Cangzhou is located in southeast of Hebei province with the Bohai Sea on the east and Beijing and Tianjin municipalities in the north, overlooking Shangdong and Liaoning Peninsulas across the sea. 

There are 10 counties, 4 cities, 2 districts and 2 state farms under its jurisdiction. It covers an area of 14,000 square kilometers with a population of 6.77 million. It is a city directly under Hebei provincial government. In 1988 the State Council confirmed it as one of the open cities. In 1995 the Ministry of Chemical Industry approved it as the third chemical city in China. 

Cangzhou takes an advantage of location and enjoys a convenient traffic. It is 240 kilometers away from Beijing, with Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Kowloon and Shuozhou-Huanghua Port railways, Beijing-Shanghai, Shijiazhuang-Huanghua expressways, Beijing-Fuzhou, Beijing-Daming and other highways across the whole territory. 

Cangzhou has a long history of culture, with the reputation of 'home of acrobatics' and 'home of Wushu (Martial Arts)'. Practicing marital arts is a local obsession for Cangzhou city. There are many historic sites and natural landscapes in Cangzhou, including Iron Lion, Iron Bodhisattva, and Daqiao Bridge etc.