Zhangjiakou Overview

Zhangjiakou Travel Overview introduces Zhangjiakou fast facts including the Basic Information, Population,Climate, Geography, Culture History, Economy, Natural Resources, landmarks, Administrative Diversions. In 2015, Zhangjiakou successfully applied for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and plan to built an outdoor town in China, where several snow fields in Chongli have very complete snow tracks and supporting facilities.

Basic Information

Geography of Zhangjiakou

Location

Zhangjiakou is located at 113°50' to 116°30' east longitude and 39°30' to 42°10' north latitude. It borders Chengde City, Hebei Province in the East, Beijing City in the southeast, Baoding City, Hebei Province in the south, Shanxi Province in the West and southwest, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the north and northwest. Zhangjiakou City is 289.2km long in the north and south, 216.2km wide in the East and West, with a total area of 36800 square kilometers.

Landform

Zhangjiakou is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. Yinshan Mountain Ranges run through the middle part of Zhangjiakou. Zhangjiakou is divided into two parts: Bashang part and Baxia part. Yanghe River and Sanggan River cross the East and west of Zhangjiakou and flow into Guanting reservoir. There are two deep faults and seven large faults in Zhangjiakou. Magmatic rocks are relatively developed with large distribution area and complete rock types. There are 9 cycles of magmatic rocks, each of which starts with extrusive rocks and ends with middle deep intrusive rocks. There are ultrabasic, basic, neutral, alkaline and acid rocks, with complete occurrence of batholith, dyke, strain, dyke and quilt. The strata exposed in Zhangjiakou city also include a wide range of rock types, including not only Archean metamorphic rocks, Proterozoic, Paleozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks, but also contact metamorphic rocks and local dynamic metamorphic rocks around the intrusive body, as well as migmatites formed by hypermetamorphism.

Administrative Division of Zhangjiakou

Zhangjiakou had jurisdiction over 6 districts, 10 counties, 2 management areas (Chabei and Saibei) and 1 Economic Development Zone, 23 subdistrict, 280 communities, 113 townships (including 2 ethnic townships), 96 towns and 4175 villages. Municipal People's Government is located in Changqing Road, Qiaoxi District.

People of Zhangjiakou

In 2018, Zhangjiakou had a total household registration population of 4.654 million. At the end of the year, the resident population was 4.434 million, an increase of 0.05 million over the previous year. Among them, the urban population is 2.5378 million, and the urbanization rate of the resident population is 57.24%, an increase of 1.32 percentage points over the previous year. The birth rate of the resident population is 9.37‰, and the death rate is 7.77‰. The natural population growth rate is 1.60‰.

In addition to the Han, Zhangjiakou has 26 ethnic minorities including Hui, Manchu, Mongolian, Zhuang, Korean, Tibetan, Miao and Uygur. The ethnic minorities in Zhangjiakou are mainly Hui, Manchu and Mongolian.

Climate of Zhangjiakou

Zhangjiakou has a temperate continental monsoon climate. Its climate features are as follows: four distinct seasons in a year; cold and long winter; dry and windy with sand in spring; hot and short summer with concentrated precipitation; clear and cool autumn. Bashang area(坝上地区) is rich in light resources with large temperature difference between day and night; rain and heat are in the same season, and the climate is cool in the growing season; there is little hot and humid weather. The annual precipitation is 330-400mm.

More about Zhangjiakou Climate.

The Best Time to Visit Zhangjiakou

Zhangjiakou is the host city of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games and also a tourist city. So when is the best time to visit? There are three seasons:

  • At this time of July and August, the season with the largest number of tourists, flowers bloom and grass grow green, stretching as far as the eye can see, with many tourists and crowded vehicles. This is the peak tourist season. It's a good place to enjoy the cool with the temperature of about 20 degrees.
  • Autumn from September to November is the most comfortable season. Some trees turn gold and red, while others remain green, creating a dreamy natural scene.
  • In winter, Zhangjiakou is covered with snow, which is a scenery of northern China. It has several feet of snow on the mountain and is a natural resort for skiing tourism. Chongli and Chicheng have the largest natural ski resorts in North China. So it's a good place to enjoy the winter sports.

More about Best Time to Visit Zhangjiakou.

History & Culture of Zhangjiakou

About 5,000 years ago, the yellow emperor tribe allied with the Yan emperor tribe fought a great war with the Chiyou tribe in the north in Zhuolu county, Zhangjiakou city, Hebei province. The battle of Zhuolu had a great influence on the transformation of the ancient Huaxia nationality from barbarism to civilization. Zhangjiakou witnessed the conflict and blend between the Central Plains and the northern minorities. As early as the eighth year of Jiajing (1529), garrison Zhang Zhen opened a small gate on the North Wall Gate, which was called "small north gate". Since the gate was as small as a mouth and was built by Zhang Zhen, it was called "Zhangjiakou". 

On November 05, 2013, the Chinese Olympic Committee officially approved Beijing and Zhangjiakou to bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Beijing will host the ice events and Zhangjiakou will host the snow events.

More about Zhangjiakou Culture.

Transportation of Zhangjiakou

Zhangjiakou City is located at the junction of Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. The urban area is only 180 kilometers away from the capital Beijing and 340 kilometers away from Tianjin Port. It is the intersection of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Bohai Rim) economic circle and Hebei-Shanxi-Inner Mongolia (outer great wall) economic circle. In order to welcome the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Zhangjiakou's three-dimensional transportation has broken out in an all-round way, and the modern three-dimensional transportation is becoming the new name card of Zhangjiakou in the new era!

By Air

Zhangjiakou Ningyuan Airport currently operates 11 routes and 13 navigable cities, namely Shiijiazhuang, Shanghai, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Xian, Chengdu, Chongqing, Harbin, Dalian, Haikou. In addition, with the increase of flights from Zhangjiakou to Shijiazhuang, travelers can reach more than 70 cities at home and abroad via transfer at Shijiazhuang. When the reconstructed Zhangjiakou airport opens, it will not only add many domestic routes, but also have international routes.

By Train

The high-speed railway line connecting Beijing and Zhangjiakou, the co-host city of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, went into operation on December 30, 2019. It starts from Beijing North, via Qinghe, Shahe, Changping, Huailai, Xiahuayuan North, Xuanhua North, and terminate at Zhangjiakou South. At the same day, Zhangjiakou-Datong high-speed railway and  Zhangjiakou-Hohhot high-speed railway also put into use.

By Long-distance Bus

Zhangjiakou has a well-developed expressway network. Beijing-Xinjiang Expressway, Beijing-Tibet Expressway, Capital Ring Expressway, Zhangjiakou-Shijiazhuang Expressway, Beijing-Datong Expressway, Zhangjiakou-Chengde Expressway and Ring Expressway makes Zhangjiakou transportation extremely convenient.

Zhangjiakou - Beijing Shuttle Bus

On April 15, 2019, an inter-provincial passenger line between the Beijing Capital Airport and Zhangjiakou Airport has been opened. The total length of the line is 210 kilometers and it will run for 200 minutes one way. One-way fare 100 yuan/person.

More about Zhangjiakou Transportation.

Things to Do at Zhangjiakou

By the end of 2018, Zhangjiakou has 64 A-level scenic spots, of which 12 are 4A-level scenic spots. Zhangjiakou City has 3 national nature reserves, 1 national forest park, 16 provincial forest parks and 1 provincial scenic spot.

Top Attractions in Zhangjiakou

Festivals of Zhangjiakou

There are many tourists visiting Zhangjiakou every year, so it is necessary to know clearly the special festival activities of Zhangjiakou. The Bashang Grassland Tourism Festival in Zhangjiakou, China, sponsored by Hebei Provincial Tourism Bureau and Zhangjiakou Municipal Government, is an important tourism festival in Zhangjiakou summer. It is held alternately in Zhangbei County and Guyuan County in early July each year. The Chinese Huailai Grape Picking Festival sponsored by Zhangjiakou Municipal People's Government is held in Huailai County from mid-September to mid-October every year. Chongli Ski Travel Month in Zhangjiakou is held in Chongli in Zhangjiakou from January to February each year.

Every year during the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, Wanquan County in Hebei Province holds large-scale folk art activities, which are called Wanquan Community Fire. 

Dining of Zhangjiakou

In order to comprehensively improve the quality and level of catering services for the Zhangjiakou venues of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games, the Zhangjiakou government has actively developed an "Olympic menu" to serve tourists from all the tourists from home and aboard. Zhangjiakou has a unique food culture and a wide variety of foods. From famous wines to snacks to special fruits, Zhangjiakou has a place in the national food culture and has a wide range of choices. It can also be recommended to friends as the most characteristic regional food. Top Zhangjiakou food include Chaigoubao Bacon, Eight Big Bowls of Yuxian County, Roasted Whole Lamb, Huai'an Bean Curd Sheets, etc. 

More about Zhangjiakou Food.

Economy of Zhangjiakou

In 2018, Zhangjiakou's GDP was 153.66 billion yuan, an increase of 7.6% at comparable prices. Among them, the added value of the primary industry was 22.66 billion yuan, an increase of 6.8%; the added value of the secondary industry was 51.84 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3% over the previous year; the added value of the tertiary industry was 79.16 billion yuan, an increase of 6.6%. The per capita GDP reached 34661 yuan, an increase of 7.5% over the previous year. The added value of the three industries accounted for 14.8%, 33.7% and 51.5% of the city's GDP respectively.

In 2018, the CPI of Zhangjiakou increased by 2.9%, 0.9 percentage points higher than the provincial average and 0.8 percentage points higher than the national average. Compared with the same period in 2017, the prices of eight categories of commodities have increased, including food, tobacco and alcohol, clothing, housing, household goods and services, transportation and communication, education, culture and entertainment, medical care, and other goods and services, up 2.8%, 0.9%, 6.1%, 0.4%, 0.4%, 1.1%, 5.1% and 0.7% respectively.

Zhangjiakou Tourism

Zhangjiakou is known as "the back garden of Beijing". It has a long history with a large amount of tourism resources. This is one of the birthplaces of human beings. Two million years ago, human ancestors lived and multiplied in the area of Nihewan. 5000 years ago, the three human ancestors of the Chinese nation, Huangdi, Yandi and Chiyou, all lived and fought in this land, and jointly created the ancient civilization from Zhuolu county. These tourism resources are unique in Asia and even in the world, with high visibility. 

At present, there are 43 scenic spots of various types in the city, and four distinctive tourism brands have been formed, including Chongli skiing, Bashang grassland tourism, ancestor culture and hot spring health preservation. It is an ideal place for sightseeing and summer resort. With the opportunity of holding the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the scenic spot construction of Zhangjiakou has been upgraded. As a huge event, the Olympic Games will attract many domestic and foreign tourists to the host city of the Olympic Games, which will bring huge tourism benefits to the host city.

Natural Resources of Zhangjiakou

Mineral Resources

Zhangjiakou is one of the cities rich in mineral resources in Hebei Province. By the end of 2012, 97 kinds of minerals have been found in Zhangjiakou. There are 33 kinds of minerals with proven reserves, including 1 energy mineral, 2 ferrous metal mineral, 4 non-ferrous metal mineral, 2 precious metal mineral, 1 rare metal mineral, 5 metallurgical auxiliary mineral, 3 chemical raw material mineral, 1 special non-metal mineral, 14 building raw material and other non-metal mineral. There are 158 proved mineral resources, including 23 large ones, 34 medium ones and 101 small ones.

Energy Resources

Zhangjiakou's energy resources mainly include coal, wind energy and solar energy. Coal resources are mainly concentrated in Yuzhou coalfield, Xuanxia coalfield and coalfield north of Zhangjiakou, with a total coal reserve of 2.934 billion tons. The reserve of wind resources is about 20 million kilowatts or more, with a exploitable capacity of 11.7 million kilowatts or more, of which the reserve of wind resources in Bashang region is about 17 million kilowatts or more, with a exploitable capacity of 10.3 million kilowatts or more, and the reserve of wind resources in Bashang region is about 3 million kilowatts or more, with a exploitable capacity of 1.4 million kilowatts or more. Zhangjiakou city is rich in solar energy resources, with 2756 ~ 3062 hours of sunshine in the region and an annual total solar radiation of 1500 ~ 1700 kilowatt-hours per square meter, belonging to category ii solar radiation area.

Land Resource

By the end of 2016, Zhangjiakou had a total land area of 55194800 mu (37000 square kilometers). In 2016, the total land supply of the city was 332, covering an area of 12200 mu, with a total transfer fee of 6.367 billion yuan; the total land supply of the municipal area was 40, covering an area of 2383.77 mu, with a total transfer fee of 1.111 billion yuan. A total of 78 land improvement projects are predicted, and 31218 mu of cultivated land is expected to be supplemented. 46 projects have been approved and 15036 mu of cultivated land has been added; 50 projects have been accepted and 19197.49 mu of cultivated land has been added.

Biological Resources

There are 120 families, 513 genera and 2100 kinds of terrestrial wild plants in Zhangjiakou, including 62 families, 129 genera and 369 species of woody plants. There are more than 50 families, more than 300 species and subspecies of wild vertebrates. Among them, there are more than 30 species in 15 families of mammals, 130 species and subspecies in 26 families of birds, 15 species in 4 families of reptiles and 6 species in 3 families of amphibians. There are 27 species of wildlife under special state protection. There are 68 natural enemies in 17 families of forest and fruit tree pests.

Water Resource

Zhangjiakou is a semi-arid area with serious shortage of water resources. Five major water systems are distributed in Zhangjiakou: Daqing River system, Chaobai River system, Luanhe River system, Yongding River system and inland river system. By the end of 2016, the annual average water resources of Zhangjiakou City was 1.799 billion m3, including 1.162 billion m3 of surface water resources and 1.191 billion m3 of underground water resources (553 million m3 of surface and underground repeated water). The city's average available surface water is 477 million cubic meters, and the exploitable underground water is 648 million cubic meters. As of the end of 2016, there are 93 reservoirs in the city, including Guanting reservoir which is not under the management of Huailai County according to the principle of location. Among them, there are 3 large reservoirs, 8 medium reservoirs and 82 small reservoirs. There are 170 ponds and 2689 cellars in the city.

City Honors of Zhangjiakou

  • In September 2016, Zhangjiakou was selected as one of the "top 100 cities in the development of people's livelihood". 
  • In November 2016, Zhangjiakou was awarded the second batch of national tourism demonstration zones by the National Tourism Administration.
  • On June 28, 2017, Zhangjiakou was awarded the title of "national food safety demonstration city" by the office of the food safety committee of the State Council. 
  • On December 13, 2017, Zhangjiakou was awarded the first civilized city of Hebei Province. 
  • On December 17, 2017, Zhangjiakou was awarded the top ten ice and snow tourism cities in China in 2017. 
  • On December 24, 2017, Zhangjiakou was selected as one of the top 200 charming cities with Chinese characteristics in 2017. 
  • In May 2019, it was awarded the outstanding contribution unit for the 20th anniversary of forest related activities.

Edited by Hellen He/何琴