Zhangjiakou

"Kalgan" redirects here. For other uses, see Kalgan (disambiguation).

Zhangjiakou 张家口
—  Prefecture-level city  —
张家口市
General view of Zhangjiakou
Location in Hebei and the PRC
Coordinates: 40°46′N 114°53′E / 40.767°N 114.883°E / 40.767; 114.883Coordinates: 40°46′N 114°53′E / 40.767°N 114.883°E / 40.767; 114.883
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Hebei
Government
– Mayor	Wang Xiaodong (王晓东)
– Party Secretary	Xu Ning (许宁)
Area
– Prefecture-level city	36,829 km2 (14,219.8 sq mi)
– Urban	254 km2 (98.1 sq mi)
Elevation	716 m (2,349 ft)
Population (2010 census)
– Prefecture-level city	4,345,491
– Density	118/km2 (305.6/sq mi)
– Urban	473,193
– Urban density	1,863/km2 (4,825.1/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+9)
License Plate Prefix	冀G
Website	http://www.zjk.gov.cn/

Zhangjiakou, also known also by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province of North China, adjacent to Beijing to the southeast. Its administrative area has a population of 4.35 million, and covers 36,947 square kilometres (14,265 sq mi). The urban area of Zhangjiakou is divided into Qiaoxi and Qiaodong Districts which have 473,193 inhabitants in 2010, but the prefecture-level city is much larger, spanning around 36,800 square kilometres (14,200 sq mi).

Names

Zhangjiakou is written 张家口 in simplified Chinese and 張家口 in traditional Chinese. It is Zhāngjiākǒu in pinyin and the name means "Zhang family gate." Older names for the town in Chinese include Zhāngyuán (張垣), used in the Republican era, and Zhāngjiābǎo (張家堡).

Zhangjiakou was historically known to the Europeans as Kalgan until the mid 20th century. This name derives from the Mongolian name of the city, , "Chuulalt haalga" or shorter, , "haalga" which means "gate" (in the Great Wall). In Manchu, the city is known as (Imiyangga jase).

Because of its strategic position above and northwest of Beijing, Zhangjiakou has been nicknamed "Beijing's Northern Door".

History

View of Zhangjiakou (Kalgan) in 1698.

The water-scarce city was historically the chief northern gate in the Great Wall to China for Europeans travelling along the Tea Road (such as Ivan Petlin (1619)^[1] or Nicolae Milescu).

In August 1211, there raised the Badger's Mount Campaign, Genghis Khan 90,000 strong force destroyed the 450,000 strong Jin Dynasty army.

In the 19th century, the town was the seat of a very extensive transit trade. In early autumn long lines of camels would come in from all quarters for the conveyance of the tea chests from Zhangjiakou, the Kalgan, to Kyakhta; and each caravan usually made three journeys in the winter. Some Russian merchants had permanent residences and warehouses just outside the gate.

In October 1909, Kalgan was connected by railway with Peking. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica noted that, in Kalgan, "the ordinary houses have an unusual appearance, from the fact that they are mostly roofed with earth and become covered with green-sward" and that "on the way to Peking the road passes over a beautiful bridge of seven arches, ornamented with marble figures of animals".

In 1937 the Japanese occupied the region and made Kalgan the capital of the autonomous Cha-nan (South Chahar) Province. The Federated Mengjiang Commission was set up to supervise the economic affairs, banking, communications, and industry of Japanese-occupied Inner Mongolia (Mengjiang).

In the early 1960s at the height of Sino-Soviet tensions, Zhangjiakou was considered one of the most important cities in China for military strategy reasons. Zhangjiakou was aptly nicknamed, "Beijing's Northern Door", because whoever controlled Zhangjiakou was in a good position to either attack (in the case of the Soviets) or defend (in the case of the Chinese) Beijing.

Economy

A corner in downtown Zhangjiakou.

The vicinity of Zhangjiakou is rich in coal and iron ore, making it an ideal location for developing iron and steel industry. Apart from metallurgy, the city is home to one of China's most important grape wine industries, with the Great Wall Wine Company being located in Shacheng (沙城镇), Huailai County. [1]

Transportation

• The city lies in the northwestern corner of the province and is linked from Datong in Shanxi by the Xuanda Expressway and from Beijing by means of the Jingzhang Expressway.
• Zhangjiakou is further linked by a freeway to Inner Mongolia which opened on September 7, 2005.
• China National Highway 207
• A heavy-haul railway is under construction, to transport coal from Zhangjiakou to Tangshan. Construction is expected to finish in 2015; the railway is planned to carry 200 million tons of coal per year.^[2] Another heavy-haul railway, Junggar-Zhangjiakou, is expected to connect to it.^[3]

Military

Zhangjiakou is headquarters of the 65th Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of the three group armies that comprise the Beijing Military Region responsible for defending China's capital.

Education

Zhangjiakou is home to Hebei North University. The university has been improving its international network and many foreign students are now studying there.

Geography and climate

Zhangjiakou is located in the northwest part of Hebei province, and is defined by mostly rough terrain created by the Yin Mountains, with elevations increasing from southeast to northwest. The east of the prefecture marks the Yan Mountains The bordering prefectures in the province are Chengde to the northeast and Baoding to the south. It also borders Shanxi to the west and southwest and Inner Mongolia to the northwest. The prefecture's latitude ranges from 39° 30' to 42° 10' N, or 289.2 kilometres (179.7 mi), while its longitude spans 113° 50' to 116° 30' E, or 216.2 kilometres (134.3 mi).

Zhangjiakou City is divided into three topographical regions: plateau, mountains, and basin. The former has elevations generally above 1,400 metres (4,600 ft), and consists of all of Guyuan and Kangbao Counties as well as part of Shangyi and Zhangbei Counties. This area is part of the southern end of the Inner Mongolia Plateau (内蒙古高原) and accounts for one-third of the prefecture's area.^[4] The basin area has elevations of 500 to 1,000 metres (1,600 to 3,300 ft) and supports a few rivers.

Zhangjiakou has a monsoon-influenced, continental semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), with long, cold, dry, and windy winters due to the Siberian anticyclone, and hot, humid summers driven by the East Asian monsoon; in between spring and autumn are dry and brief. Conditions are much cooler than in Beijing due in part to the elevation. Winters last from mid-November to late March and at their height in January, temperatures typically remain below freezing all day. In summer, temperatures often reach or surpass 30 °C (86 °F).

Climate data for Zhangjiakou (1971−2000)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	−2.2 (28.0)	1.5 (34.7)	8.4 (47.1)	17.9 (64.2)	24.8 (76.6)	28.5 (83.3)	29.4 (84.9)	27.7 (81.9)	23.2 (73.8)	16.3 (61.3)	6.6 (43.9)	−0.4 (31.3)	15.1
Average low °C (°F)	−12.9 (8.8)	−10 (14)	−3.6 (25.5)	4.6 (40.3)	11.2 (52.2)	16.0 (60.8)	18.7 (65.7)	17.2 (63.0)	11.2 (52.2)	4.3 (39.7)	−4 (24.8)	−10.5 (13.1)	3.5
Precipitation mm (inches)	2.0 (0.079)	4.1 (0.161)	9.1 (0.358)	14.0 (0.551)	33.1 (1.303)	60.6 (2.386)	109.9 (4.327)	100.5 (3.957)	45.0 (1.772)	16.9 (0.665)	6.3 (0.248)	2.1 (0.083)	403.6 (15.89)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	1.7	2.5	4.6	4.8	7.6	10.2	13.4	12.8	9.1	4.3	2.6	1.7	75.3
Source: Weather China

Administrative divisions

Map
#	Name	Hanzi	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2004 est.)	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
County-level divisions
1	Qiaoxi District	桥西区	Qiáoxī Qū	230,000	141	1,631
2	Qiaodong District	桥东区	Qiáodōng Qū	260,000	113	2,301
3	Xuanhua District	宣化区	Xuānhuà Qū	290,000	276	1,051
4	Xiahuayuan District	下花园区	Xiàhuāyuán Qū	70,000	315	222
5	Xuanhua County	宣化县	Xuānhuà Xiàn	300,000	2,095	143
6	Zhangbei County	张北县	Zhāngběi Xiàn	370,000	4,232	87
7	Kangbao County	康保县	Kāngbǎo Xiàn	280,000	3,365	83
8	Guyuan County	沽源县	Gūyuán Xiàn	230,000	3,601	64
9	Shangyi County	尚义县	Shàngyì Xiàn	190,000	2,621	72
10	Yu County	蔚县	Yù Xiàn	460,000	3,216	143
11	Yangyuan County	阳原县	Yángyuán Xiàn	280,000	1,834	153
12	Huai'an County	怀安县	Huái'ān Xiàn	250,000	1,706	147
13	Wanquan County	万全县	Wànquán Xiàn	220,000	1,158	190
14	Huailai County	怀来县	Huáilái Xiàn	340,000	1,793	190
15	Zhuolu County	涿鹿县	Zhuōlù Xiàn	330,000	2,799	118
16	Chicheng County	赤城县	Chìchéng Xiàn	280,000	5,238	53
17	Chongli County	崇礼县	Chónglǐ Xiàn	120,000	2,326	52

Zhangjiakou in fiction

• In the novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes, the two main characters, Guo Jing and Huang Rong first met in this city.
• Zhangjiakou was the setting for Zhang Yimou's film Not One Less (1999).

Notes

1. ^ "A Relation of two Russe Cossacks travailes, out of Siberia to Catay, and other Countries adjoyning thereunto. Also a Copie of the last Patent from the Muscovite. A Copie of a Letter written to the Emperour from his Governours out of Siberia". Published as Chapter XI in: Samuel Purchas, Haklutyus Posthumus (or, Purchas His Pilgrimes), vol. XIV, p. 280. 1625. Full Text on archive.org. The city name reported by Petlin appears in Purchas' English translation as "Shirokalga".
2. ^ "Railway Gazette: News in Brief". http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/news-in-brief-47.html. Retrieved 2011-01-02. 
3. ^ "COALWorld". http://www.coalworld.net/indexnews/info.jsp?id=65780. Retrieved 2011-01-02. 
4. ^ 地理环境. Accessed 2011-05-20

See also

• Battle of Zhuolu

External links

• Zhangjiakou Gov Online