A province that marches with the times

Hebei province has been playing an important strategic and cultural role in China for more than 2,000 years.

True, its proximity to Beijing enhances its geographical and strategic importance. But Hebei enjoyed that advantage even before Beijing became China's political capital, because it connected the rest of the country with the regions inhabited by the Manchu ethnic group in the north and by Mongols in the west, and the sea in the east. Not for nothing has it been part of many historical changes in China since the Warring States (475-221 BC) period.

The province is also known for the Great Wall, which starts in the costal city of Shanhaiguan, a time-honored seaside mountain pass to Northeast China. A span of about 2,000 kilometers of the Great Wall dots the countryside of Hebei and has been preserved by the provincial government. Another of its coastal cities, Qinhuangdao, was developed as the largest coal port in 1898, and remains an important city today.