Tangshan

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Tangshan
唐山
Prefecture-level city
唐山市
Nickname(s): Phoenix City
Location of Tangshan City jurisdiction in Hebei
Tangshan
Location of the city centre in Hebei
Coordinates: 39°36′N 118°10′E / 39.600°N 118.167°E / 39.600; 118.167Coordinates: 39°36′N 118°10′E / 39.600°N 118.167°E / 39.600; 118.167
Country People's Republic of China
Province Hebei
Government
 • Party Secretary Jiang Deguo (姜德果)
 • Mayor Chen Xuejun (陈学军)
Area
 • Prefecture-level city 17,040 km2 (6,580 sq mi)
 • Water 3,568 km2 (1,378 sq mi)
 • Urban 3,596 km2 (1,388 sq mi)
Population (2010)
 • Prefecture-level city 7,577,284
 • Density 440/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
 • Urban 3,163,152
 • Urban density 880/km2 (2,300/sq mi)
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code 063000
Area code(s) 315
GDP ¥544.241 billion (2011)
GDP per capita ¥71,262 (2011)
License Plate Prefix 冀B
Website tangshan.gov.cn

Tangshan (Chinese: 唐山; pinyin: Tángshān) is a largely industrial prefecture-level city in northeastern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has become known for the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and killed at least 255,000 residents. The city has since been rebuilt and has become a tourist attraction.

The city of Tangshan is approximately 149 kilometers, 92 miles or 80 nautical miles east by south east of the countries capital city of Beijing. It takes roughly 2 hours by road to get from Tangshan to Beijing.

Tangshan's prefecture population was 7,577,284 at the 2010 census, with over 3 million in the 6 core districts.

Etymology

Tangshan is named after Dacheng Mountain (which is also named Mountain Tang[Tangshan in Chinese]) in the middle of Tangshan city.

In A.D. 645, Li Shimin-emperor of Tang Dynasty and his army stationed at Dacheng Mountain on his way back from Korean Peninsula. Unfortunately, Caofei, his beloved concubine, died here. In order to commemorate his Caofei, he named the mountain with the name of the state—Tang. Later, the name of the mountain became the name of the city.

History

Early history

Tangshan is a place with a long history, where there were ancient humans living as early as 4,000 years ago. Tangshan was in the territory of Guzhu Kingdom (1600 B.C.) in the time of the Shang Dynasty; and then became a part of Yan Kingdom (one of the seven Warring States, 403 B.C−221 B.C.), and in the Han Dynasty was included to Youzhou. It was under the jurisdiction of Yongping Province and Zunhua State successively in the Qing Dynasty.

Ming and Qing period

Tangshan used to be a village in the Tang Dynasty and developed to certain extent (majorly in agriculture, oil exploitation and ceramics) in the Ming Dynasty.

With the development of “Westernization Movement” in late Qing Dynasty, Kaiping Mining Administration was established in the third year of Guangxu (the year of 1877). In 1878, Qiaotun town was established at Tangshan and was renamed as Tangshan Town in 1889. In 1938, Tangshan City was formally founded. The system of Tangshan in the Republic of China in 1912 still followed the system of Qing Dynasty. In 1929, Zhili Province changed its name to Hebei Province. On January 28, 1939, for Tangshan's special position in economy and politics, Eastern-Hebei Anti-communist Government established Tangshan City which was initially called “Tangshan Municipal Government” and later changed to “Tangshan Municipal Office”. After the Japan's announcement of surrender, the Party of Chinese Nationalists in Peking (now called Beijing) took over the political power of Tangshan from Japan and set up Administration Inspector Office. In April 1946, it was decided on the 132nd Meeting of CPC Hebei Provincial Committee to set up Tangshan City and on May 5 of the same year, Tangshan Municipal government was founded.

People's Republic

After the establishment of P.R. China on October 1, 1949, Tangshan remained a provincially administered municipality with 12 areas under its jurisdiction. In March 1955, it was decided on 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 to set Tangshan prefecture. On August 29, 1958, it was decided on the Seventh Session of the first People's Congress of Hebei Province to move Tangshan Commissioner Office from Changli County to Tangshan city.

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

On May 23, 1961, the State Council approved to reset up Tangshan prefecture. On June 1, 1961, the 14th Meeting of Hebei Provincial People's Committee adopted the decision of resetting up Tangshan prefecture. Tangshan prefecture and Tangshan municipality were separated again and Tangshan turned to be a specially administered municipality.

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

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

On March 3, 1983, the State Council approved to cancel Tangshan prefecture and implement city-governing-county system. On May 13, 1983, Hebei Provincial People's government announced to cancel Civic Administration office of Tangshan region, which stopped its business later on May 15, 1983.

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

1976 Tangshan Earthquake

Main article: 1976 Tangshan earthquake

Tangshan suffered an earthquake of moment magnitude 7.8 (7.5 from official report) at 3:42 a.m. on July 28, 1976, the Tangshan earthquake, 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.

Geography and climate

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 adjoins with Beijing and 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.

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 −5.1 °C (22.8 °F), and 25.7 °C (78.3 °F) in July, and the annual mean is 11.5 °C (52.7 °F). Close to 60% of the annual precipitation of 610 millimetres (24.0 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.

Climate data for Tangshan (1971−2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 0.9
(33.6)		 4.1
(39.4)		 10.7
(51.3)		 19.6
(67.3)		 25.2
(77.4)		 29.1
(84.4)		 30.2
(86.4)		 29.4
(84.9)		 25.9
(78.6)		 19.1
(66.4)		 9.8
(49.6)		 3.0
(37.4)		 17.3
(63.1)
Average low °C (°F) −10.2
(13.6)		 −7
(19)		 −0.8
(30.6)		 7.1
(44.8)		 13.0
(55.4)		 18.2
(64.8)		 21.7
(71.1)		 20.5
(68.9)		 14.6
(58.3)		 7.5
(45.5)		 −0.7
(30.7)		 −7
(19)		 6.4
(43.5)
Precipitation mm (inches) 4.3
(0.169)		 4.4
(0.173)		 9.6
(0.378)		 21.3
(0.839)		 42.7
(1.681)		 86.6
(3.409)		 192.8
(7.591)		 162.5
(6.398)		 48.2
(1.898)		 23.5
(0.925)		 9.9
(0.39)		 4.5
(0.177)		 610.3
(24.028)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 2.4 2.4 3.4 4.6 6.6 9.0 12.9 10.7 6.4 4.8 3.0 2.0 68.2
Source: Weather China

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.[1] Since the construction of the Caofeidian Project, it has hosted large iron and steel plants, chemical projects, and electricity plants. Tangshan is also called the "porcelain capital of North China."[citation needed]

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;[2] 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.

In 2008, the GDP of Tangshan was ¥356.119 billion, ranked No. 1 among all the prefecture-level cities in Hebei Province, and No. 19 in China. GDP per capita reached ¥48,190 ($6,817).[citation needed]

Tangshan’s GDP in 2011 reached 544.2billion RMB, up 11.7% over the same period of last year. The overall fiscal revenue reached 55.5 billion RMB, among which the general budget revenue reached 25.56 billion RMB, up 26.6% and 30.5% respectively. The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents reached 21785RMB and 9460RMB respectively, an increase of 11.4% and 13.8%, leading the first in Hebei Province.

Industrial zone

Demographics

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Tangshan administers 14 county-level divisions including 7 districts, 5 counties and 2 county-level cities.

Map
# Name Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin Population (2004 est.) Area (km²) Density (/km²)
1 Lubei District 路北区 Lùběi Qū 620,000 113 5,487
2 Lunan District 路南区 Lùnán Qū 240,000 65 3,692
3 Guye District 古冶区 Gǔyě Qū 360,000 263 1,369
4 Kaiping District 开平区 Kāipíng Qū 330,000 253 1,304
5 Fengrun District 丰润区 Fēngrùn Qū 890,000 1,334 667
6 Fengnan District 丰南区 Fēngnán Qū 520,000 1,568 332
14 Caofeidian District 曹妃甸区 Cáofēidiān Qū 140,000 700 200
Total Built up area 3,100,000 4,296 721
7 Zunhua City 遵化市 Zūnhuà Shì 690,000 1,521 454
8 Qian'an City 迁安市 Qiān'ān Shì 680,000 1,208 563
9 Luan County 滦县 Luán Xiàn 540,000 999 541
10 Luannan County 滦南县 Luánnán Xiàn 570,000 1,270 449
11 Laoting County 乐亭县 Làotíng Xiàn [3] 490,000 1,308 375
12 Qianxi County 迁西县 Qiānxī Xiàn 360,000 1,439 250
13 Yutian County 玉田县 Yùtián Xiàn 660,000 1,165 567

Education

Universities and colleges

High Schools

Culture

Traditional Arts

Tourism

Eastern Tombs in 1900
  • Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty
  • Jingzhong Mountain, a religious shrine for the believers of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism
  • The Anti-seismic Monument, located in Anti-Seismic Square

Transport

Rail

Roads

Notable people

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in China

Twin towns — Sister cities

Tangshan is twinned with:

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Ellsworth C.Carlson, The Kaiping Mines, 1877-1912 2d ed (Cambridge, MA: East Asian Research Center, Harvard University, 1971.
  2. ↑ Huenemann, Ralph Wm. Harvard East Asian Monographs, No. 109. The Dragon and the Iron Horse: the Economics of Railroads in China, 1876−1937, p. 254. Harvard Univ Asia Center, 1984. ISBN 0-674-21535-4. Accessed 12 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "网站首页-乐亭县人民政府网" (in Simplified Chinese). Laoting County People's Government. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
  4. ↑ "Vänorter" (in Swedish). Malmö stad. Retrieved 6 November 2013. 
  5. ↑ Fenn, Kate. "Lincoln's Twin Towns". City of Lincoln Council, City Hall, Beaumont Fee, Lincoln. Retrieved 2013-06-11. 

External links

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