 3, 1959. Tangshan prefecture and Tangshan municipality were separated again and Tangshan turned into a specially administered municipality.

The Tangshan Municipal Revolutionary Committee affiliated to the Revolutionary Committee of Tangshan Region was set up on January 6, 1968. On March 11, 1978, Tangshan turned to be a provincially administered municipality.

In October 1982, it was decided at the Seventh People's Congress of Tangshan city to abolish the Tangshan Municipal Revolutionary Committee and set up the Tangshan Municipal People's Government.

The State Council approved the move on March 3, 1983, and thereafter implemented the city-governing-county system. On May 13, 1983, the Hebei Provincial People's Government announced the cancellation of the Civic Administration office of Tangshan region, which ceased operation on May 15, 1983.

On December 15, 1984, the State Council approved Tangshan city as one of 13 national “comparatively big” cities.

1976 Tangshan earthquake

Tangshan suffered an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 (7.5 according to official reports) at 3:42 am on July 28, 1976, which resulted in many casualties. The official death toll was 255,000, but many experts believe that the actual number of fatalities was two to three times that number, making it the most destructive earthquake in modern history. As a result of the earthquake, most of the town had to be rebuilt. The earthquake was depicted in the 2010 movie Aftershock.

Geography

Tangshan is located in the central section of the Bohai Economic Rim, facing the Bohai Sea to the south. Lying on the North China Plain, Tangshan is adjacent to the Yan Mountains to the north, borders the Luan River and Qinhuangdao to the east, and to the west and southwest borders Tianjin. Because of its location in the northeast of Hebei, it is a strategic area and a corridor linking two China's north and northeast regions. The largest river in the prefecture is the Luan River.

Climate

Tangshan has a monsoon-influenced, humid continental climate (Köppen Dwa), with cold and very dry winters, and hot, rainy summers. Spring and autumn are short with some rainfall. The monthly 24-hour average temperature in January is −3.6 °C (25.5 °F), and 26.9 °C (80.4 °F) in July, and the annual mean is 12.8 °C (55.0 °F). Close to 60% of the annual precipitation of 590 mm (23.2 in) falls in July and August alone. The frost-free period lasts 180–190 days, and the area receives 2,600–2,900 hours of sunshine annually.

Air pollution

As air pollution in China has worsened in recent years, reports suggest cities in Hebei among the most polluted in the country, with Tangshan being no exception. According to a survey made by "Global voices China" in February 2013, 7 cities in Hebei including Xingtai, Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Handan, Langfang, Hengshui and Tangshan, are among China's 10 most polluted cities.

Economy

Tangshan is an important heavy industrial city in North China. Its output include machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals, textiles, glass, petroleum products, and cement. It has been a coal-mining center since late Qing dynasty, as Guangdong merchant Tong King-sing opened the first coal mine using modern techniques in Kaiping in 1877. Since the construction of the Caofeidian Project, it has hosted large iron and steel plants, chemical projects, and electricity plants. It is China's largest steel-producing city. Tangshan is also called the "porcelain capital of North China."

Modern industry in China first arose in Tangshan. The second railway in China – after the abortive Woosung Railway in Shanghai – was the six-mile track laid between Hsukochuang and Tangshan which opened in 1881; this eventually grew into the Imperial Railroad of North China and China's modern Jingshan and Jingha Railways. The first fire-resistant material manufactory and the first and largest cement manufactory were constructed in Tangshan as well.

Tangshan has experienced near-constant GDP growth in recent years, but has slowed down in the latter-half of the 2010s. In 2008, the GDP of Tangshan was ¥353.747 billion, which nearly doubled to ¥612.121 billion by 2013, and grew further to ¥695.500 billion in 2018. Tangshan's GDP was ranked the 26th largest among Chinese cities according to data from 2017. The city's exports were valued at $7.109 billion in 2016. Government figures for 2017 show that the city's economy was largely dominated by the secondary industry, contributing ¥408.14 billion to the city's economy.

Industrial zone

• Caofeidian New Zone.

Demographics

Government data from 2017 shows that 7.897 million people live in Tangshan, of which, 61.64% live in an urban area. The city's residents had a mean disposable income of ¥27,786, which was ¥36,415 among urban residents.

Ethnic composition

Tangshan, like many other locations in China, is largely Han Chinese, who account for 95.25% of the city's population. In Zunhua City, there are 3 ethnic townships and ethnic towns. The following table shows the city's ethnic breakdown:

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Tangshan administers 14 county-level divisions including 7 districts, 4 counties and 3 county-level cities.

Education

Universities and colleges

• North China University of Science and Technology (formerly named Hebei United University), which was co-established by Hebei Polytechnic University and North China Coal Medical College in May 2010
• Tangshan Normal University
• Tangshan College
• Hebei University of Science and Technology Tangshan Branch

High schools

• Tangshan No.1 high school (founded 1902), one of the most famous high schools in China
• Hebei Tangshan Foreign Language School

Culture

Food

• Diet
  • Wanlixiang roast chicken (萬里香燒雞)
  • Chessboard pancake (棋子燒餠)
  • Honey sugar candy (蜂蜜麻糖)
  • Peanut crisp (花生酥糖)
  • Big gezhe (大格摺)
  • Small gezhe (小格摺)
• Dried fruits
  • Chinese chestnut (板栗)
  • Walnut

Traditional arts

• Ping opera, or Pingju, one of the most popular operas in China
• Tangshan Shadow Play (唐山皮影)
• Laoting drums (樂亭大鼓)

Tourism

• Eastern Qing tombs
• Anti-Seismic Monument, located in Anti-Seismic Square
• Tangshan Nanhu Park (Lunan District)
• Kailuan National Mine Park (Lunan District)
• Tangshan science and Technology Museum (Lubei District)

Religion

• Datang Xingguo Chan Temple (大唐興國禪寺), a Buddhist temple
• Jingzhong Mountain, a joint religious shrine for the believers of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, respectively.
• Two Christian churches.

Transport

As of 2017, Tangshan has 18,000 kilometers of roads, of which, 16,000 were in rural areas. The city's roads served 410 million tons of freight, and the city's port served 570 million tons. As of 2023, Tangshan is the largest city in China without an operating or planned metro system.

Air

• Tangshan Sannühe Airport, 20 kilometers (12 mi) from the city center, in Fengrun District

Rail

• Beijing–Harbin Railway
• Tianjin–Shanhaiguan Railway
• Beijing–Qinhuangdao Railway
• Tianjin–Shanxi Railway

Roads

• China National Highway 102, in the south of Fengrun District
• China National Highway 112, ring road encircling Beijing, traversing the west side of Tangshan's urban area
• China National Highway 205, which runs along the eastern and southern front of the urban area
• G1 Beijing–Harbin Expressway, on the northern side of the urban area
• G25 Changchun–Shenzhen Expressway, on the western side of the urban area

Notable people

• Li Dazhao – early founder and leader of Chinese Communist Party
• Li Lu – Chinese-born American investor
• Jiang Wen – a contemporary director and actor
• Cao Xueqin – author of Dream of the Red Chamber
• Liu Wenjin – classical Chinese music composer
• Zhang Tielin – Chinese-born British actor
• Zhao Lijian – Chinese spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Gao Yuanyuan – Chinese actress and model
• Tseng Cheng – businessman and philanthropist
• Wu Guiying – Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Changsha
• Zhang Xudong – general of the PLA and former commander of the Western Theater Command
• Fu Zhenghua – former politician and Minister of Justice