Huanghua 黄骅市

Setting and landscape

The land is flat and tilts from southwest to northeast; its highest ground is 15.7 metres above sea level in the west and 3 metres in the east, and the inland plain was laid down by old courses of the Yellow River. The 65.8-kilometre coast is flat silt and mud, with shell ridges, marsh ridges and beaches. The ancient shell ridge (古贝壳堤) is a provincial nature reserve, and the city pairs it with ridges in Louisiana and Suriname as the world's three great ancient shell ridges.

History

The Qin set up Liu County (柳县) here in 221 BC. From 1376, when the Yanshan (盐山) county seat moved away, the area had no county seat of its own for 559 years, its south belonging to Yanshan and its north to Cangzhou. In September 1945 Xinqing County (新青县) was renamed Huanghua in memory of Huang Hua, and it became a city in November 1989.

What to see

The Haifengzhen Site (海丰镇遗址), a national protected site, is a coastal port site with mainly Jin-dynasty remains, known from the Jin onward for its porcelain trade. The Juguan ancient tribute jujube grove (聚馆古贡枣园) is also a national protected site, which the city calls China's only one made up of plants; 198 of its trees are over 600 years old and the oldest more than 740. Fudicheng (郛堤城), a roughly square walled site about one li (里) on each side, is a provincial protected site, and 113 Warring States and Han urn burials have been found there. The Hebei Sea Salt Museum (河北海盐博物馆), a 3A scenic area, was the first salt museum in Hebei.

Nandagang Wetland (南大港湿地), in the northeast, is a provincial nature reserve of lagoon depressions and reed beds (reed is 90 percent of its vegetation), run by the Nandagang area of the Cangzhou Bohai New Area. On 26 July 2024 it joined the World Heritage extension of the Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of the Yellow Sea–Bohai Gulf of China (Phase II), and CNR reports 17 first-class nationally protected bird species recorded there.

Food and local products

Huanghua winter jujubes (黄骅冬枣) have been grown for nearly 3,000 years and received origin-area protection on 12 June 2002. Prized catches include Oriental prawns, Bohai swimming crabs and pomfret. Huanghua shrimp paste (黄骅虾酱) is made by mixing fresh shrimp with sea salt and fermenting it in jars. Decorative steamed-dough flowers (面花) and Bohai fishing-village paper-cutting (渤海渔村剪纸) are on Hebei's intangible heritage list.

Highlights

• Haifengzhen Site 海丰镇遗址: National protected site: a Jin-dynasty coastal port known for its porcelain trade.
• Juguan Ancient Tribute Jujube Grove 聚馆古贡枣园: National protected site with 198 jujube trees over 600 years old.
• Nandagang Wetland 南大港湿地: Provincial reserve of reed beds added to a World Heritage bird-sanctuary listing on 26 July 2024.
• Huanghua Ancient Shell Ridge 黄骅古贝壳堤: Provincial nature reserve on the Bohai coast.
• Hebei Sea Salt Museum 河北海盐博物馆: Hebei's first salt museum, a 3A scenic area.
• Huanghua winter jujube 黄骅冬枣: Grown for nearly 3,000 years; origin-area protection since 2002.