Tangshan

Tangshan is named after Dacheng Hill ({{lang|zh|大城山}}), which was formerly called Mount Tang (唐山) and is located 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 after the name of the empire, Tang. Later, the city took the name of the mountain.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Tangshan has a long history, with ancient humans living in the area as early as 4,000 years ago. It fell within the territory of the Guzhu Kingdom (1600{{nbsp}}BC) at the time of the Shang dynasty and later became a part of the State of Yan, one of the seven Warring States (403{{snd}}221{{nbsp}}BC). During the Han dynasty (206{{nbsp}}BC{{snd}}220{{nbsp}}AD) it became part of the ancient province of Youzhou. It was under the jurisdiction of Zhili province and Zunhua State successively during the Qing dynasty.

Tangshan was a village at the time of the Tang dynasty (619{{ndash}}907) and developed further in agriculture, oil exploitation and ceramics during the Ming dynasty (1368{{ndash}}1644).

During the Hundred Days' Reform in the late Qing dynasty, the Kaiping Mining Administration was established in the third year of the Guangxu Emperor (1877). In 1878, Qiaotun town was established at Tangshan and renamed Tangshan Town in 1889. In 1938, Tangshan City was formally founded. The administrative system of Tangshan during the Republic of China Republican era continued to follow the Qing system. In 1929, Zhili Province changed its name to Hebei Province. On January{{nbsp}}28, 1939, because of Tangshan's special economic and political position, the East Hebei Autonomous Government established Tangshan City which was initially called “Tangshan Municipal Government” and later changed to “Tangshan Municipal Office”. After Japan surrendered in 1945, the Chinese Nationalist Party in Peking (now known as Beijing) took over the political control of Tangshan from Japan and set up an Administration Inspectors Office. In April 1946, it was decided at the 132nd Meeting of the Chinese Communist Party Hebei Provincial Committee to set up Tangshan City and on May{{nbsp}}5 of the same year, the Tangshan Municipal government was founded.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October{{nbsp}}1, 1949, Tangshan remained a provincially administered municipality with 12 areas under its jurisdiction.

In March 1955, it was decided at the 2nd session of the first People's Congress of Tangshan City to change Tangshan Municipal people's government to Tangshan people's committee without changing its administration areas.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

On April{{nbsp}}28, 1958, the State Council approved the establishment of Tangshan prefecture. On August{{nbsp}}29, 1958, it was decided at the Seventh Session of the first People's Congress of Hebei Province to move the Tangshan Commissioner Office from Changli County to Tangshan City.

The CPC Central Committee decided to designate Tangshan city as one of the 45 cities open to the world on June{{nbsp}}3, 1959. On June 8, 1959, the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee and the Hebei Provincial People's Congress decided to combine the Tangshan Commissioners Office and the Tangshan People's Committee into the Tangshan People's Committee. On April{{nbsp}}2, 1960, the State Council officially approved the abolition of Tangshan prefecture. Qinhuangdao city, Qian'an, Changli, Laoting, Baodi, Yutian, Jixian County and Zunhua which were formerly administered by Tangshan Prefecture were incorporated into the Tangshan Municipality. Luanxian County, Fengrun County (formerly a district) and Baigezhuang Farm were also incorporated into Tangshan Municipality. Meanwhile, Tangshan became a provincially administered municipality.

On May{{nbsp}}23, 1961, the State Council approved the reinstatement of Tangshan prefecture, which was adopted at the 14th Meeting of the Hebei Provincial People's Committee on June{{nbsp}}3, 1959. Tangshan prefecture and Tangshan municipality were separated again and Tangshan turned into a specially administered municipality.

The Tangshan Municipal Revolutionary Committee affiliated to the Revolutionary Committee of Tangshan Region was set up on January{{nbsp}}6, 1968. On March 11, 1978, Tangshan turned to be a provincially administered municipality.

In October 1982, it was decided at the Seventh People's Congress of Tangshan city to abolish the Tangshan Municipal Revolutionary Committee and set up the Tangshan Municipal People's Government.

The State Council approved the move on March 3, 1983, and thereafter implemented the city-governing-county system. On May{{nbsp}}13, 1983, the Hebei Provincial People's Government announced the cancellation of the Civic Administration office of Tangshan region, which ceased operation on May{{nbsp}}15, 1983.

On December{{nbsp}}15, 1984, the State Council approved Tangshan city as one of 13 national “comparatively big” cities.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

{{Main|1976 Tangshan earthquake}}

Tangshan suffered an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 (7.5 according to official reports) at 3:42{{nbsp}}am on July{{nbsp}}28, 1976, which resulted in many 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. The earthquake was depicted in the 2010 movie Aftershock.

Tangshan is located in the central section of the Bohai Economic Rim, facing the Bohai Sea to the south. Lying on the North China Plain, Tangshan is adjacent to the Yan Mountains to the north, borders the Luan River and Qinhuangdao to the east, and to the west and southwest borders Tianjin. Because of its location in the northeast of Hebei, it is a strategic area and a corridor linking two China's north and northeast regions. The largest river in the prefecture is the Luan River.

Tangshan has a monsoon-influenced, humid continental climate (Köppen Dwa), with cold and very dry winters, and hot, rainy summers. Spring and autumn are short with some rainfall. The monthly 24-hour average temperature in January is {{cvt|−3.6|°C|1}}, and {{cvt|26.9|°C|1}} in July, and the annual mean is {{cvt|12.8|°C|1}}. Close to 60% of the annual precipitation of {{cvt|590|mm|1|sp=us}} falls in July and August alone. The frost-free period lasts 180−190 days, and the area receives 2,600−2,900 hours of sunshine annually.

{{Weather box

| width = auto

| metric first = y

| single line = y

| collapsed = Y

| location = Tangshan, elevation {{convert|23|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1971–present)

| Jan high C = 1.5

| Feb high C = 5.4

| Mar high C = 12.3

| Apr high C = 20.2

| May high C = 26.3

| Jun high C = 29.8

| Jul high C = 31.1

| Aug high C = 30.2

| Sep high C = 26.5

| Oct high C = 19.3

| Nov high C = 10.0

| Dec high C = 2.9

| Jan mean C = -4.6

| Feb mean C = -1.0

| Mar mean C = 5.9

| Apr mean C = 13.8

| May mean C = 20.0

| Jun mean C = 24.1

| Jul mean C = 26.4

| Aug mean C = 25.4

| Sep mean C = 20.6

| Oct mean C = 13.0

| Nov mean C = 4.2

| Dec mean C = -2.6

| Jan low C = -9.5

| Feb low C = -6.2

| Mar low C = 0.2

| Apr low C = 7.7

| May low C = 13.9

| Jun low C = 19.1

| Jul low C = 22.4

| Aug low C = 21.3

| Sep low C = 15.5

| Oct low C = 7.6

| Nov low C = -0.6

| Dec low C = -7.1

| Jan record high C = 12.9

| Jan record low C = -25.2

| Feb record high C = 19.5

| Feb record low C = -19.8

| Mar record high C = 28.3

| Mar record low C = -14.6

| Apr record high C = 32.8

| Apr record low C = -4.7

| May record high C = 38.8

| May record low C = 3.5

| Jun record high C = 39.6

| Jun record low C = 9.4

| Jul record high C = 40.1

| Jul record low C = 14.6

| Aug record high C = 36.0

| Aug record low C = 10.4

| Sep record high C = 35.3

| Sep record low C = 4.7

| Oct record high C = 31.4

| Oct record low C = -5.6

| Nov record high C = 22.7

| Nov record low C = -14.5

| Dec record high C = 13.2

| Dec record low C = -17.0

| year high C =

| year low C =

| year high F =

| year low F =

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 2.7

| Feb precipitation mm = 4.9

| Mar precipitation mm = 7.0

| Apr precipitation mm = 22.8

| May precipitation mm = 40.8

| Jun precipitation mm = 79.2

| Jul precipitation mm = 158.7

| Aug precipitation mm = 140.0

| Sep precipitation mm = 49.0

| Oct precipitation mm = 31.7

| Nov precipitation mm = 12.8

| Dec precipitation mm = 3.6

| Jan humidity = 55

| Feb humidity = 53

| Mar humidity = 49

| Apr humidity = 49

| May humidity = 53

| Jun humidity = 64

| Jul humidity = 75

| Aug humidity = 77

| Sep humidity = 70

| Oct humidity = 65

| Nov humidity = 62

| Dec humidity = 58

| unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 1.7

| Feb precipitation days = 2.3

| Mar precipitation days = 2.7

| Apr precipitation days = 4.9

| May precipitation days = 6.5

| Jun precipitation days = 9.1

| Jul precipitation days = 11.2

| Aug precipitation days = 9.7

| Sep precipitation days = 5.8

| Oct precipitation days = 4.5

| Nov precipitation days = 3.1

| Dec precipitation days = 2.3

| year precipitation days =

| Jan sun = 178.2

| Feb sun = 186.5

| Mar sun = 233.8

| Apr sun = 246.9

| May sun = 270.0

| Jun sun = 230.5

| Jul sun = 190.3

| Aug sun = 204.4

| Sep sun = 214.0

| Oct sun = 202.6

| Nov sun = 166.5

| Dec sun = 167.9

| year sun =

| Jan percentsun = 59

| Feb percentsun = 61

| Mar percentsun = 63

| Apr percentsun = 62

| May percentsun = 61

| Jun percentsun = 52

| Jul percentsun = 42

| Aug percentsun = 49

| Sep percentsun = 58

| Oct percentsun = 59

| Nov percentsun = 56

| Dec percentsun = 58

| year percentsun =

| Jan snow days = 2.9

| Feb snow days = 2.4

| Mar snow days = 1.0

| Apr snow days = 0.2

| May snow days = 0

| Jun snow days = 0

| Jul snow days = 0

| Aug snow days = 0

| Sep snow days = 0

| Oct snow days = 0

| Nov snow days = 1.7

| Dec snow days = 2.9

| year snow days =

| source 1 = China Meteorological Administration{{cite web |url=http://data.cma.cn/data/weatherBk.html |script-title=zh:中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data |publisher=China Meteorological Administration |language = zh-hans |access-date=26 August 2023}}

{{cite web|url=https://experience.arcgis.com/template/e724038fda394e9d9b7921f10fd1aa55/page/%E7%BA%AF%E8%A1%A8%E6%A0%BC%E7%BB%9F%E8%AE%A1-(%E5%AF%B9%E6%AF%948110%E5%8F%98%E5%8C%96)/?org=UQmaps |script-title=zh:中国气象数据网|publisher=China Meteorological Administration |language = zh-hans | access-date =26 August 2023}} all-time extreme temperature{{cite web

|url= https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404203050792315805

|title= 中国各地城市的历史最低气温

|access-date= 14 September 2024

}}

| source 2 = Weather China{{cite web |url=http://www.weather.com.cn/cityintro/101090501.shtml |script-title=zh:唐山 - 气象数据 -中国天气网 |publisher=Weather China |language=zh |access-date=29 November 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001233441/http://www.weather.com.cn/cityintro/101090501.shtml |url-status=live }}

| source =

}}

As air pollution in China has worsened in recent years, reports suggest cities in Hebei among the most polluted in the country, with Tangshan being no exception. According to a survey made by "Global voices China" in February 2013, 7 cities in Hebei including Xingtai, Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Handan, Langfang, Hengshui and Tangshan, are among China's 10 most polluted cities.{{cite news |last1=Bildner |first1=Eli |title=Interactive Maps of China's Most–and Least–Polluted Places |url=http://newsmotion.org/feed-story/interactive-maps-china%E2%80%99s-most%E2%80%93and-least%E2%80%93polluted-places |access-date=1 September 2014 |work=Global Voices China |agency=newsmotion.org |date=February 27, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903071400/http://newsmotion.org/feed-story/interactive-maps-china%E2%80%99s-most%E2%80%93and-least%E2%80%93polluted-places |archive-date=3 September 2014}}

File:CaofeidianPort1.jpg Port]]

Tangshan is an important heavy industrial city in North China. Its output include machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals, textiles, glass, petroleum products, and cement. It has been a coal-mining center since late Qing dynasty, as Guangdong merchant Tong King-sing opened the first coal mine using modern techniques in Kaiping in 1877.Ellsworth C.Carlson, The Kaiping Mines, 1877-1912 2d ed (Cambridge, Massachusetts: East Asian Research Center, Harvard University, 1971. Since the construction of the Caofeidian Project, it has hosted large iron and steel plants, chemical projects, and electricity plants. It is China's largest steel-producing city.{{cite news |title=Commodities: Steel chrysanthemums: A China-driven rally in metals prices may be as fleeting as spring |url=https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21694532-china-driven-rally-metals-prices-may-be-fleeting-spring-steel |access-date=12 March 2016 |newspaper=The Economist |date=12 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311154259/http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21694532-china-driven-rally-metals-prices-may-be-fleeting-spring-steel |archive-date=11 March 2016 |url-status=live}} Tangshan is also called the "porcelain capital of North China."{{Cite web |url=http://news.ifeng.com/a/20140909/41914135_0.shtml |script-title=zh:筑巢引凤，"北方瓷都"再次腾飞发展 |access-date=2014-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910200006/http://news.ifeng.com/a/20140909/41914135_0.shtml |archive-date=2014-09-10 |url-status=live}}

Modern industry in China first arose in Tangshan. The second railway in China{{spaced ndash}}after the abortive Woosung Railway in Shanghai{{spaced ndash}}was the six-mile track laid between Hsukochuang and Tangshan which opened in 1881;Huenemann, Ralph Wm. Harvard East Asian Monographs, No. 109. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Qoj7aKEa3JgC&lpg=PA254 The Dragon and the Iron Horse: the Economics of Railroads in China, 1876−1937] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427115222/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qoj7aKEa3JgC&lpg=PA254 |date=2016-04-27 }}, p. 254. Harvard Univ Asia Center, 1984. {{ISBN|0-674-21535-4}}. Accessed 12 October 2011. this eventually grew into the Imperial Railroad of North China and China's modern Jingshan and Jingha Railways. The first fire-resistant material manufactory and the first and largest cement manufactory were constructed in Tangshan as well.

Tangshan has experienced near-constant GDP growth in recent years, but has slowed down in the latter-half of the 2010s.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ceicdata.com/zh-hans/china/gross-domestic-product-prefecture-level-city/cn-gdp-hebei-tangshan |script-title=zh:中国 {{!}} 国内生产总值:河北:唐山 {{!}} 经济指标 |website=www.ceicdata.com |access-date=2020-04-24 |archive-date=2023-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411182243/https://www.ceicdata.com/zh-hans/china/gross-domestic-product-prefecture-level-city/cn-gdp-hebei-tangshan |url-status=live }} In 2008, the GDP of Tangshan was ¥353.747 billion, which nearly doubled to ¥612.121 billion by 2013, and grew further to ¥695.500 billion in 2018. Tangshan's GDP was ranked the 26th largest among Chinese cities according to data from 2017.{{Cite web |url=http://hebei.sina.com.cn/news/yz/2018-02-05/detail-ifyreyvz9243287.shtml |script-title=zh:最新中国城市GDP排名出炉 唐山位列第26位！ |website=hebei.sina.com.cn |access-date=2020-04-24 |archive-date=2023-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411175240/http://hebei.sina.com.cn/news/yz/2018-02-05/detail-ifyreyvz9243287.shtml |url-status=live }} The city's exports were valued at $7.109 billion in 2016.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ceicdata.com/zh-hans/china/export-prefecture-level-city/cn-export-hebei-tangshan |script-title=zh:中国 {{!}} 出口:河北:唐山 {{!}} 经济指标 |website=www.ceicdata.com |access-date=2020-04-24 |archive-date=2023-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728045902/https://www.ceicdata.com/zh-hans/china/usd-export-prefecture-level-city |url-status=live }} Government figures for 2017 show that the city's economy was largely dominated by the secondary industry, contributing ¥408.14 billion to the city's economy.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnstats.org/tjgb/201804/tsstss-2017-jzv.html |script-title=zh:唐山市2017年国民经济和社会发展统计公报_中国统计信息网 |website=www.cnstats.org |access-date=2020-04-24 |archive-date=2021-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130135014/https://www.cnstats.org/tjgb/201804/tsstss-2017-jzv.html |url-status=live }}

• Caofeidian New Zone.

Government data from 2017 shows that 7.897 million people live in Tangshan, of which, 61.64% live in an urban area.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnstats.org/tjgb/201804/tsstss-2017-jzv_3.html |script-title=zh:唐山市2017年国民经济和社会发展统计公报_中国统计信息网 |website=www.cnstats.org |access-date=2020-04-24 |archive-date=2021-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130132819/https://www.cnstats.org/tjgb/201804/tsstss-2017-jzv_3.html |url-status=live }} The city's residents had a mean disposable income of ¥27,786, which was ¥36,415 among urban residents.

Tangshan, like many other locations in China, is largely Han Chinese, who account for 95.25% of the city's population.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tangshan.gov.cn/zhuzhan/tsgl/20190715/594969.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728062629/http://www.tangshan.gov.cn/zhuzhan/tsgl/20190715/594969.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2019-07-28 |script-title=zh:人口民族-唐山市人民政府 |date=2019-07-28 |publisher=Tangshan People's Government |access-date=2020-04-24}} In Zunhua City, there are 3 ethnic townships and ethnic towns. The following table shows the city's ethnic breakdown:

The prefecture-level city of Tangshan administers 14 county-level divisions including 7 districts, 4 counties and 3 county-level cities.

{{Further|Phoenix New Town}}

File:North part of the Tangshan Museum.jpg

• North China University of Science and Technology (formerly named Hebei United University), which was co-established by Hebei Polytechnic University and North China Coal Medical College in May 2010 {{Cite web |url=http://international.heuu.edu.cn/NewsInfo.aspx?NewsID=336 |title=A Brief Introduction to Hebei United University |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910204317/http://international.heuu.edu.cn/NewsInfo.aspx?NewsID=336 |archive-date=2014-09-10}}
• Tangshan Normal University
• Tangshan College
• Hebei University of Science and Technology Tangshan Branch

• Tangshan No.1 high school (founded 1902), one of the most famous high schools in China
• Hebei Tangshan Foreign Language School

File:Eastern Qing Tombs.jpg]]

File:唐山抗震纪念碑.jpg]]

File:天宫寺塔.jpg

• Diet
• Wanlixiang roast chicken ({{lang|zh-hant|萬里香燒雞}})
• Chessboard pancake ({{lang|zh-hant|棋子燒餠}})
• Honey sugar candy ({{lang|zh-hant|蜂蜜麻糖}})
• Peanut crisp ({{lang|zh-hant|花生酥糖}})
• Big gezhe ({{lang|zh-hant|大格摺}})
• Small gezhe ({{lang|zh-hant|小格摺}})
• Dried fruits
• Chinese chestnut ({{lang|zh-hant|板栗}})
• Walnut

• Ping opera, or Pingju, one of the most popular operas in China
• Tangshan Shadow Play ({{lang|zh|唐山皮影}})
• Laoting drums ({{lang|zh-hant|樂亭大鼓}})

• Eastern Qing tombs
• Anti-Seismic Monument, located in Anti-Seismic Square
• Tangshan Nanhu Park (Lunan District)
• Kailuan National Mine Park (Lunan District)
• Tangshan science and Technology Museum (Lubei District)

• Datang Xingguo Chan Temple ({{lang-zh|labels=no|t=大唐興國禪寺}}), a Buddhist temple
• Jingzhong Mountain, a joint religious shrine for the believers of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, respectively.
• Two Christian churches.

File:Tangshan Railway Station (20160414090747).jpg]]As of 2017, Tangshan has 18,000 kilometers of roads, of which, 16,000 were in rural areas.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnstats.org/tjgb/201804/tsstss-2017-jzv_2.html |script-title=zh:唐山市2017年国民经济和社会发展统计公报_中国统计信息网 |website=www.cnstats.org |access-date=2020-04-24 |archive-date=2021-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130133614/https://www.cnstats.org/tjgb/201804/tsstss-2017-jzv_2.html |url-status=live }} The city's roads served 410 million tons of freight, and the city's port served 570 million tons. As of 2023, Tangshan is the largest city in China without an operating or planned metro system.

• Tangshan Sannühe Airport, {{convert|20|km|mi|sp=us}} from the city center, in Fengrun District

• Beijing–Harbin Railway
• Tianjin–Shanhaiguan Railway
• Beijing-Qinhuangdao Railway
• Tianjin-Shanxi Railway

• China National Highway 102, in the south of Fengrun District
• China National Highway 112, ring road encircling Beijing, traversing the west side of Tangshan's urban area
• China National Highway 205, which runs along the eastern and southern front of the urban area
• G1 Beijing–Harbin Expressway, on the northern side of the urban area
• G25 Changchun–Shenzhen Expressway, on the western side of the urban area

• Li Dazhao - early founder and leader of Chinese Communist Party
• Jiang Wen - a contemporary director and actor
• Cao Xueqin - author of Dream of the Red Chamber
• Liu Wenjin - classical Chinese music composer
• Zhang Tielin - Chinese-born British actor
• Zhao Lijian - Chinese spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Gao Yuanyuan - Chinese actress and model
• Tseng Cheng - businessman and philanthropist
• Wu Guiying - Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Changsha
• Zhang Xudong - General of the PLA and former commander of the Western Theater Command
• Fu Zhenghua - Former politician and Minister of Justice

• List of twin towns and sister cities in China
• 1976 Tangshan earthquake
• 2022 Tangshan restaurant attack

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• [http://www.tangshan.gov.cn/ Official website of Tangshan Government] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417024756/http://www.tangshan.gov.cn/ |date=2009-04-17 }}

{{Tangshan}}

{{Hebei topics}}

{{Hebei}}

{{Bo Hai}}

{{Metropolitan cities of the People's Republic of China}}

{{Prefectural-level divisions of the People's Republic of China}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities in Hebei

Category:Prefecture-level divisions of Hebei

Category:Populated places destroyed by earthquakes