Hengshui

Hengshui 衡水市
Prefecture-level city
Location of Hengshui City jurisdiction in Hebei
Hengshui Location of the city centre in Hebei
Coordinates:
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Hebei
Area
• Prefecture-level city	8,836.95 km2 (3,411.97 sq mi)
• Urban	602.5 km2 (232.6 sq mi)
• Metro	602.5 km2 (232.6 sq mi)
Population (2010 census)
• Prefecture-level city	4,340,773
• Density	490/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
• Urban	522,147
• Urban density	870/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
• Metro	522,147
• Metro density	870/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
License Plate Prefix	冀T

Hengshui (pinyin: Héngshuǐ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Shandong to the southeast. At the 2010 census its population was 4,340,373 inhabitants whom 522,147 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Taocheng urban district. It is on the Jingjiu Railway.

Administrative divisions

Hengshui comprises

Map
Taocheng Zaoqiang County Wuyi County Wuqiang County Raoyang County Anping County Gucheng County Jing County Fucheng County Jizhou (city) Shenzhou (city)
#	Name	Hanzi	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2010 census)	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
1	Taocheng District	桃城区	Táochéng Qū	522,147	602.5	867
2	Jizhou City	冀州市	Jìzhōu Shì	362,013	918	394
3	Shenzhou City	深州市	Shēnzhōu Shì	566,087	1,244	455
4	Zaoqiang County	枣强县	Zǎoqiáng Xiàn	391,469	903	4371
5	Wuyi County	武邑县	Wǔyì Xiàn	315,693	830	380
6	Wuqiang County	武强县	Wǔqiáng Xiàn	214,549	442	485
7	Raoyang County	饶阳县	Ráoyáng Xiàn	280,498	573	490
8	Anping County	安平县	Ānpíng Xiàn	328,512	493	666
9	Gucheng County	故城县	Gùchéng Xiàn	487,025	941	518
10	Jing County	景县	Jǐng Xiàn	528,693	1,183	447
11	Fucheng County	阜城县	Fùchéng Xiàn	341,087	698	489

Education

Hengshui High School is located in Hengshui.

Hengshui No. 2 High School is in the city.

Hengshui is also the home of Hengshui University.

Sights

Hengshui skyline from Hengshui High School

The Harrison International Peace Hospital is located in Hengshui. This comprehensive teaching and research hospital was named after Dr. Tillson Harrison, a martyr to the Chinese revolution. Dr. Harrison, a Canadian, died in 1947 while transporting medical equipment and supplies. Some of this equipment is on display in an exhibition room in the hospital. The hospital uses both traditional Chinese medicine and modern western diagnostic and therapeutic technology.

The city is renowned as the centre for inside painting, mainly of small snuff bottles. Zhang Rucai was born in Hebei Province and since 1972, he started to learn the art of inside painting. In April 1996, he was conferred the title Master of Chinese Folk Arts & Crafts by UNESCO. The city has a fascinating museum and exhibition of the art of the inside painter - many complex paintings done on the inside of small snuff bottles as well as special larger pieces of glassware. See [1]

There is a Buddhist Temple on the outskirts of the city which is well worth a visit, as is the bridge in the old part of the city - one of the few remnants of the old town.

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  Hengshui Old Town Bridge

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  Hengshui Buddhist Temple

Air pollution

As air pollution in China is at an all-time high, several Hebei cities are among the most polluted cities and have the worst air quality in China. Reporting on China's airpocalypse has been accompanied by what seems like a monochromatic slideshow of the country's several cities smothered in thick smog. 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, are among China's 10 most polluted cities.

Religion

Hengshui is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Hengshui.

References

Eric Liddell served as a missionary for decades in Xiaozhang, Zaoqiang County, Hengshui.