Cangzhou[a] is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. At the 2020 census, Cangzhou's built-up (or metro) area made of Yunhe, Xinhua districts and Cang County largely being conurbated had a population of 1,421,843 inhabitants, while the prefecture-level administrative unit in total has a population of 7,300,783. It lies approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi) from the major port city of Tianjin, and 180 km (110 mi) from Beijing.

Cangzhou
沧州市
Tsangchow
Clockwise from the top: Iron Lion, Cangzhou Arena, Skyline of Cangzhou, Port of Huanghua, Arcadia Hotel
Nickname: 
Lion City (狮城)
Map
Location of Cangzhou City jurisdiction in Hebei
Location of Cangzhou City jurisdiction in Hebei
Cangzhou is located in Hebei
Cangzhou
Cangzhou
Location of the city centre in Hebei
Cangzhou is located in Northern China
Cangzhou
Cangzhou
Cangzhou (Northern China)
Cangzhou is located in China
Cangzhou
Cangzhou
Cangzhou (China)
Coordinates (Cangzhou municipal government): 38°18′17″N 116°50′19″E / 38.3047°N 116.8387°E / 38.3047; 116.8387
CountryPeople's Republic of China
ProvinceHebei
Settled517
Established15 November 1983
Municipal seatYunhe District
Area
14,383.46 km2 (5,553.48 sq mi)
 • Urban
206.2 km2 (79.6 sq mi)
 • Metro
1,750.7 km2 (675.9 sq mi)
Elevation
13 m (42 ft)
Population
 (2020 census)[1]
7,300,783
 • Density510/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
 • Urban
795,832
 • Urban density3,900/km2 (10,000/sq mi)
 • Metro
1,421,843
 • Metro density810/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
GDP[2]
 • Prefecture-level cityCN¥ 332 billion
US$ 53.3 billion
 • Per capitaCN¥ 44,819
US$7,196
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code
061000
Area code0317
ISO 3166 codeCN-HE-09
Licence plate prefixes2022
Websitecangzhou.gov.cn
Cangzhou
Simplified Chinese沧州
Traditional Chinese滄州
PostalTsangchow
Literal meaning"oceanside prefecture"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinCāngzhōu
IPA[tsʰáŋ.ʈʂóʊ]

History

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Cangzhou is reported to have been founded in the Southern and Northern Dynasties period (420−589 CE).

Administrative divisions

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Cangzhou City comprises 2 districts, 4 county-level cities, 9 counties and 1 autonomous county.

Map
Name Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin Population
(2020)[3]
Area (km2) Density
(/km2)
Yunhe District 运河区 Yùnhé Qū 511,086 138 1,957
Xinhua District 新华区 Xīnhuá Qū 284,746 89 2,472
Botou City 泊头市 Bótóu Shì 573,842 977 563
Renqiu City 任丘市 Rénqiū Shì 816,401 1,023 753
Huanghua City 黄骅市 Huánghuá Shì 652,401 1,545 317
Hejian City 河间市 Héjiān Shì 795,198 1,333 578
Cang County 沧县 Cāng Xiàn 626,011 1,527 432
Qing County 青县 Qīng Xiàn 420,878 968 403
Dongguang County 东光县 Dōngguāng Xiàn 340,288 710 493
Haixing County 海兴县 Hǎixīng Xiàn 189,273 836 263
Yanshan County 盐山县 Yánshān Xiàn 411,356 795 503
Suning County 肃宁县 Sùníng Xiàn 341,919 497 664
Nanpi County 南皮县 Nánpí Xiàn 347,473 794 441
Wuqiao County 吴桥县 Wúqiáo Xiàn 217,986 603 464
Xian County 献县 Xìàn Xiàn 568,418 1,191 479
Mengcun Hui Autonomous County 孟村回族自治县 Mèngcūn Huízú
Zìzhìxiàn
203,507 393 458

Economics

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Cangzhou's urban center is a heavily industrial city, but the city's administrative territory also includes strongly agricultural areas, and is well known in China for its Chinese jujubes (Chinese dates), apples and pear (widely known under the export name of Tianjin Ya Pear). The North China Oil Field is within Cangzhou City's jurisdiction. Cangzhou also encompasses a large fishing port and the coal-exporting Huanghua Harbour. Notable International Companies located in Cangzhou Hyundai (Japan), Hage Fittings und Flanschen GmbH (Germany) (Hage Fluid Control Technology (Hebei) Co., Ltd Joint Venture).

Geography and transportation

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Map of the Grand Canal and vicinity

Cangzhou is located in eastern Hebei, immediately to the south of Tianjin, near the coast of the Bohai Sea of the Pacific Ocean. Bordering prefecture-level cities are Hengshui to the southwest, Baoding to the west, and Langfang to the north. It lies on the Beijing–Shanghai Railway.

The G1811 Huanghua–Shijiazhuang Expressway connects Cangzhou to Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital, and is linked to Beijing via both the G2 Beijing–Shanghai Expressway and G3 Beijing–Taipei Expressway, which are concurrent within the province, and to Shanghai via G2. Cangzhou's Huanghua Harbour is the end of a main Chinese coal shipping railway, the Shuohuang Railway. Other major highways serving Cangzhou's urban area are China National Highway 104 and 307.

Major airports located closest to Cangzhou include Beijing Capital Airport and Tianjin Airport.

The Grand Canal passes directly through Cangzhou, and a district of Cangzhou (Yunhe District) is named after it.

Climate

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Cangzhou has a four-season, monsoon-influenced humid continental climate/semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk/Dwa), with cold, dry winters, and hot, humid summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −3.2 °C (26.2 °F) in January to 27.2 °C (81.0 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 13.25 °C (55.8 °F). A majority of the annual precipitation of 541 mm (21.3 in) occurs in July and August alone. With possible monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 49% in July to 65% in October, the city receives 2,663 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Climate data for Cangzhou (1991–2020 normals)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 15.1
(59.2)
18.7
(65.7)
30.9
(87.6)
32.7
(90.9)
37.7
(99.9)
40.3
(104.5)
42.0
(107.6)
36.6
(97.9)
35.0
(95.0)
30.4
(86.7)
24.2
(75.6)
14.6
(58.3)
42.0
(107.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 2.9
(37.2)
6.9
(44.4)
14.0
(57.2)
21.5
(70.7)
27.4
(81.3)
31.7
(89.1)
32.4
(90.3)
30.8
(87.4)
27.2
(81.0)
20.6
(69.1)
11.5
(52.7)
4.4
(39.9)
19.3
(66.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) −2.8
(27.0)
1.0
(33.8)
7.7
(45.9)
15.0
(59.0)
21.2
(70.2)
25.7
(78.3)
27.5
(81.5)
26
(79)
21.4
(70.5)
14.5
(58.1)
5.9
(42.6)
−0.9
(30.4)
13.5
(56.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −7.1
(19.2)
−3.7
(25.3)
2.3
(36.1)
9.3
(48.7)
15.2
(59.4)
20.3
(68.5)
23.2
(73.8)
21.9
(71.4)
16.5
(61.7)
9.3
(48.7)
1.3
(34.3)
−5.0
(23.0)
8.6
(47.5)
Record low °C (°F) −22.1
(−7.8)
−14.6
(5.7)
−11.3
(11.7)
−1.2
(29.8)
5.1
(41.2)
12.5
(54.5)
17.1
(62.8)
14.1
(57.4)
6.8
(44.2)
−2.3
(27.9)
−8.3
(17.1)
−20.3
(−4.5)
−22.1
(−7.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 2.4
(0.09)
7.5
(0.30)
8.7
(0.34)
22.8
(0.90)
35.9
(1.41)
71.4
(2.81)
153.5
(6.04)
126.5
(4.98)
49.5
(1.95)
36.2
(1.43)
16.0
(0.63)
3.0
(0.12)
533.4
(21)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 1.6 2.5 2.9 4.8 5.7 8.1 11.5 9.5 5.6 4.7 3.7 1.9 62.5
Average snowy days 2.5 2.1 0.8 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 1.6 8.2
Average relative humidity (%) 57 53 48 50 54 59 73 77 69 64 64 60 61
Mean monthly sunshine hours 174.4 182.3 234.3 253.1 279.5 247.6 215.2 215.3 220.5 209.5 172.3 165.7 2,569.7
Percent possible sunshine 57 59 63 64 63 56 48 52 60 61 57 56 58
Source: China Meteorological Administration[4][5][6]

Culture

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The Iron Lion

The city has historically been known in China for its wushu (Chinese martial arts) and acrobatics (specifically, the Wu Qiao school). Cangzhou is also famed for its historic thousand-year-old 40-ton sculpture, the Iron Lion of Cangzhou. The sculpture is reportedly the largest cast-iron sculpture in the world, cast in 953 in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The famed lion has even given its name to a locally brewed beer (iron lion beer, 铁狮啤酒) and is a symbol of the city.[7]

Cangzhou is home to a traditional Chinese form of musical performing arts, Kuaiban Dagu.

The city hosts seven mosques for Muslim adherents (mostly Hui).[8] One of them, the West Mosque, has collected at its museum one of China's best collections of Islamic manuscripts and artefacts.[9]

Demographics and society

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Cangzhou, though predominated by the Han Chinese majority, is home to a sizable population of the Muslim Hui minority. Intermarriage occasionally occurs between the majority Han and the Hui, but stereotypes of Hui still exist among Cangzhou's Han residents, and some tensions remain. Migration to Hebei province and Cangzhou by Xinjiang Muslim minorities (generally ethnic Uighurs) is increasing.[citation needed]

Language

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The dominant first language of Cangzhou's population is a variety of the northeastern Mandarin dialect continuum termed Cangzhou,[10] which is a variety of Ji Lu Mandarin. There are some similarities with the Tianjin variety and the Baoding variety of Mandarin, but both are considered distinct groups from that of Cangzhou [1]. Dialects of the Cangzhou area vary between localities and counties, though are generally intelligible among each other.

Municipal government

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The city, like all other Chinese administrative divisions, has a party committee, the People's government, the People's Congress, and the Political consultative conference.

Military

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Cangzhou is home to the Cangzhou Airbase of the People's Liberation Army Air Force

Sports

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Shijiazhuang Ever Bright moved to Cangzhou and changed their name to Cangzhou Mighty Lions, they play at the Cangzhou Stadium.

Education

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Cangzhou Normal University (沧州师范学院): now it has 871 teacher staff, including 607 full-time teachers, 233 people with the title of deputy senior or above, and 405 people with master's and doctor's degrees. The school motto is "knowing, morality, knowledge and behaviour, innovation" (明德、博学、知行、日新).

There is one international school in Cangzhou, the Cangzhou Zhenhua Korean International School (沧州振华韩国国际学校).[11]

Notable residents

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Notes

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  1. ^ Chinese: 沧州; pinyin: Cāngzhōu; locally pronounced as /tsʰɑŋ˨˧ tʂou˨˧/

References

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  1. ^ "China: Hébĕi (Prefectures, Cities, Districts and Counties) – Population Statistics, Charts and Map".
  2. ^ 河北省统计局、国家统计局河北调查总队. 《河北经济年鉴-2018》. 中国统计出版社. ISBN 978-7-5356-7824-9. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  3. ^ "China: Hébĕi (Prefectures, Cities, Districts and Counties) - Population Statistics, Charts and Map". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  4. ^ 中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Experience Template" 中国气象数据网 (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  6. ^ 中国地面国际交换站气候标准值月值数据集(1971-2000年). China Meteorological Administration. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  7. ^ Wagner, Donald B. "The cast iron lion of Cangzhou", Needham Research Institute newsletter, no. 10, June 1991, pp. 2-3.
  8. ^ Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman (2015). China's Early Mosques. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-4744-3721-9.
  9. ^ WEST MOSQUE MUSEUM, CANGZHOU, HEBEI PROVINCE CHINA HERITAGE NEWSLETTER, No. 5, March 2006. (China Heritage Project, The Australian National University. ISSN 1833-8461).
  10. ^ "Mandarin Jilu Canghui Huangle Chinese Dialect Classification". Archived from the original on 15 October 2006. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
  11. ^ "Schools Approved by the Ministry of Education For Enrolling Children of Foreign Nationals" (Archive). Ministry of Education of China. Retrieved on 17 August 2015.
  • DuBois, Thomas. The Sacred Village: Social Change and Religious Life in Rural North China. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005.
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