Shijiazhuang

From ChinaTravelGuide

North China (华北) » Hebei (河北) » Shijiazhuang (石家庄)

Contents 1 Snapshot 2 Overview 3 History 4 Weather 5 Getting in & Getting out 5.1 By Air 5.2 By Train 5.3 By Bus 6 Getting Around 6.1 By Public Bus 6.2 By Taxi & Rental Car 7 Attractions 8 Hotels 8.1 Budget 8.2 Mid Range 8.3 Luxury 9 Restaurants 10 Shopping 11 Night Life & Entertainment 12 Sports & Recreation 13 Excursions & Day Trips 14 Tips & Practical Info 15 See also

[edit] Snapshot

			Location	mid to south of Hebei Province
			Geography	Taihang Mountain range in the west, and North China Plain and in the East
			Nearby Areas	Beijing, Tianjin, Baoding, Shanxi Province
Area - Total - Urban area	15848 km² 456 km²		Population - Total - Urban area	9.5505 million  2.3773 million
Weather - Avg. Temp - Rainfall	48.25°F (low) 66.42°F (high) 14.79 inches/year		People & Culture
Mountains	Taihang Mountain range		Rivers
Economy	Pharmaceutical, Textile		Phone Area Code	0311

[edit] Overview

Shijiazhuang (石家庄; literally, "The Stone Village") is about 200 miles (320 km) south of Beijing in Hebei Province. Shijiazhuang was once a small village until late 1920s, when it found itself at the junction of three major rail lines during the modern railway construction boom. Since then Shijiazhuang has opened a new chapter in its modern history, and has been developed rapidly into the modern capital city of Hebei Province.

Shijiazhuang is a young industrial city, and has relatively few attractions in the city area. However, there are several sites of historical and cultural interest in the surrounding area, including Mount Cangyan Scenic Area, the Zhangshiyan Scenic Area, Longxing Temple and four pagodas (Mu Pagoda, Qing Pagoda, Hua Pagoda and Zhuan Pagoda) in Zhengding, Zhaozhou Bridge in Zhao County, 45 km to the southeast of Shijiazhuang.

Mount Cangyan Scenic Area is best known for its picture postcard temples hanging on the steep hillsides. Several final scenes of the Oscar winning movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" were filmed around a pavilion on a bridge over a gorge.

The Zhangshiyan Scenic Area is in Zanhuang County, about 100 km (about 62 miles) southeast of the city center. The area is a range of screen-like mountains with magnificent ridges and peaks, grand cliffs, beautiful ponds, springs, streams and waterfalls. A sea of clouds adorns the mountains and valleys in summer and autumn to early winter.

The Longxing Temple (隆兴寺), an ancient Buddhist Temple, has often been referred to as the "First Temple south of Beijing".

Zhaozhou Bridge is a 1400 year-old stone bridge with a place in the history book of world's bridge construction.

[edit] History

[edit] Weather

Weather averages for Shijiazhuang
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high °C (°F)	4 (39)	7 (45)	13 (55)	21 (70)	27 (81)	32 (90)	32 (90)	30 (86)	27 (81)	21 (70)	12 (54)	5 (41)
Average low °C (°F)	-6 (21)	-3 (27)	3 (37)	10 (50)	15 (59)	20 (68)	23 (73)	22 (72)	16 (61)	10 (50)	2 (36)	-4 (25)
Rain cm (inches)	0.35 (0.1)	0.55 (0.2)	0.87 (0.3)	1.82 (0.7)	2.86 (1.1)	4.64 (1.8)	10.45 (4.1)	9.27 (3.6)	3.37 (1.3)	1.88 (0.7)	1.09 (0.4)	0.38 (0.1)
Source: Average Conditions Shijiazhuang per MSN 2008

[edit] Getting in & Getting out

[edit] By Air

Shijiazhuang Zhengding Airport is located to the northeast of the city, and about 32 km from downtown. The airport has over 40 flights to major cities in China, including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Chengdu, Xiamen, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Kunming, and Chongqing. Because Shijiazhuang is very close to Beijing and Tianjin, getting into here by transiting through Beijing and Tianjin airports and then by bus or train is also a popular choice. But the most popular way to get to Shijiazhuang is by far through the railway directly.

The airport inquiry line is 0311-85053951. China Eastern Airline's ticket office line is 0311-88641673.

[edit] By Train

Shijiazhuang is one of the largest railway transportation hubs in China. Shijiazhuang ballooned to today's size from a small village in the early 1900s following the completion of the Zhengtai (Today's Shijiahzuang-Taiyaun Railway) and Jinghan (Today's Beijing-Hankou Railway) railways. Today four railways, Jingguang (Beijing-Guangzhou) Railway, Shitai (Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan) Railway, Shide (Shijiazhuang-Dezhou) Railway, and Shuohuang (Shuozhou-Huanghua) Railway, intersect here to give Shijiazhuang much convenience with its passenger transport.

Shijiazhuang is about 277 km from Beijing (about 2 hours for a fast train) and 420 km from Tianjin (about 5 hours by train). Refer to Shijiazhuang train schedule for detailed train info.

Shijiazhuang also has daily tourist train running between Beijing, Shijiazhuang, and Hangdan. It's air-conditioned and double-decked with twelve cars named after twelve famous scenic spots.

Shijiazhuang train station is located at the city center, and can be easily reached through the public buses.

The train station inquiry line is 0311-87600111, and the ticket office phone number is 0311-87022227.

[edit] By Bus

Shijiazhuang also has an extensive highway network with 4 expressways (国道) (107, 207, 307, 308), 4 national highways, 2 provincial highways, and 42 county highways. This makes Shijiazhuang easily reachable from the nearby areas.

The following is a list of phone numbers for the long-distance passenger bus stations:

• Baifo (白佛) Passenger Station: 0311-85969987
• Xiwang (西王) Passenger Station: 0311-83661755
• Canal Bridge (运河桥) Passenger Station: 0311-86831458
• Shengnan (胜南) Passenger Station: 0311-86119334
• Huaxia (华厦) Passenger Station: 0311-86012669
• Shengbei (胜北) Long-distance Station: 0311-86035553

[edit] Getting Around

[edit] By Public Bus

Buses in Shijiazhuang are frequent and cheap. The bus fare is one yuan regardless of the distance.

[edit] By Taxi & Rental Car

The cost of a taxi is 5 RMB for the first 2 km, and 1.20 RMB for each additional km for a compact taxi (1.40 RMB/km for a mid-size, or 1.60RMB/km for a luxury taxi).

In addition, you may be charged with the "Empty Taxi Fee" (空驶费) if the taxi has to be driven in "empty" to pick you up. The rule is that if the "empty" driving is less than 6 km, it's free. Otherwise, 50% of the regular fare will be added. Round-trip passengers are waived for the fee.

Also, passengers will be responsible for toll road fee, tunnel passing fee, and expressway fee.

Still, taxis in Shijiazhuang are ridiculously cheap according to Western standard.

• Shijiazhuang Taxi info line: 0311-87027458
• Taxi complain line：0311-87042882

[edit] Attractions

• Mountain Tiangui (天桂山)
• Baodu Village (石家庄抱犊寨)
• Mountain Cangyan (苍岩山)
• Longxing Temple (正定隆兴寺)
• Tianshan Sea World (天山海世界)

[edit] Hotels

[edit] Budget

[edit] Mid Range

• Hui Yuan Grand Hotel
• Yanchun Hotel

[edit] Luxury

Hebei Grand Hotel Hebei Sunshine Hotel Jinyuan Grand Hotel Kingshine Hotel NCPC Building

Ximei Business Hotel Yanchun Garden Hotel Youngsun Hotel Grand Mercure Shijiazhuang Hebei Century Hotel Shijiazhuang

[edit] Restaurants

[edit] Shopping

[edit] Night Life & Entertainment

[edit] Sports & Recreation

[edit] Excursions & Day Trips

[edit] Tips & Practical Info

[edit] See also

Baoding (zh:保定) Cangzhou (zh:沧州) Chengde (zh:承德) Handan (zh:邯郸) Hengshui (zh:衡水)

Langfang (zh:廊坊) Qinhuangdao (zh:秦皇岛) Tangshan (zh:唐山) Xingtai (zh:邢台) Zhangjiakou (zh:张家口)

• Hebei (zh:河北)
• Wikipedia:Shijiazhuang