Tangshan

Overview

About

Tangshan, in north-east Hebei on the northern shore of the Bohai Gulf with the Yan Mountains behind it, is one of the birthplaces of modern Chinese industry. In the late Qing the Kaiping coal mine was opened here, China’s first home-built standard-gauge railway, the Tangxu line, was laid, China’s first steam locomotive was built, and China’s first cement works was founded. See also Cities of China.

The Kailuan National Mine Park in the city keeps century-old mine shafts and early railway remains. South Lake Park, made from land that subsided over the mines, has wide expanses of water. The Tangshan earthquake of 1976 all but destroyed the city, which was rebuilt on the same site; the Earthquake Ruins Memorial Park keeps some of the remains.

Zunhua, within Tangshan, has the Eastern Qing Tombs, part of the World Cultural Heritage site of the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, where five emperors including Shunzhi, Kangxi and Qianlong and empresses and consorts including Cixi are buried — the largest surviving group of imperial tombs. Tangshan is the birthplace of pingju opera and is also known for its shadow puppets.

Travel tips

Getting there: High-speed trains run to Tangshan station, about an hour from Beijing or Tianjin; Tangshan Sannühe Airport is west of the city.

Sightseeing: The mine park and South Lake are in the city; the Eastern Qing Tombs at Zunhua are about two hours away and need a day of their own.

Photo credits: South Lake: 董辰兴 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)