Hebei province, which surrounds the capital Beijing, covers a total area of 187,700 sq km. The provincial capital Shijiazhuang is 283 km from Beijing in the north. The province adjoins Tianjian and the Bohai Sea in the east and the provinces of Shangdong and Henan in south. It lies along the Taihang Mountains and neighbors Shanxi province in the west, has a common boundary with the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in the north and borders on Liaoning province in the northeast.

The topography of Hebei slopes from the northwest to the southeast with complicated and varied landforms. Hebei is the sole province with seashore, plains, lakes, hills and plateaus and has a large quantity and variety of natural resources.

According to authoritative population survey, the total population of the province was 68 million in 2004.

Climatic environment

Hebei has a continental monsoon climate, with temperatures of -14 to -2°C in January and 20-27 °C in July, and with annual precipitation of 400 to 800 mm, occurring mostly in summer. There are marked changes in all seasons. It has cold and dry winter, hot and rainy summer, transient and windy spring, and cool and agreeable autumn.