Xinhua District 新华区

History

Cangzhou's first academy, the Bohai Academy (渤海书院), is in the district. Wang Wu (王五), the late-Qing swordsman known as "Big Sabre Wang Wu" (大刀王五) who backed the 1898 reform movement and tried to rescue the reformer Tan Sitong (谭嗣同), came from Xinhua. The Qingcang campaign (青沧战役) of the civil war was fought here.

What to see

The North Great Mosque (清真北大寺) on Jiefang Road (解放路) is a Ming-era building, listed as a Hebei provincial protected site in 1982; the district government puts its history at more than 620 years and counts it among China's four great mosques. The district government also calls the Huabei Phase Four complex (华北四期), with 170,000 square metres of floor space, the largest shopping complex in Cangzhou.

In September 2026 the district staged a showcase of Cangzhou luozi (沧州落子), a century-old local folk performance in which dancers wave coloured fans, twirl whip-flowers and strike bamboo clappers to drums, with troupes from Xinhua, Nanpi County (南皮县) and Cang County (沧县) at the Huabei Shangsha City Plaza (华北商厦城市广场).

Food and local products

The Cangzhou culture and tourism bureau features Xinhua's flower buns (花饽饽), steamed dough modelled into dragons and phoenixes for weddings, longevity peaches for birthdays, and carp and gourds. Makers knead, prove, shape, carve, steam and then colour them, using fresh fruit and vegetables instead of dyes, and the buns are steamed for the Spring Festival and thrown from the roof beam when a new house is raised.

Getting oriented

The district covers 88.5 square kilometres of low, flat land. The Cangzhou station of the Beijing–Shanghai Railway (京沪铁路) has been rebuilt, and Jiefang Road has been straightened and extended east and Dongfeng Road (东风路) extended east, in projects of about 5.5 and 7 kilometres, opening the way for the city to grow eastward. New growth is planned along Changlu Avenue (长芦大道) and around an eastern new town, an education park that holds the east campus of Cangzhou Vocational College, and the high-speed railway east station area.

Highlights

• North Great Mosque 清真北大寺: Ming mosque on Jiefang Road, Hebei provincial protected site since 1982; the district counts it among China's four great mosques.
• Cangzhou luozi 沧州落子: Century-old folk performance with fans, whip-flowers and bamboo clappers, staged by the district at Huabei Shangsha City Plaza in 2026.
• Flower buns 花饽饽: Steamed dough figures coloured with fruit and vegetables, made for weddings, birthdays and new houses.