Located in the central south of Hebei Province in the North China Plain and 283 kilometers southwest away from Beijing, Shijiazhuang is a new rising city as well as the capital of Hebei Province. It has six districts and 17 counties under its jurisdiction, with a total area of 15,848 sq km and a total population of 9,175 million. The city proper of Shijiazhuang covers an area of 307 sq km and has a population of 2.173 million.

Shijiazhuang was originally set up in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and used to be the collecting and distributing center for goods to Yan, Zhao and San Jin. It was renowned as 'the thoroughfare between the north and south, the throat of Yan (Shandong Province) and Jin (Shanxi Province).'

In 1925, the city was called as Shijiazhuang for the first time. On October 7,1939, it was formally established as a city then called Shijia City or Shimen City. On December 26, 1947, it was renamed as Shijiazhuang City. In 1968, the government offices moved from Baoding to Shijiazhuang, and from then on, Shijiazhuang became the capital city of Hebei Province.

After decades of development, Shijiazhuang has become a major central city in North China. It has established a comprehensive industrial structure with a relatively rational distribution, comprising the main sectors such as textiles, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and chemicals, building materials, the light industry and electronics. Also fruit tree cultivation (apples, pears, etc), wheat and cotton are active industries.

Shijiazhuang is also a junction area of the railway, highway and postal service. As a major railway hub in China, Shijiazhuang is the meeting place of three major railway lines, namely, the Beijing-Guangzhou (Jing-guang) Railway Line, the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan (Shi-tai) Railway Line and the Shijiazhuang-Dezhou (Shi-de) Railway Line. The Shijiazhuang Railway Station is a major transfer station in North China for both passenger and cargo trains and is also one the three largest marshalling yards in China. As the two-way Beijing-Shijiazhuang (Jing-shi) Expressway has been fully opened, one needs to drive for more than two hours only from Shijiazhuang to Beijing. At present, the Hebei Section of the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan (Shi-tai) Expressway has opened to traffic, while the Shi-An Section of the Beijing-Shenzhen Expressway is under construction. The Shijiazhuang Airport has opened air routes to large and medium-sized cities in China and will successively open international air routes soon. 

Shijiazhuang has many scenic spots and historical sites. The Mausoleum of Revolution Martyrs along with the Tomb of Dr. Norman Bethune and Tomb of Dr. D.S.Kotnis are located in the Martyr's Memorial park to the west of town. Xibaipo -- a sacred place of the Chinese revolution -- was once the site of the Headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee at wartime. The Great Zhaozhou Stone Bridge, 40 kilometers southeast of the city, called the 'No. 1 bridge under the heaven,' has been honored as an outstanding model of stone arch bridges in the world history of bridge construction. At the Cangyan Mountain (70km southwest of Shijiazhuang) and Zhangshiyan scenic spots, wooded mountain peaks are connected to one another, producing attractive scenes of landscape. The great bronze Buddha and the color statue of the Goddess of Mercy at the Longxing Temple in the ancient city of Zhengding, ten kilometers north of Shijiazhuang, are rated as treasures of ancient Chinese arts of casting and sculpture. 

Traditional arts and crafts from Shijiazhuang are famed, including New Year Pictures, paper cuts, stone carving and bottles with decoration painted inside.