Hebei Travel Guide

Hebei Geographic Features

Hebei Province is situated in northern China Plain neighboring Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi Province and surrounded by Beijing and Tianjin Municipalities. Located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, Hebei Province is washed by Bohai Sea in the east with a coastline of some 500 kilometers. The whole province covers an area of 187,700 square kilometers with a population of 67.44 million.

Hebei Climate

Hebei Province has the temperate continental monsoonal climate. It is cold and dry in winter time, hot and rainy in summer time. It has an average annual temperature of 14C with an average annual rainfall of 400-800 millimeters. Since it is windy and dry in springs, the best time to take the Hebei travel is September and October.

Hebei History and Culture

With a history of 5,000 years, Hebei Province is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. As early as in Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.-476 B.C.), Hebei was the fief of the Kingdoms of Yan and Zhao, thus it was called “The Land of Yan and Zhao”. In the subsequent dynasties the name and confines of the province changed a great deal. In 1928 it was formally named as Hebei Province.

Travel Suggestions

When you take the Hebei travel, Shanhaiguan is a must-see place. It is the ancient town where the Great Wall meets the sea. Built in 1381 during the Ming Dynasty, Shanhaiguan was a strategic military post and named “No.1 Pass of the Great Wall under the Heaven”

Hebei travel also can take you to Chengde city. The summer resort, together with its temples and palaces has made Chengde a famous historical and cultural city and one of China's leading scenic areas. Originally constructed in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911AD) for the emperors to spend the summer months, Chengde Summer Resort is the largest existing imperial garden in China.

People who are interested in Chinese architecture can go to visit Zhaozhou Bridge in Hebei. Zhaozhou Bridge was built on the Jiaohe River about 2.5 kilometers south of Zhaoxian County. Originally constructed in A.D. 605 - 616, it is the oldest Chinese arch stone bridge with a long open-spandrel arch in the middle and two smaller arches on each side. Zhaozhou Bridge takes very important position in the history of Chinese bridge construction and has become a popular tourist site in Hebei

When you take the Hebei travel, not only you can visit the famous historical sites, but also enjoy the beautiful natural scenery. In Qinghuangdao, a coastal city of Hebei Province, thousands of birds migrating to the south will have a rest and search for food from the end of August to November every year. The scenery has attracted many tourists for the visit.