Baoding 保定市

Setting and landscape

Mountains make up 57 percent of the prefecture and plains 43 percent. Most of its rivers belong to the Daqing River (大清河) system of the Hai River (海河) basin, and to the east lies Baiyangdian, which the city calls the 'pearl of North China'.

History

Known in the past as Shanggu (上谷) and Baozhou (保州), Baoding is named by the Hebei government as the legendary home of Emperor Yao (尧) and a capital of the Yan (燕), Zhongshan (中山) and Later Yan (后燕) states. In the Qing it was the capital of Zhili Province (直隶) and seat of its governor-general, and from 1669 to 1968 it was for long the political and cultural centre of the province. The city describes the Baoding Military Academy (保定陆军军官学校) as China's first regular modern army academy, and itself as the birthplace of the work-study movement in France that trained early revolutionaries such as Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. In April 2017 the Xiong'an New Area (雄安新区) was set up on its Xiong (雄县), Rongcheng (容城) and Anxin (安新) counties and nearby areas.

What to see

The Western Qing Tombs (清西陵) in Yi County (易县) hold four Qing emperors, from Yongzheng, whose Tailing tomb was finished in 1737, to Guangxu, entombed in 1913; they were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000 as part of the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The city's monuments include the Ancient Lotus Pond (古莲花池), the Daci Pavilion (大慈阁) and the Zhili Governor's Office (直隶总督署). National 5A scenic areas listed under Baoding are Baiyangdian (2007), Yesanpo (野三坡, 2011), Baishishan (白石山, 2017) and the Western Qing Tombs (2019).

Food and local products

Zhili official cuisine (直隶官府菜) grew up around the governor-general's seat: 74 men served 99 terms in the post from 1724 to the end of the Qing, bringing cooking styles from across the country to dishes built on local Baoding ingredients with a mainly salty-savoury flavour. It joined the national intangible-heritage list in 2011. Quyang County (曲阳), whose carvers worked on the Monument to the People's Heroes and the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, is listed for its stone carving (2006). So are the medicine market of Anguo (安国), traced to the Southern Song and known as the 'medicine capital' (2006), and Yi County's Yishui inkstones (易水砚), cut from Taihang stone (2008).

Getting oriented

The city centre lies 140 kilometres from Beijing, 145 from Tianjin and 125 from Shijiazhuang.

Highlights

• Western Qing tombs 清西陵: Tombs of four Qing emperors in Yi County; UNESCO World Heritage since 2000 and a national 5A scenic area since 2019.
• Yesanpo 野三坡: National 5A scenic area since 2011.
• Baishishan 白石山: National 5A scenic area since 2017.
• Zhili Governor's Office 直隶总督署: Seat of the Qing governors-general of Zhili, listed by the Hebei government among Baoding's monuments.
• Zhili banquet cooking 直隶官府菜: Official cuisine that grew up around the Zhili governor-general's seat, built on local ingredients and mainly salty-savoury; national intangible heritage since 2011.