Tangshan (Tangshan Shi)
Much of the city's development is thanks to the industrialization, beginning in 1870, when Kailuan Group established coal mines in the region. It's the birthplace of China's first standard-gauge railway, the first railway plant, the first steam locomotive, and the first cement factory. It was hailed as China's "cradle of industrialization". Even today, Tangshan is a hub of steel, energy, chemical, and ceramics production. Ping opera, which originated from the city's Luanzhou county, is one of the five most popular Chinese operas.
The city has also become known for the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, flattened much of the city, and killed at least 255,000 residents according to official estimates. The city has since been rebuilt, has become a tourist attraction, and is among the 10 largest ports in China.
The city of Tangshan is approximately 149 km east by south east of Beijing. It takes roughly 2 hours by road to get from Tangshan to Beijing and 1 hour by road to reach Tianjin. Tangshan's prefecture population was 7,717,983 at the 2020 census, with 3,687,607 in the built-up (or metro) area made of the 7 urban core districts.
In 2022, the Tangshan restaurant attack attracted the attention and discussion of the international community.
Tangshan is named after Dacheng Hill (大城山), which was called Mount Tang (唐山), in the middle of the city.
In A.D. 645, Li Shimin, an emperor of Tang dynasty and his army were stationed at Dacheng Hill on his way back from the Korean Peninsula. Unfortunately, Caofei, his beloved concubine, died there. In order to commemorate her, he named the mountain with the name of the empire — Tang. Later, the city took the name of the mountain.
Map - Tangshan (Tangshan Shi)
Map
Country - China
Flag of China |
Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or dynasties. Chinese writing, Chinese classic literature, and the Hundred Schools of Thought emerged during this period and influenced China and its neighbors for centuries to come. In the third century BCE, Qin's wars of unification created the first Chinese empire, the short-lived Qin dynasty. The Qin was followed by the more stable Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), which established a model for nearly two millennia in which the Chinese empire was one of the world's foremost economic powers. The empire expanded, fractured, and reunified; was conquered and reestablished; absorbed foreign religions and ideas; and made world-leading scientific advances, such as the Four Great Inventions: gunpowder, paper, the compass, and printing. After centuries of disunity following the fall of the Han, the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties reunified the empire. The multi-ethnic Tang welcomed foreign trade and culture that came over the Silk Road and adapted Buddhism to Chinese needs. The early modern Song dynasty (960–1279) became increasingly urban and commercial. The civilian scholar-officials or literati used the examination system and the doctrines of Neo-Confucianism to replace the military aristocrats of earlier dynasties. The Mongol invasion established the Yuan dynasty in 1279, but the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) re-established Han Chinese control. The Manchu-led Qing dynasty nearly doubled the empire's territory and established a multi-ethnic state that was the basis of the modern Chinese nation, but suffered heavy losses to foreign imperialism in the 19th century.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
CNY | Renminbi | ¥ or 元 | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
ZH | Chinese language |
UG | Uighur language |
ZA | Zhuang language |