◎Our city landmark: The Tangshan Earthquake Monume...

The City's Highlights

◎ Our city spirit: New Tangshan humanism spirit

Tangshan is a special city. Over the past century, many glorious traditions and revolutionary legacies have been formed in the city. These includes Dazhao spirit of “iron shoulder to bear the moral,” which is related to Li Dazhao, one of the founders of the CPC; the “especially good at fighting” spirit of the Kailuan working class, which was affirmed by late top Chinese leader Mao Zedong; the spirit that “three donkey legs can make a revolution” left by the poor people in Xipu Village of Zunhua County, which was highly praised by Mao; the “contemporary Yugong” spirit of “creating high yield on the green stone slabs” in Shashi Valley, which was praised by late Chinese premier Zhou Enlai. There is also the “Tangshan anti-earthquake spirit,” which was summarized by former CPC General Secretary Jiang Zemin as “selfless in the interest of the public, sharing weal and woe, being indomitable, persevering and forging ahead bravely.” These legacies have been inherited and condensed into the humanistic spirit of New Tangshan, whose essence is “gratefulness, fraternity, openness, and seeking excellence.”

◎ Our regional symbol: Caofeidian

On the shore of the Bohai Bay in the south of Tangshan, there is a magical place called Caofeidian. It is 80 kilometers away from downtown Tangshan, 220 kilometers from downtown Beijing, 120 kilometers from downtown Tianjin, and 170 kilometers from downtown Qinhuangdao. As one of the two subareas of Tangshan Port, Caofeidian Port has obvious advantages, that is, there is a deep trough on the side facing the sea, and shallow water on the side facing the land, which provide a favorable condition for the construction of large-scale deep-water ports and the development of port-related industries.

According to the Master Plan of Caofeidian Circular Economy Demonstration Zone Industrial Development approved by the national government, Caofeidian functions as a port for collecting and distributing bulk goods such as energy products and ore, a new industrial base, a commercial energy reserve base, and a national circular economy demonstration zone, a business and leisure center in northern China, and an ecological and livable new coastal city. The CPC Hebei Provincial Committee and Provincial Government attach great importance to the development and construction of Caofeidian, and have approved the establishment of Caofeidian New Area, including Caofeidian Industrial Zone, Caofeidian Ecological City, Nanpu Development Zone and Tanghai County. With Caofeidian New Area as the core, the CPC Tangshan Municipal Committee and the Tangshan Municipal Government are working together to build Tangshan Bay, with the goal of creating a “new Tangshan” in the near future.

◎Our industrial product: CRH3 “Harmony” high-speed train

The first domestically-produced CRH3 “Harmony” train, capable of reaching 350 km/h, went online at CNR Tangshan Railway Vehicle Co., Ltd. (CRC) on April 11, 2008. On August 1, 2008, it was officially put into operation on the Beijing-Tianjin intercity railway line and successfully served the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Now it has become the main vehicle model on China's high-speed railway network, realizing a historic leap in the operation and construction of China's railway trains. The CRC, which manufactures first-class Electric Multiple Units (EMU) trains, is the only one in Hebei among the first batch of national innovative enterprises and one of the manufacturing bases of high-speed railway passenger transport equipment identified by the former Ministry of Railways. By “introducing, digesting, absorbing and re-innovating advanced technologies, it has built an advanced manufacturing platform for producing EMU products with a speed of 350 km/h, and has mastered the core technology. With the capacity to mass produce 350-kilometer-an-hour EMUs, it is becoming a leader in the rail transit equipment manufacturing industry. “Harmony” means not only speed, but also embodies the principle upheld by China Railway. It makes China one of the few countries in the world capable of producing mobile equipment for high-speed rail at 350 km/h. Today, “Harmony” is becoming an engine driving China's modernization.

◎Our industrial and mining enterprise: Kailuan Group

The Kailuan Group (previously known as Kailuan Mineral Board), was founded in 1878. It got its name because the mines were located in Kaiping Town and Luanzhou. With a history of 130 years, it is the first large-scale machine-mined coal mine in China, and the first joint-stock enterprise in modern China. The earliest railway with a standard gauge in China, Tangxu Railway, was paved to get there; the earliest steam locomotive in China, the Dragon Locomotive, was driven out from there; the earliest shipping fleet operated by a Chinese enterprise “sailed out” from there...

The coal fields in the Kailuan mining area are rich and vast, with a total area of 890 square kilometers, and proven reserves of about 7.1 billion tons. The coal is excellent and is the preferred coal for smelting, chemical industry and power. From the founding of the People's Republic of China to 2008, the Kailuan Group had produced 1.007 billion tons of high-quality coal and 253 million tons of clean coal, and paid 10.63 billion yuan in profits and taxes, making an important contribution to national economic development. Under the new situation of reform and opening up, the group has made remarkable progress. In 2008, it ranked the 291st among the top 500 companies in the country, making important contributions to the rise and development of this city.

◎Our ecological garden: Nanhu Ecological City (https://www.daowen.com)

Nanhu Ecological City is located in the south of Tangshan City, close to the city center. It extends to the Douhe River in the east, Xinjingshan Railway in the west, Tangjin Expressway in the south, and Nanxin Road in the north. It was originally a coal mining subsidence area and a large garbage dump in Kailuan, which has been gradually built into an ecological garden. The project was granted the “China Habitat Environment Award” in 2002 and the “the Dubai International Award for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment” in July 2004.

In 2009, the CPC Tangshan Municipal Committee and the Municipal Government further refined its development goals. They are determined to take ecological restoration, historical and cultural heritage excavation, landscape greening, and lake widening as opportunities to build a new urban area that integrates ecological protection, leisure and entertainment, tourism and vacation, cultural exhibitions, residential construction, commercial shopping, and high-tech industries. They are also determined to make Nanhu Ecological City a model for the transformation and ecological reconstruction of resource-based cities. Efforts will be made to build leisure resorts, cultural and creative parks, and national urban wetland parks, to promote the development of landscape real estate and the renewal of urban structures. In the future, it will be built into a world-class urban central ecological park, a nationally famous “North China Water City” and a world-class ecological tourism scenic spot. The central scenic spot will become a “fun Nanhu, ecological Nanhu, and magical Nanhu.”

◎Our art category: Ping Opera

Ping Opera is one of the major operas in northern China. It was included in the first list of intangible cultural heritages released by the State Council on May 20, 2006. Ping Opera originated in Luanzhou (now Luanxian County and Luannan County of Tangshan) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and now has a history of more than 100 years. Based on a popular local art form “lotus rhyme” (there were already professional artists of lotus rhyme in 1890), Ping Opera has absorbed the raping, singing and acting of the Bengbeng Opera, and adopted some musical and performance forms of Hebei Bangzi, Luanzhou Shadow Puppet Play, Laoting Drum, and Peking Opera, to form a Pingqiang Bangzi Opera, which has the characteristics of the Banqiang-style drama. As one of the founders, Cheng Zhaocai, a Luanzhou native, played an important role in the formation of Ping Opera. He created a large number of plays, enriching the repertory of Ping Opera. Ping Opera has a great influence on the creation and performance of modern dramas. Ping operas like Nine-Tailed Fox and Little Son-in-law performed by Little Baiyushuang in the early days of liberation, and Liu Qiaoer and Peasant Takes a Wife performed by Xin Fengxia, were generally welcomed by the audience.

◎Our local flavor: Jingdong chestnut

With a long history, as early as 2,000 years ago, Jingdong chestnut has been cultivated in the Yanshan area. It is famous for its bright color, high sugar content, sweet taste and rich nutrition, and has a long-standing reputation in domestic and foreign markets. The current Jingdong chestnut is mainly distributed in the vast Yanshan Mountain area to the east of Beijing, especially Qianxi, Zunhua and Qian'an in Tangshan. In 1994, Jingdong chestnut won the gold medal at the National Famous, Special and Excellent Products Expo; in 1999, it was recognized as a famous brand at the China International Agricultural Expo. Nowadays, its production and processing have been industrialized, and it has become an important channel for the majority of chestnut farmers to increase their incomes and become rich.

◎Our scenic spot: East Tomb of the Qing Dynasty

The East Tomb of the Qing Dynasty is one of the royal tombs of the last feudal dynasty in China. It is located at the foot of the Changrui Mountain in the northwest of Zunhua City, Hebei Province. There are 15 mausoleums built there, where 161 emperors, empresses, concubines, princes and princesses were laid to rest. The Eastern Tomb of the Qing Dynasty is the largest, most complete and best-preserved imperial tomb complex in China. The mountains and rivers there constitute a natural shelter guarding the tombs they surround. It can be described as a geomantic treasure featuring “beautiful and majestic dragon's cave, sand and water.” The Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty was included in the World Cultural Heritage List at the end of 2000; at the beginning of 2001, it was listed among the first batch of national 4A -level scenic spots by the National Tourism Administration. In 2008, it was identified by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee as one of the 22 most visited scenic spots, the only one not located in Beijing. In the same year, it was assessed as a provincial-level civilized scenic spot by the Civilization Committee of Hebei Province.

◎Our city landmark: The Tangshan Earthquake Monument

The Tangshan Earthquake Monument, built in 1986 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the earthquake, is located in the monument square to the south of Xinhua Road (between Jianshe Road and Wenhua Road) in the city center. The monument consists of a main stele and a secondary stele. The pedestal of the monument is three meters high and the body of the monument is 30 meters high. It consists of four separate trapezoid-shaped reinforced concrete steles, which are like giant hands stretching to the sky, symbolizing man's determination to triumph over natural disasters. On the four sides of the monument 1.5 meters above the ground are eight granite reliefs, symbolizing the support from all parts of the country. The relief depicts the earthquake disaster and the heroic deeds of Tangshan people in relieving earthquake and rebuilding their homes with the support of the whole country. At the height of 8.5 meters, there is a stainless-steel plaque that is 3.86 meters long and 1.6 meters wide, on which the seven Chinese characters meaning “Tangshan Earthquake Monument” by Hu Yaobang, former General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, was inscribed. The Tangshan Earthquake Monument square is a solemn place for the Tangshan people to pay tribute to the compatriots who died in the earthquake and the heroes who contributed to earthquake relief. It is also a gathering place for commemorating the birthday of the People's Republic of China and disseminating ideals and beliefs.