Baoding is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2020 census, Baoding City had 11,544,036 inhabitants, of which 2,549,787 lived in the metropolitan area made of 4 out of 5 urban districts: Lianchi, Jingxiu, Qingyuan, and Mancheng all of which are largely conurbated. Accounting for about one-sixth of the population of Hebei Province. At the end of 2024, the city's resident population is 9,046,200, of which the urban resident population is 5,527,200. Baoding is among 13 Chinese cities with a population of over 10 million, ranking seventh. Zhuozhou City in the northern part has now grown into part of the Beijing metro area.
Baoding was the capital of Zhili Province and the residence of the Viceroy of Zhili in the Qing dynasty. The city was also the capital of Hebei province until 1968, and is now a national historical and cultural city and one of the central cities in the Jing-Jin-Ji cluster, with the Xiong'an new area located within its jurisdiction.
Name Baoding was known as Shanggu, Baozhou, Shoocheng and Baofu in ancient times. The city's name, Baoding (), dates back to the Song and Yuan dynasties, In 1239, the Yuan Dynasty changed the name of Shuntian Army to Shuntian Road, which means "complying with the destiny of heaven", and Baozhou was renamed Luzhi (). Because Baozhou was the southern gate of the capital in the Yuan Dynasty, Shuntian Road was changed to Baoding Road in 1275, which means "defend the capital and stabilize the world". The name is roughly interpreted as "protecting the capital", referring to the city's proximity to Beijing.
History Baoding has a history dating back to the Western Han Dynasty.
Prehistory The Nanzhuangtou site near Baiyang Lake is one of the earliest Neolithic site discovered in North China, dating back approximately 10,500–9,700 years. Other Neolithic sites in Baoding include Diaoyutai and Beifudi.
Early history During the Warring States period, what is now Baoding was along the dividing line between the Yan and Zhao states.
One of the capitals of Yan during this period, Xiadu, is located in what is now Yi County, and from 400 to 300 BC may have been the largest cities in the world, with an estimated population of over 300,000.George Modelski, World Cities: –3000 to 2000, Washington DC: FAROS 2000, 2003. .
Imperial era In 960 the Song dynasty established the Bao prefecture ("Baozhou") with the administrative office in Baosai County (modern Baoding). This lasted until 1241, when the Mongol Empire (who conquered the Jin dynasty in 1234) abolished it, incorporating Baozhou into the Central Region.
In the year 1213 the Mongol army invaded and destroyed Baozhou, leaving it in ruins until it was reconstructed in 1227 during the Yuan dynasty. The region acquired the name "Baoding" in 1275.
In 1669, Baoding became the capital of Zhili, ruled over by a Viceroy until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912.
In 1902, Yuan Shikai, then Viceroy, established the Baoding Military Academy. Birthplace of many famous ROC and Communist generals in the early 20th century.
Contemporary history On August 1, 1949, the People's Government of Hebei province was established, Baoding was the capital of the province, and the city of Baoding was a provincial municipality. On August 9, the administrative inspector's office of the Baoding district was established, and it was established as the administrative inspector's office of the county district.
In May 1958, the capital of Hebei was moved to Tianjin, then back to Baoding in January 1966, to Shijiazhuang in February 1968. In December 1994, the Baoding area merged with Baoding to become a provincial city.
In April 2017, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council announced the decision to transform Baoding's Xiong, Rongcheng, and Anxin counties into Xiong'an New Area, a new development area of national significance, with a focus on innovation, sustainability and quality of life, following the successes of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and Shanghai's Pudong New Area.
Geography Baoding is located in the west-central portion of Hebei province and lies on the North China Plain, with the Taihang Mountains to the west. Bordering prefecture-level cities in the province are Zhangjiakou to the north, Langfang and Cangzhou to the east, and Shijiazhuang and Hengshui to the south. Baoding also borders Beijing to the northeast and Shanxi to the west.
The geographical coordinates of Baoding are between 113°40'-116°20' east longitude and 38°10'-40°00' north latitude.
Elevations in Baoding's administrative area decrease from northwest to southeast. The western parts are dominated by mountains and hills that are generally more than tall; this area includes parts of Laishui, Yi, Mancheng, Shunping, Tang, and Fuping Counties as well as the entirety of Laiyuan County, occupying 30.6% of the prefecture's area. The highest peak is Mount Waitou (), with an elevation of . Moving southeast from this area, one encounters low-lying mountains and hills, taking up 18.9% of the prefecture's area. Further to the east lies generally flat terrain of elevation. Here the primary rivers are the Xiaoyi River (), Fu River (), Bao River (), Ping River (), Juma River (), Yishui River (), Tang River (), Cao River (), Zhulong River (), Qingshui River (), and Sha River (). Baiyangdian Lake, the largest natural lake in northern China, can be found nearby.
Climate Baoding has a continental, monsoon-influenced humid continental climate/semi-arid climate (Köppen Dwa/BSk),Peel, M. C. and Finlayson, B. L. and McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11: 1633-1644. ISSN 1027-5606. characterised by hot, humid summers due to the East Asian monsoon, and generally cold, windy, very dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone. Spring can bear witness to sandstorms blowing in from the Mongolian steppe, accompanied by rapidly warming, but generally dry, conditions. Autumn is similar to spring in temperature and lack of rainfall. The annual rainfall, about 60% of which falls in July and August alone, is highly variable and not reliable. The average annual runoff is 2.45 billion cubic meters. In the city itself, this amount has averaged to a meagre per annum. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July, and the annual mean is . There are 2,500 to 2,900 hours of bright sunshine annually, and the frost-free period lasts 165−210 days.
Administrative divisions Bǎodìng prefecture-level city consists of 5 municipal districts, 4 county-level cities, 15 counties:
Map Division code English name Simp. Chinese Pinyin Area in km2 Seat Postal code Divisions Subdistricts Towns Townships Ethnic townships Residential communities () Villages () 130600 Baoding Bǎodìng Shì 22185 Jingxiu District 071000 31 207 105 2 514 6184 130602 Jingxiu District Jìngxiù Qū 149 Xianfeng Subdistrict () 071000 5 2 4 81 71 130603 Lianchi District Liánchí Qū 82 Wusi Road Subdistrict () 071000 10 2 5 151 120 130605 Mancheng District Mǎnchéng Qū 658 Mancheng Town () 072100 1 6 6 16 183 130606 Qingyuan District Qīngyuàn Qū 856 Qingyuan () 071100 13 5 14 266 130607 Xushui District Xúshuǐ Qū 723 Ansu () 072500 10 4 28 304 130633 Yi County Yì Xiàn 2535 Yizhou () 074200 11 16 1 10 469 130630 Laiyuan County Láiyuán Xiàn 2431 Laiyuan () 074300 10 7 8 283 130626 Dingxing County Dìngxīng Xiàn 714 Dingxing () 072600 9 7 23 274 130636 Shunping County Shùnpíng Xiàn 712 Puyang () 072200 6 4 4 237 130627 Tang County Táng Xiàn 1414 Renhou () 072300 11 9 8 345 130631 Wangdu County Wàngdū Xiàn 358 Wangdu () 072400 7 1 10 142 130623 Laishui County Láishuǐ Xiàn 1662 Laishui () 074100 12 3 6 284 130628 Gaoyang County Gāoyáng Xiàn 496 Gaoyang () 071500 1 7 11 149 130632 Anxin County Ānxīn Xiàn 728 Anxin () 071600 9 4 5 223 130638 Xiong County Xióng Xiàn 513 Xiongzhou () 071800 8 4 7 287 130629 Rongcheng County Róngchéng Xiàn 311 Rongcheng () 071700 5 3 4 127 130634 Quyang County Qūyáng Xiàn 1076 Hengzhou () 073100 11 16 10 367 130624 Fuping County Fùpíng Xiàn 2494 Fuping () 073200 8 5 5 209 130637 Boye County Bóyě Xiàn 331 Boye () 071300 7 11 133 130635 Li County Lǐ Xiàn 653 Liwu () 071400 11 2 7 232 130682 Dingzhou City Dìngzhōu Shì 1284 Nanchengqu Subdistrict () 073000 4 16 5 1 31 470 130681 Zhuozhou City Zhuōzhōu Shì 751 Shuangta Subdistrict () 072700 3 10 1 39 402 130683 Anguo City Ānguó Shì 485 Qizhouyaoshi Subdistrict () 071200 2 6 3 6 198 130684 Gaobeidian City Gāobēidiàn Shì 674 Xinghua Road Subdistrict () 074000 5 10 19 409 Xiong'an New Area Xióng'ān Xīnqū 106.46 Rongcheng () Note: Baoding New High Technology Product Development Zone () includes Damafang Township () of Jingxiu District and Jiantai Township () of Mancheng District; the Baigou New City () includes Baigou Town () of Gaobeidian City. Dissolved districts: Beishi District and Nanshi District
Demographics + Baoding City Demographics Division name Residence population (November 2010) Hukou population (end of 2010) Total Ratio (%) Population density (persons/km2) Baoding City 11,194,379 100 504.55 11610199 Xinshi District 482,768 4.31 2540.88 459038 Beishi District 387,339 3.46 5164.52 322205 Nanshi District 287,784 2.57 2877.84 279725 Mancheng District 387,307 3.46 615.75 411417 Qingyuan District 631,659 5.64 728.56 648645 Laishui County 339,063 3.03 204.50 352993 Fuping County 205,299 1.83 82.28 223846 Xushui County 563,030 5.03 778.74 586104 Dingxing County 517,873 4.63 725.31 585913 Tang County 529,066 4.73 373.37 590575 Gaoyang County 345,160 3.08 695.89 340163 Rongcheng County 258,179 2.31 822.23 265389 Laiyuan County 260,678 2.33 106.49 283537 Wangdu County 250,014 2.23 781.29 265525 Anxin County 437,378 3.91 604.11 440817 Yi County 537,564 4.80 212.14 570806 Quyang County 588,559 5.26 542.95 610065 Li County 505,574 4.52 775.42 532322 Shunping County 295,764 2.64 417.75 317484 Boye County 245,504 2.19 741.70 268941 Xiong County 359,506 3.21 686.08 375470 Zhuozhou City 603,535 5.39 813.39 645542 Dingzhou City 1,165,182 10.41 914.59 1214852 Anguo City 370,314 3.31 761.96 409834 Gaobeidian City 640,280 5.72 938.83 608991 Note: The 58,709 people residing in Baoding High Technology Product Development Zone and the 124,274 in the Baigou New City are not listed separately.
According to the 2010 Census, the residence population stood at 11,194,382, an increase of 605,100 (5.71%) from 2000. The male-female ratio was 101.94:100. Children aged up to 14 numbered 1,915,800 (17.11% of the population), citizens 15 to 64 numbered 8,370,600 (74.78%), and 65+ numbered 908,000 (8.11%). The urban area of Baoding made of 5 urban Districts had a population of around 2,739,887 (2010 census). The overwhelming majority of the population is Han Chinese. The language of Baoding is Mandarin Chinese — specifically, the Baoding dialect of Ji-Lu Mandarin. Despite Baoding's proximity to Beijing, the Chinese spoken in Baoding is not particularly close to the Beijing dialect — rather, it is more closely related to Tianjin dialect.
Economy Baoding is located in the centre of the Bohai Rim economic area which includes Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang. One of the largest employers in Baoding is China Lucky Film, the largest photosensitive materials and magnetic recording media manufacturer in China. And, Yingli group, 2010 World Cup sponsor, has its headquarters in Baoding, who is the Global Top 10 solar panel manufacturer. More renowned companies include ZhongHang HuiTeng Windpower Equipment Co., Ltd (Wind Turbine), Baoding Tianwei Group Co., Ltd (Transformer), and Great Wall Motor.
In April 2017, an area in Baoding was designated as a Xiong'an New Area, a development zone of initially 100 km2 and up to 2000 km2, the site of what will eventually be a new city and the hub of the Beijing-Tinajin-Hebei development area.