A City of Culture
Dream of Emperor Qin Shi Huang
Qinhuangdao was born because of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor in Chinese history, seeking immortality. In 215 BC, Qin Shi Huang came here on his 4th tour of the east, and sent people to the sea in search of medicine for immortality. He also engraved his “Poetry of Jieshimen”, which is the origin of the city. Qinhuangdao is the only city in China named after an emperor. It was hailed as the Best Place for Sea Worship in China by Chinese Culture Promotion Society in 2011.
Spirit of the Jieshi
Qinhuangdao was known as “Jieshi” in ancient times, which is where the ancient Guzhu State was located 3,600 years ago. It is also the hometown of Bo Yi and Shu Qi, who were honored as the “Sages in ancient times” by Confucius. When viewing the sea, Cao Cao, the Emperor Wu of Wei Kingdom, wrote the immortal poem: “made a trip east to Jieshi to see the boundless blue sea”. Li Shimin, the wise Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, also improvised poems that show the rich historical connotations and infinite charm of Qinhuangdao.
Soul of the Great Wall
“The unmatched place locks the two capitals, the First Pass under Heaven of the Great Wall.” In the Ming Dynasty, the general Xu Da set up a grand pass between the mountains and the sea, which echoed the beginning of the Great Wall with Jiayuguan Pass on the far end of it. The Jiaoshan Great Wall, Meng Jiangnv Temple, and the Old Dragon’s Head are some of the majestic passes in this city with a close relationship with the Great Wall, giving rise to many famous historical stories and folklore such as “Meng Jiangnv weeping over the Great Wall”. Qinhuangdao has witnessed the mottled history and the changes of the world, and is a “natural Great Wall Museum.” Shanhaiguan and Jiumenkou Great Wall are world heritage sites, Shanhaiguan, Jiumenkou, Banchangyu section of the Great Wall and Banchangyu kiln relic sites are the national key cultural relics protection units, and all other sections of the Great Wall are cultural relics protection units of Hebei Province. The Great Wall Culture National Park in Qinhuangdao is under construction.
Charm of the Summer Resort
Beidaihe is a famous tourist attraction at home and abroad, and the cradle of Chinese tourism industry in modern times! The Qing Government turned Beidaihe into a summer resort in 1898, “allowing Chinese and foreign people to live together”. With the opening of the Haibin branch of Beining Railway, in order to “strive for sovereignty and reject foreigners”, Zhu Qiqian established the Beidaihe Seaside Public Welfare Association. Together with the upper class of Beidaihe, the association discharged duties on behalf of the local administrative authority, pioneering in tourism, and making Beidaihe the “best summer resort in East Asia ”. Since 1953, Beidaihe has become the “Summer Resort” of China, and was the earliest and largest base of leisure and health care in China. Many great men in modern times, including Sun Yat-sen, Li Dazhao, Mao Zedong, and Deng Xiaoping, came and stayed here. The poem “Langtaosha Beidaihe” (Waves washing the sand in Beidaihe) written by Chairman Mao Zedong brought Qinhuangdao further renown.
Revolutionary Base
Wufeng Mountain in Changli County is where Li Dazhao, one of the main founders of the Party and revolutionary pioneer, visited, spent the summer, took refuge, and engaged in important revolutionary practice activities. Here he wrote the famous party-building treatise My View on Marxism, and On the Problems and Doctrines that symbolized the maturity and deepening of the spread of Marxism in China, and laid the ideological and theoretical basis for the establishment of the Communist Party of China. Wufeng Mountain was identified as a provincial patriotism education base in 1997. Wang Jinmei, representative of the First CPC Congress, organized and led the Shanhaiguan Jingfeng Railway Workers’ Strike and the Qinhuangdao Port Workers’ Strike.
Grand Port of the Century
Originated from the Jieshi Port in the Spring and Autumn Period, Qinhuangdao Port has had a history of more than 2,700 years. Opened in 1898, it is a natural non-freezing port located in the key junction of Northeast China and North China, and is the first self-opened port in the north of China. After more than a hundred years, Qinhuangdao Port has developed into the largest public coal terminal and dry-bulk shipping port in the world. As an international trade port with comprehensive mufti-functionality dominated by energy output, Qinhuangdao Port connects seamlessly with Daqin Railway as the main hub port of China’s energy transportation, playing the role of national “coal price stabilizer” and “North-to-South coal transportation reservoir”. At present, in accordance with the orientation of “first-class national tourist city” and the concept of “settling the port by the city”, Qinhuangdao will coordinate urban and port resources, promote the in-depth integration and innovation of port, industry and city, focus on the development of container shipping and become a home for cruise lines, and strive to build internationally renowned tourist port and modern integrated trading port.
Cultural Heritages
There are 619 non-removable cultural relics registered in Qinhuangdao, 12 national key cultural protection units, 24 provincial key cultural relic protection units, and 5,234 cultural relic collections. There are 5 national intangible cultural heritages, 40 provincial heritages, 112 municipal heritages, 6 representative inheritors of national intangible cultural heritage projects, 52 provincial inheritors, and 153 municipal inheritors. The intangible projects are comprehensive, rich in variety, characterized by distinctive features and wide geographical distribution, covering eight categories of folk literature, traditional music, dance, drama, sports, arts, skills, and folk customs.
Foreign-related Institutions
The Infornmation Office of Qinhuangdao Municipal People's Government
Tel: (0335) 3222217
The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Qinhuangdao Municipal People's Government
Tel: (0335)3652301
The Taiwan Affairs Office of Qinhuangdao Municipal People's Government
Tel: (0335) 3220577
Qinhuangdao Foreign Affairs and Commerce Bureau
Tel: (0335) 3433808
Qinhuangdao Tourism, Culture, Radio and Television Bureau
Tel: (0335)3661010
The Exit-Entry Administration Office of Qinhuangdao Municipal Public Security Bureau
Tel: (0335) 3056506
The Management Committee of Qinhuangdao Economic and Technological Development Zone
Tel: (0335) 3296643
The Management Committee of Beidaihe New District
Tel: (0335) 3590000
Qinhuangdao Branch of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade
Tel: (0335) 5918966
Qinhuangdao Returned Overseas Chinese Federation
Tel: (0335) 3637340
Qinhuangdao Customs
Tel: (0335) 8512195
Beidaihe Customs
Tel: (0335) 5308799
For more information about Qinhuangdao, please click on:
Qinhuangdao of China (http://www.qhd.gov.cn/)
Qinhuangdao News Net (http://www.qhdnews.com/)
Qinhuangdao Media Net (www.qhdcm.com)
Qinhuangdao Civilization Net (qhd . wenming . cn)
Qinhuangdao Economic and Technological Development Zone (www.qetdz.com.cn)
China · Beidaihe New District (www.bdhxq . gov . cn)
Qinhuangdao International Channel (www.qhdnews.com/en/index)