This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: On June 23, 2020 The State Council have approved the renaming of Qiaoxi and Qiaodong district s, the full annexation of Xingtai County and the character-retaining annexation of Ren County(as Renze District) and Nanhe County(as Nanhe district). Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (June 2020)
Prefecture-level city in Hebei, People's Republic of China
Clockwise from top: Xingtai Liberation Monument, sculpture of Lying Bull, Xingtai Telegraph Building, city wall ruins and Huoshen Temple, Zhongxing West Street, Dakaiyuan Temple, Qingfeng Tower, statue of Guo Shoujing
Sui, Tang and Song times saw the zenith of ceramics production in what was the most prolific ceramics center of northern China (rivaling the Yue ware from the South). The white ware and new technologies developed in the Xing kiln mark the transition from proto-porcelain to proper porcelain.[3] More than thirty kiln site have been excavated in different subdivisions of today's Xingtai City and a large high-tech museum have been established in Neiqiu County in 2017.[4][5][6]
During the Yuan dynasty, Ming, and Qing dynasties, Xingtai was called Shunde (Shundefu) and functioned as a prefecture in China.
Geography and climate
Xingtai has a continental, monsoon-influenced semi-arid climate (KöppenBSk).[7] It has 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; fall is similar to spring both in temperature and lack of rainfall. In the spring, there are large sandstorms blowing in from the Mongolian steppe, accompanied by rapidly warming, but generally dry, conditions. The annual rainfall, more than half of which falls in July and August alone, is highly variable and not reliable. In the city itself, this amount has averaged to a mere 496.5 mm (19.5 in) per annum.
Climate data for Xingtai (1991–2014 normals, extremes 1971–2010)
According to a survey made by "Global voices China" in February 2013, 7 cities in Hebei including Xingtai, Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Handan, Langfang, Hengshui and Tangshan, were among China's 10 most polluted cities; Xingtai ranked 1st in the list and had the worst air quality.[11] In 2020, the improvement rates of Xingtai's comprehensive air quality index and PM2.5 average concentration ranked first in Hebei Province. The average annual concentration of PM2.5 has successfully withdrawn from the "top ten" in China.
Xingtai earthquake
A major earthquake, known as the Xingtai earthquake, with magnitude 6.8 on the Richter scale and epicenter in Longyao County occurred in the early morning of March 8, 1966. It was followed by 5 earthquakes above magnitude 6 on the Richter scale that lasted until March 29, 1966. The strongest of these quakes had a magnitude of 7.2 and took place in the southeastern part of Ningjin County on March 22. The earthquake damage included 8,064 dead, 38,000 injured and more than 5 million destroyed houses.[12]
Administrative divisions
Map including Xingtai (labeled as HSING-T'AI (SHUNTEH) 邢台) (AMS, 1954)
Xingtai is the most important base for natural resources in North China, producing 20 million metric tonnes of coal annually. It also features the largest power plant in the southern part of this region of China, with an output of 2.06 GW.[13]
Transport
Located on the Beijing−Guangzhou, the Beijing−Kowloon, the Xingtai-Huanghua and Xingtai-Heshun Railways, as well as the Beijing−Shenzhen, Daqing-Guangzhou, Taihangshan, Xingtai-Hengshui, Qingdao−Yinchuan, and Dongying-Lvliang Expressways and Xingtai Dalian Airport. Xingtai is a transport hub connecting the Eastern, Northern, and Central China.
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