Shijiazhuang

**Shijiazhuang** () is the caipital an lairgest ceety o North Cheenae's Hebei province. Admeenistratively a prefectur-level ceety, it is aboot  soothwast o Beijing, an it admeenisters 6 destricts, 5 coonty-level ceeties, an 12 coonties.

At the 2010 census, it haed a tot population o 10,163,788, wi 2,604,930 in the urban aurie in 2010 an 3,833,606 in its metropolitan aurie, made o 5 urban destricts plus Luquan Ceety, an the coonties o Zhengding an Luancheng. Gaocheng Ceety is aboot tae be pairt o the Shijiazhuang metropolitan aurie, its urbanisation still growin.

Shijiazhuang is a newly industrialised ceety. It experienced dramatic growthe efter the foondin o the Fowkrepublic o Cheenae in 1949. The population o the metropolitan aurie haes mair nor quadrupled in anly 30 years. It is a central hub o transportation routes. The ceety is home tae a lairge garrison o militar troops situatit tae pertect Beijing. It haes a nummer o PLA colleges an varsities.  Shijiazhuang haes some o the worst air pollution in the warld, an, as a result, in 2012 launched an initiative tae replace local coal-fired boilers wi gas-fired, an tae tak ither measurs tae reduce the air pollution problem.

## History
The auldest name o the ceety wis Shiyi. In pre-Han times (i.e., afore 206 BC) it wis the steid o the ceety o Shiyi in the state o Zhao, an frae Han (206 BC–AD 220) tae Sui (581–618) times it wis the steid o a coonty toun wi the same name. Wi the reorganization o local govrenment in the early period o the Tang dynasty (618–907), the coonty wis abolished. Shijiazhuang then acame wee mair nor a local mercat toun, subordinated tae the flourishin ceety o Zhengding (modren Zhengding) a few miles tae the north.

The growthe o Shijiazhuang intae ane o Cheenae's major ceeties began in 1905, whan the Beijing–Wuhan (Hankou) railway reached the aurie, stimulatin much new trade an encouraging local farmers tae grow cash crops. Twa years later the toun acame the junction for the new Shitai line, running frae Shijiazhuang tae Taiyuan, Shanxi. This connection immediately transformed the toun frae a local collectin centre an mercat intae a communications centre o naitional importance on the main route frae Beijing an Tianjin tae Shanxi an later, whan the railway frae Taiyuan wis extendit tae the soothwast tae Shaanxi as well. The ceety an aa acame the centre o an extensive road network.

Pre-Warld War II Shijiazhuang wis a lairge railway toun as well as a commercial an collectin centre for Shanxi an regions farther wast an for agricultural produce o the North Cheenae Plain, parteecularly grain, tobacco, an cotton. Bi 1935 it haed far ootstripped Zhengding as an economic centre. At the end o Warld War II the character o the ceety chynged ance again. Nae anly did it assume an admeenistrative role as the preeminent ceety in wastren Hebei, but it an aa developed intae an industrial ceety. Some industries, sic as match manufacturin, tobacco processin, an glassmaking, haed already been established afore the war.

In 1948 the ceety, formerly kent as **Shímén** (), wis renamed Shijiazhuang.

Xibaipo, a veelage aboot  frae dountoun Shijiazhuang, in Pingshan Coonty wis the location o the Central Committee o the Communist Pairty o Cheenae an the heidquarters o the Fowk's Liberation Airmy durin the decisive stages o the Cheenese Ceevil War atween Mey 26, 1948 an Mairch 23, 1949, at which pynt thay wur moved tae Beijing. The day, the aurie is a memorial steid.

Efter 1949 the planned industrialisation o the ceety gathered momentum. Its population mair nor tripled in the decade 1948–58. In the 1950s, the ceety experienced a major expansion in the textile industry, wi lairge-scale cotton spinning weavin, printin, an dyein wirks. In addeetion thare are various plants processin local fairm produce. In the 1960s it wis an aa the steid o a new chemical industry, wi plants producin fertilizer an caustic soda. Shijiazhuang an aa acame an engineerin base, wi a tractor-accessory plant. Thare are important coal deposits at Jingxing an Huailu, nou named Luquan, a few miles tae the wast in the fithills o the Taihang Muntains, which provide fuel for a thermal-generatin plant supplyin pouer tae local industries. The ceety's role as a transport centre haes been supplementit bi the construction o an airport handlin regular domestic flichts.

In 1967, Tianjin wis again carved oot o Hebei, remainin a separate entity the day, an sicweys the provincial caipital wis moved tae Baoding. It wis chaotic in the midst o the Cultural Revolution, an unner the direction o Mao Zedong, in 1968, tae "prepare for war an naitural disasters", Shijiazhuang acame the provincial caipital.

## Geografie
Shijiazhuang is locatit in sooth-central Hebei, an is pairt o the Bohai Economic Rim. Its admeenistrative aurie ranges in latitude frae 37° 27' tae 38° 47' N, an the longitude 113° 30' tae 115° 20' E. The prefectur-level ceety reaches a  north-sooth extent an a  wide frae east tae wast. The prefectur haes borders stretchin  lang an covers an aurie o . Bordering prefectur-level ceeties in Hebei are Hengshui (E), Xingtai (S), an Baoding (N/NE). Tae the wast lies the province o Shanxi.

The ceety stands at the edge o the North Cheenae Plain, which rises tae the Taihang Muntains tae the wast o the ceety, an lies sooth o the Hutuo River (). Frae wast tae east, the topografie can be summarised as moderately-heich muntains, then law-lyin muntains, hills, basin, an finally plains. Oot o the aicht east-wast routes athort the Taihang Muntains, the fift, the Niangzi Pass, connects the ceety directly wi Taiyuan, Shanxi. 

### Climate
The ceety haes a continental, monsoon-influenced semi-arid climate (Köppen *BSk*), characterised bi het, humid simmers due tae the East Asie monsoon, an generally cauld, windy, very dry winters that reflect the influence o the vast Siberian anticyclone. Ware can bear witness tae sandstorms blowin in frae the Mongolie steppe, accompanied bi rapidly wairmin, but generally dry, conditions. Hairst is seemilar tae ware in temperatur an lack o rainfaw. Januar averages , while Julie averages ; the annual mean is . Mair nor hauf o the annual rainfaw occurs in Julie an August alane.

## Internaitional relations

### Twin touns — sister ceeties
Shijiazhuang is twinned wi:

*  Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canadae
*  Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
*  Bielsko-Biała, Poland
*  Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, Sooth Korea
*  Soria, Castile an León, Spain
*  Falkenberg, Halland Coonty, Swaden
*  Des Moines, Iowa, Unitit States
*  Edison, New Jersey, Unitit States
*  Nagykanizsa, Zala Coonty, Hungary
*  Corby, Northamptonshire, Unitit Kinrick

Shijiazhuang an aa haes a Sister Ceety Agreement:
*  Bankstown, New Sooth Wales, Australie
*  Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canadae

## References

## Freemit airtins

* Shijiazhuang offeecial govrenment wabsteid
* Shijiazhuang Urban Network - Shijiazhuang, Hebei's portal 
* Shijiazhuang Daily News 
* Shijiazhuang blog