# Handan

Handan (邯郸 Hándān) is a city in Hebei. It has a population of over 9.4 million people (2015).

## Get in
### By plane

Flights to Chongqing, Dalian, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai Pudong, Shanghai Hongqiao. Official website (Chinese) $^{[deadlink]}$.

### By train

High speed G trains arrive in Handan East Railway station. Slow trains arrive in Handan Railway station, in the center of the city.

### By bus

A long distance bus departs from the bus station near the old Railway Station (邯郸长途汽车站). You can check the schedule online, but you have to go to the bus station to buy your ticket. Usually you don't have to book and you just need to arrive a few minutes in advance to catch your bus.

### By car
## Get around

Buses in Handan, as in any large city in China, are frequent and cheap: just ¥1 for a journey, whatever the distance. Bus with air conditioner will charge ¥2. bus map
Taxis are plentiful with the flag-drop just ¥6.

## See
### Historical sites

* Mother of Grace Cathedral in Daming (大名宠爱之母堂). Take the bus in Handan East Bus Station to Daming. This cathedral was built in 1918 by French missionaries.
* Guangfu Ancient City (广府古城). A typical northern Chinese ancient town surrounded by an artificial river. The city wall stands ten meters tall. The original wall was built in the Tang Dynasty. The residence of Wu Yuxiang, a Tai Chi Chuan master, was built in the late Qing Dynasty and is well preserved. A Tai Chi-themed park will be built near the house. To go to Guangfu take the 605路 bus:bus map$^{[deadlink]}$. You can also cycle to Guangfu, it takes 2 hours from Handan Opera through Renmin Lu (large road with a bicycle lane) or 3 hours trough little villages.
* Jinjiluyu Martyrs Cemetery (晋冀鲁豫烈士陵园 Jìnjìlǔyù lièshì língyuán) - a cemetery of soldiers and heroes who died during the war against Japan. A tomb for a chief-of-staff of the army is also here.
* Dragon Lake Park (龙湖公园 Lónghú gōngyuán) - a park beautifully illuminated at night.
* Xiangtangshan Grottoes (响堂山石窟 Xiǎngtángshān shíkū) - the Xiangtangshan Grottoes are caves carved into the mountain as temples. They are the largest grottoes ever discovered in Hebei and also one of the largest religious grottoes in China. Digging of the grottoes began during the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577) and continued through the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. There are 16 grottoes and about 4,000 statues on the north and south sides of the mountain. The distance between the north and south sides are about 15 km. Hours: 08:00-17:30PM. Admission: ¥40. How to get there: Travelers can take a bus from Handan West Railway Station to Pengcheng city or take the No. 5 bus from Handan East Railway Station and get off at the Southern Xiangtangshan Grottoes stop. Travellers to the Northern Xiangtangshan Grottoes can take the No. 4 bus.
* Wahuang Palace (娲皇宫 Wāhuánggōng) - also well-known as Grandma Temple (奶奶顶 Nǎinɑidǐng), it was first built during the Northern Qi Dynasty (550 - 577), constructed in remembrance of Nuwa, a goddess in Chinese mythology. The temple is built along the contours of a mountain amid beautiful scenery. It's far from Handan city center, but only 10 km from She County (涉县). Hours of operation: 08:30-17:00. Admission: ¥60.

### Museums

* Handan Museum, 45 Zhonghua North Street, Handan, ☏ +86 310 301 3177. 09:00-11:30, 14:00-16:30. Shows some 8,000-year-old CiZhou pottery and bronze unearthed from the Zhou Kingdom. The best thing, however, is the free admission and its central location a bit south of the CongTai Park East Gate. free.

### Towns and villages

* Daming County (大名县). There is an important muslim (Hui ethnic minority) in the Yingzhen Hui Village (营镇回族乡) in the Daming County. There are many mosques in the county, especially: * 大名县西营清真寺 or 大名县西营镇清真寺 built in 1506 * 大名县南关东街清真寺 built in 1519 * 大名县马时庄清真寺 built in 1489 * 大名县东营镇清真寺 built in 1864 * 大名县大街村清真寺 built in 1024 * 大名县七里店清真寺 built in 1956 * 大名县西杨村清真寺 built in 1948 full list.

### Other attractions

* Handan Opera. Built in 2010 the building is beautiful. All the more beautiful in the evening since it is lit. In Chinese the place is named 邯郸市文化艺术中心, 邯郸文化艺术中心, 邯郸市保利大剧院, 大元宝 or 大剧院.博物馆、图书馆

## Do
### Parks and nature

* Congtai Park (丛台公园). This park in the city centre contains a lake and a small zoo. For ¥5 the Wuling Cong Tai Terrace with 2 pavilions on top can be visited. The terrace was built by King Wuling of the Zhao State.
* Zhao Park (赵苑). A big park in the north-west of the city that has some small re-built structures to remember the old Zhao Kingdom.
* Jingniang Lake (京娘湖). An artificial Lake with many mountain trails and a suspension bridge for pedestrians. Quite popular tourist destination during summer. It is however quite a journey from Handan, with the Bus 808 to Wuan (武安) then change to another Bus up into the Mountains it takes a good 2 Hours to reach there. ¥70. (updated Nov 2023)

## Buy

At the crossing of 邯山街 and 贸易路 a lot of small shops can be found selling everything from pigeons and vegetables to kitchenware.
* 现代轻纺城, 浴新大街. Big Clothes and Textile Shopping Mall were items can be bought in bulk, just south of the Bus Station.

## Eat

Eat a traditional Chinese breakfast on the street. Street vendors usually serve breakfast from 06:00-09:00, some of which are type of soup such as 豆浆, 豆沫, 豆腐脑儿, 小米粥, 胡辣汤. You can drink it with 油条, deep fried dough sticks that can be sweet or salted. There are vendors in each street, for instance in front of the Renmin Street Mosque or on Congtai Street in front of 政通小区.
* 重庆巴奴火锅, 丛台路. Hotpot. ¥40 per person.
* 天香阁大酒店, 丛台区丛台路406号(滏东大街口). Jiangsu ¥30 per person.
狗不理包子, 丛台路. A baozi restaurant, with turtle baozi!

## Drink

* Abar, 广泰街. Good bar to drink cocktail, tea or milkshakes. Western music.

## Sleep

* Congtai Grand Hotel (丛台大酒店) is probably the best address in town. Rooms from ¥360. At Renmin East Road near the Congtai Park (河北省邯郸市人民东路126号).
* Taizu Shaolin Kung Fu School, ☏ +008615102661196, learnshaolinkungfu@gmail.com. An institute for the teaching and promotion of traditional Shaolin Kung Fu and Chinese Martial Arts in China. ¥50. (updated Mar 2019)

## Go next

Many destinations from the bus station or the railway station. For instance you can go to Mount Tai (泰山) from the long distance bus station. It takes 5 hours and costs ¥87.