Anguo is south of Baoding in Hebei province, North China. It is 180 km from Beijing to the north, 200 km from Tianjin to the east and less than 100 km from the provincial capital Shijiazhuang to the south. It is a famous Chinese medicine producing and trading area with a history of over 1,000 years.

The medicine market's prosperity originated from "Medicine King Temple," which was first built in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). The temple offers sacrifices to Chinese medicine king Pi Tong, who was also a senior general of the Eastern Han.

Temple fairs are held in spring and autumn to sacrifice to the Medicine King. According to legend, April 28 and October 15 of the lunar calendar respectively are the birthday and the fete-day of the king and are also the climax of the temple fairs. The fairs have unique rituals to follow for those who are to pay homage to the king, such as the "three obeisances and nine kowtows," "four kowtows," acting, gold statue molding, and so on. There are also various entertainment activities.

The medicine trading market in Anguo began in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). It has become a distribution centre for Chinese medicinal herbs since the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and earned it fame as the medicine capital of China and the number one medicine market in the world.

Today, Anguo's medicine trading has developed into a modern industry combining cultivation and processing with marketing and has become an important economic pillar of the city. Its medicinal herbs are sold to Japan, Western Europe and Southeast Asian countries. It also attracts investors from countries and regions like Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and the US.

Source: chinaculture.org