Situated at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, facing the Bohai Sea, Qinhuangdao is famous for its ice-free harbour, the summer resort Beidaihe and the First Pass Under Heaven.Qinhuangdao was approved by the State Council in April 1984 as one of the 14 coastal cities that were opened furth to the outside world. The spring wind of reform and opening changes Qinhuangdao day after day, attracking attention from the people of the world.

Qinhuangdao has a long history. The first emperor of Qin Dynasty once stationed here on his eastern inspection tour in 215 B.C, and sent Lu Sheng of Yan State to seek importals off the sea, hence the place was named after him as Qinhuangdao (island of Emperor Qin). In 1898, the Qing government made Qinhuangdao a commercial port and began to build an ocean shipp ing wharf.

Since then the population had been increasing considerably. Qinyu city was established in
Dec. 1948, and then the named changed to Qinhuangdao city in the Marth 1949. In May, 1983, Qinhuangdao became a city under the direct jurisdiction of Hebei Province. Three districts, Haigang, Beidaihe, and Shanhaiguan and four counties, Funing,Changli, Lulong and Qinlong Manchurian Autonomous County are under the jurisdiction of Qinhuangdao. Its total area is 7,523 square kilometers with a population of 2.5996 million.

Qinhuangdao, located at the conjunction area between North China Economic Zone and Northeast China Economic Zone, and at the central part of economic zones around Bohai, is the important seaport for northern,northeastern and northwestern China. The world famous Port of Qinhuangdao is wide in harbour space and deep in water, neither frozen nor silted. The port mainly for energy,sundry goods and containers, is the second largest port in China and the largest port for energy export in the world. The berth, each with a capacity of 5,000 tons in Xinkaihe Port have been put into operation. The Port of Shanhaiguan is now under construction.Qinhuangdao is a tourist city known both at home and abroad. With the beautiful scenery and pleasant climate, there are dozens of tourist areas with more than 300 scenic spots. The beach in Beidaihe with clear warter, gentle wave and fine sand is the best sea bathing place in northern China.

Shanhaiguan is a important military base since ancient times. From here the Great Wall
gones down into the sea. The Old Dragon's Head, Longevity Hill, the Emperor Qin Seeking
Immortals, Nandaihe in Funing,Golden Beach in Changli, etc. attract large groups of
tourists. There are about 200 sanatoriums, holiday inns and hotels which receive 6 million
people annually.

Qinhuangdao is a newly developed industrial city. There are 1,200 township factories and state-owned plants,among those, 64 are large-and middle-sized, with 1,000 kinds of industrial products:building materials, metallurgy, machinery, garments, food and chemicals, ets.. Yaohua Glass Group Company, Shanhaiguan Steel Frame Factory, Bohai Aluminium Co.. Dicastal Wheel Manufacturing Co. Ltd, Shanhaiguan Ship-yard, Huamei Miceleto Equipment Co. etc. are on the top list of their fields in China both in productive capacity and scales.
Qinhuangdao is one of the 14 coastal cities further opening-up to outside world, with the state-level Qinhuangdao Economic and Technical Development Zone, provincial level Shanhaiguan and Beidaihe Economic and Technical Development Zones, Nandaihe New and High-Tech Industrial Zone and tourism districts in the city.Except for the preferential policies for opening coastal city formulated by the state, the foreign investors also enjoy the preferential policies on land use and taxation from the provincial and municipal governments. Ivestors from 30 ciuntries and regions have made good profits.

Qinhuangdao has a good investment environment with a completed infrastructure. The function of urban supply has been strengthened. Beijing-Shenyang, Beijing-Qinhuangdao and Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway run through the city. Shanhaiguan Station is one of the six big railway marshalling yards. Two national highways 102 and 205 cross the city, the expressway from Beijing to Qinhuangdao is being under construction. With a dozen of flights available, international flights are planned to open. There are 191,000 program controlled telephones, allowing direct dial to 1,000 cities in 200 countries and regions in the world. Water, power and gas supply are gully developed. The standard of urban environment and hygiene is improved.
Qinhuangdao City has been honored as a national cleanest city for three years. In 1992,
the city was prized by the state one of the 40 best cities for investment environment.
Qinhuangdao Foreign Investment Administration and Service Center is set up to provide good
service for investors.

Looking forward to the further, the city has bright prospects. Following the policy of the Central Goverment on speeding up the development in coastal areas, Qinhuangdao will develop into a mordern industry city. Qinhuangdao will be built into a garden city with the best two civilizations and high-quality people's life and move into a strong economic and spiritual civilization city.

Attractions in Qinhuangdao

Neighboring Areas: Beijing and Tianjin Municipalities; Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Liaoning provinces; Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Climate in the warm temperate zone; damp monsoon climate; distinct four seasons

Average Temperature: 10.1C annually

Mountains: Mt.Yanshan