TANGSHAN

'唐山市
Tángshān Shì'

Tangshan is highlighted on this map
'Administration Type'	Prefecture-level city
'City Seat'
'Area' '- Total' '- Urban center'	13,472 km² 3,874 km²
'Population' '- Total' '- Urban center'	7,100,000 (2003) 2,960,000 (2003)
'GDP' '- Total' '- Per Capita'	¥202.7 billion (2005) ¥10,488 (2005)
'CPC Committee Secretary'	Zhang, He (张和)
'Mayor'	Zhang, Yaohua (张耀华)
'Area code'	315
'Postal Code'	063000
'License Plate Prefix'	冀B

'Tangshan' () is a mainly industrial prefecture-level city in Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It became known after the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, 8.2 on the Richter scale which flattened the city. The city has since been rebuilt and has become a tourist attraction.

Contents

Geography

Administration

History

Economy and Industry

Traditional Arts

Education

Sights

Notable People

Twin towns

See Also

Footnotes

Geography

Tangshan is located in the central section of circum-Bohai Sea Gulf region, facing the Bohai Sea in the south, depends on Yanshan mountain in the north, border Luanhe with Qinhuangdao city in the east, the west adjoin with Beijing, Tianjin. It is a throat strategic area and corridor linking two major regions of North China and Northeast China.
Tangshan is part of North China Plain, with Yanshan Mountain lying its north. The greatest river in Tangshan is Luanhe, which ranks No.2 in North China.

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Tangshan administers 16 county-level divisions including 6 districts, 6 counties, 2 county-level cities and 2 county-level farms.
'Districts'

★ Lunan District (路南区)

★ Lubei District (路北区)

★ Fengrun District (丰润区)

★ Fengnan District (丰南区)

★ Kaiping District (开平区)

★ Guye District (古冶区)
'Counties'

★ Tanghai (唐海县)

★ Luannan (滦南县)

★ Luan Xian (滦县)

★ Laoting (乐亭县)

★ Qianxi (迁西县)

★ Yutian (玉田县)
'County-level Cities'

★ Zunhua (遵化市)

★ Qian'an (迁安市)
'County-level Farms'

★ Lutai Farm (芦台农场)

★ Hangu Farm (汉沽农场)

History

Tangshan city has a history of over one hundred years. Its name derives from Tangshan Mountain in the urban city.
Tangshan suffered an earthquake of magnitude 8.2 (7.8 from official report) at 3:42 a.m. on July 28, 1976, the Tangshan earthquake, which resulted in a tragically colossal number of 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.

Economy and Industry

Tangshan is an important heavy industry city in North China. Its manufactures include machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals, textiles, glass, petroleum products, and cement. It is a coal-mining center since late Qing Dynasty, as Cantonese merchant Tong King-sing opened the first coal mine using modern techniques in Kaiping in 1877.^[1] . With the construction of Caifeidian Project, it launches large iron and steel plants, chemical projects, and electricity works. Tangshan is also called "the capital of porcelain in north China".
Historically, the Chinese modern industry started in this city. The first railway in China was built from Xugezhuang（胥各庄) to Tangshan in 1877 and the first fire-resistant material manufactory, and the first and largest cement manufactory were constructed in Tangshan as well.
In 2005, the GDP of Tangshan was ¥202.7 billion, ranked No.1 in all the prefecture-level cities in Hebei Province, and No.19 in China.

Traditional Arts

★ Ping Opera (Pingju 评剧)

★ Tangshan Shadow Play (Tangshan Piying 唐山皮影)

★ Leting drums (Leting Dagu 乐亭大鼓)

Education

★ Tangshan No.1 high middle school (founded in 1902), one of the most famous high schools in China

Sights

★ Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty

★ Jingzhong Mountain, a religious shrine for the believers of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism

★ The Anti-seismic Monument, landmark of Tangshan, located in The Anti-seismic Square

Notable People

★ Li Dazhao early founder of Communist Party of China

★ Jiang Wen a contemporary director and actor

★ Cao Xueqin author of Dream of the Red Chamber

Twin towns

★ Sakata, Japan

★ Zyrardow, Poland

★ Malmö, Sweden

★ Lincoln, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom

★ Cedar Rapids, USA

See Also

★ Tangshan Protest

Footnotes

1. Ellsworth C.Carlson, ''The Kaiping Mines, 1877-1912'' 2d ed (Cambridge, MA: East Asian Research Center, Harvard University, 1971.