1.
Country music
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Country music is a genre of United States popular music that originated in the southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from the genre of United States, such as folk music. Blues modes have been used throughout its recorded history. The term country music is used today to many styles and subgenres. In 2009 country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, immigrants to the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of Europe and Africa along with them for nearly 300 years. Country music was introduced to the world as a Southern phenomenon, Bristol, Tennessee, has been formally recognized by the U. S. Congress as the Birthplace of Country Music, based on the historic Bristol recording sessions of 1927. Since 2014, the city has been home to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, historians have also noted the influence of the less-known Johnson City sessions of 1928 and 1929, and the Knoxville sessions of 1929 and 1930. Prior to these, pioneer settlers, in the Great Smoky Mountains region, had developed a musical heritage. The first generation emerged in the early 1920s, with Atlantas music scene playing a role in launching countrys earliest recording artists. Okeh Records began issuing hillbilly music records by Fiddlin John Carson as early as 1923, followed by Columbia Records in 1924, many hillbilly musicians, such as Cliff Carlisle, recorded blues songs throughout the 1920s. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville, during the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or Western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Bob Wills was another musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a hot string band. His mix of country and jazz, which started out as dance hall music, Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had played at Carnegie Hall. Gospel music remained a component of country music. It became known as honky tonk, and had its roots in Western swing and the music of Mexico. By the early 1950s a blend of Western swing, country boogie, rockabilly was most popular with country fans in the 1950s, and 1956 could be called the year of rockabilly in country music. Beginning in the mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres
2.
Tianjin
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Tianjin, formerly known in English as Tientsin, is a metropolis in northern coastal Mainland China and one of the five national central cities of the country, with a total population of 15,469,500. It is governed as one of the four direct-controlled municipalities of the PRC and is thus under direct administration of the central government, Tianjin borders Hebei Province and Beijing Municipality, bounded to the east by the Bohai Gulf portion of the Yellow Sea. Part of the Bohai Economic Rim, it is the largest coastal city in northern China, in terms of urban population, Tianjin is the fourth largest in China, after Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. In terms of area population, Tianjin ranks fifth in Mainland China. The walled city of Tianjin was built in 1404, as a treaty port since 1860, Tianjin has been a major seaport and gateway to Beijing. During the Boxer Rebellion the city was the seat of the Tianjin Provisional Government, under the Ta-tsing Empire, and the Republic of China, Tianjin became one of the largest cities in the region. At that time, numerous European-style buildings and mansions were constructed in concessions, after the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, Tianjin suffered a depression due to the policy of the central government and Tangshan earthquake, but recovered from 1990s. As of the end of 2010, around 285 Fortune 500 companies have set up base in Binhai, Tianjin is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese characters 天津, which mean Heavenly Ford or Ford of Heaven. The origin of the name is obscure, one folk etymology is that it was an homage to the patriotic Chu poet Qu Yuan, whose Li Sao includes the verse. departing from the Ford of Heaven at dawn. Another is that it honors a former name of the Girl, a third is that it derives from a place name noted in the River Record of the History of Jin. The most common are that it was bestowed by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming, before this time, it was open sea. The opening of the Grand Canal during the Sui dynasty prompted the development of Tianjin into a trading center, during the Qing dynasty Tianjin was promoted to a prefecture or Zhou in 1725 with Tianjin County established under the prefecture in 1731. Later it was to upgraded to a prefecture or Fu before becoming a relay station under the command of the Viceroy of Zhili. In 1856, Chinese soldiers boarded The Arrow, a Chinese-owned ship registered in Hong Kong flying the British flag and suspected of piracy, smuggling and they captured 12 men and imprisoned them. In response, the British and French sent gunboats under the command of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour to capture the Taku forts near Tianjin in May 1858. At the end of the first part of the Second Opium War in June of the year, the British and French prevailed, and the Treaties of Tianjin were signed. The treaties were ratified by the Emperor of China in 1860, and Tianjin was formally opened to Great Britain and France and these nations left many architectural reminders of their rule, notably churches and thousands of villas. Today those villas provide a flavour to Tianjin
3.
Tangshan
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Tangshan is a largely industrial prefecture-level city in northeastern Hebei province, China. It has become known for the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, the city has since been rebuilt and has become a tourist attraction. The city of Tangshan is approximately 149 kilometers,92 miles or 80 nautical miles east by south east of the capital city of Beijing. It takes roughly 2 hours by road to get from Tangshan to Beijing, tangshans prefecture population was 7,577,289 at the 2010 census, with 3,187,171 in the built-up area made of the 6 urban core districts. Tangshan is named after Dacheng Mountain in the middle of Tangshan city, in A. D.645, Li Shimin-emperor of Tang Dynasty and his army stationed at Dacheng Mountain on his way back from Korean Peninsula. Unfortunately, Caofei, his concubine, died here. In order to commemorate his Caofei, he named the mountain with the name of the state—Tang, later, the name of the mountain became the name of the city. Tangshan has a history, with ancient humans living in the area as early as 4,000 years ago. It fell within the territory of the Guzhu Kingdom at the time of the Shang Dynasty and later became a part of the State of Yan, during the Han Dynasty it became part of the ancient province of Youzhou. It was under the jurisdiction of Yongping Province and Zunhua State successively during the Qing dynasty, Tangshan was a village at the time of the Tang dynasty and developed further in agriculture, oil exploitation and ceramics during in the Ming Dynasty. During the Hundred Days Reform in the late Qing dynasty, the Kaiping Mining Administration was established in the year of the Guangxu Emperor. In 1878, Qiaotun town was established at Tangshan and renamed Tangshan Town in 1889, in 1938, Tangshan City was formally founded. The administrative system of Tangshan during the Republic of China Republican era continued to follow the Qing system, in 1929, Zhili Province changed its name to Hebei Province. After Japan surrendered in 1945, the Chinese Nationalist Party in Peking took over the control of Tangshan from Japan. In April 1946, it was decided at the 132nd Meeting of the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee to set up Tangshan City and on May 5 of the same year, the Tangshan Municipal government was founded. After the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China on October 1,1949, on April 28,1958, the State Council approved the establishment of Tangshan prefecture. On August 29,1958, it was decided at the Seventh Session of the first Peoples Congress of Hebei Province to move the Tangshan Commissioner Office from Changli County to Tangshan City. The CPC Central Committee decided to designate Tangshan city as one of the 45 cities open to the world on June 3,1959, on April 2,1960, the State Council officially approved the abolition of Tangshan prefecture
4.
Shenyang
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Shenyangs city region includes the ten metropolitan districts of Shenyang proper, the county-level city of Xinmin, and two counties of Kangping and Faku. In the 17th century, Shenyang was conquered by the Manchu people, along with its nearby cities, Shenyang is an important industrial center in China, and serves as the transportation and commercial hub of Chinas northeast — particularly with Japan, Russia and Korea. A center of industry in China since the 1930s, and the spearhead of the Chinese central governments Northeast Area Revitalization Plan. The citys name, Shenyang, literally means the Yang side of the Shen River, referring to the fact that the Hun River, according to Chinese tradition, a rivers north bank and a mountains south slope are considered to be the sunny – or Yang – side. Archaeological findings show that humans resided in present-day Shenyang as early as 8,000 years ago, the remains of the Xinle culture, a late neolithic period society over 6, 800–7,200 years old, are located in a museum in the north part of Huanggu District. It is complemented by a village on site. A wood-sculptured bird unearthed there is the earliest cultural relic in Shenyang, the city now known as Shenyang was first established in about 300 BCE during the Warring States period by Yan general Qin Kai, who conquered the Liaodong region, and was then named Hou City. However, around 350 years later during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of Han and it came back to prominence during early Liao dynasty and was known as the Shen Prefecture through to the end of Jin dynasty, and became the Shenyang Circuit during the Yuan dynasty. During the Ming dynasty, it was designated as a town named Shenyang Central Guard. In 1625, the Manchu leader Nurhaci captured Shenyang and decided to relocate his entire administrative infrastructures to the city, the official name was changed to Shengjing, or Mukden, in 1634. The new name derives from the Manchu word, mukdembi, meaning to rise as reflected also by its Han Chinese name, under Nurhacis orders, the Imperial Palace was constructed in 1626, symbolizing the citys emerging status as the Jurchen political center. The palace featured more than 300 ostentatiously decorated rooms and 20 gardens as a symbol of power, however, Shenyang retained considerable importance as the secondary capital and the spiritual home of the Qing dynasty through the centuries. Treasures of the house were kept at its palaces. In 1657, Fengtian Prefecture was established in the Shenyang area, during the Russo-Japanese War, Mukden was the site of the Battle of Mukden from February 19 to March 10,1905. Involving more than 600,000 combat participants, it was the largest battle since the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, following the Japanese victory, Mukden became one of the chief bases of Japanese presence and economic expansion into southern Manchuria. It also became the government seat of Fengtian province in 1910, in 1914, the city changed back to its old name Shenyang, but continued to be known as Mukden in some English sources and in Japan through much of the first half of 20th century. The postmark of the Chinese postal administration kept the spelling MOUKDEN/奉天 for usage on international mails until the late 1920s, after that, a Chinese–Manchurian bilingual type SHENYANG /瀋陽 datestamp was used until 1933. In the early 20th century, Shenyang began expanding out of its old city walls, the Shenyang Railway Station on the South Manchurian Railway and the Shenyang North Railway Station on the Jingfeng Railway, both west of the old city, became the new commercial centers of Shenyang
5.
Changchun
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Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, and is located in the northeast of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a sub-provincial city, according to the 2010 census of China, Changchun had a total population of 7,674,439 under its jurisdiction. The citys urbanized area, comprising 5 districts and 4 development areas, had a population of 3,815,270 in 2010 as the Shuangyang, the name of the city means long spring in Chinese. Between 1932 and 1945, Changchun was renamed Hsinking by the Japanese as it became the capital of the Japanese puppet state Manchukuo, after the foundation of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, Changchun was established as the provincial capital of Jilin in 1954. Known locally as Chinas City of Automobiles, Changchun is an important industrial base with a focus on the automotive sector. Because of its key role in the automobile industry, Changchun was sometimes referred to as the Detroit of China. Apart from this aspect, Changchun is also one of four National Garden Cities awarded by the Ministry of Construction of P. R. China in 2001 due to its high urban greening rate, Changchun was initially established on imperial decree as a small trading post and frontier village during the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor in the Qing dynasty. Trading activities mainly involved furs and other products during this period. In 1800, the Jiaqing Emperor selected a small village on the east bank of the Yitong River, at the end of 18th century peasants from overpopulated provinces such as Shandong and Hebei began to settle in the region. In 1889, the village was promoted into a city known as Changchun Fu, in May 1898, Changchun got its first railway station, located in Kuancheng, part of the railway from Harbin to Lüshun, constructed by the Russian Empire. After Russias loss of the southernmost section of this branch as a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, an epidemic of pneumonic plague occurred in surrounding Manchuria from 1910 to 1911. It was the worst-ever recorded outbreak of plague which was spread through the Trans-Manchurian railway from the border trade port of Manzhouli. This turned out to be the beginning of the pneumonic plague pandemic of Manchuria and Mongolia which ultimately claimed 60,000 victims. The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 and saw the transfer, the guiding ideology of the overall design was to build a high standard colonial city with sophisticated facilities, multiple functions and large scale. Accordingly, nearly 7 million Yen on average was allocated on a basis for urban planning. The two helped forming two intersections with the prototypes, which led to two circles of South and West. The two sub-civic centres served as axis on which eight radial roads were blazed that took the shape of a sectoral structure and this kind of radial circles and the design concept of urban roads were at that time quite advanced and scientific
6.
Harbin
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Harbin is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang province in the northeastern region of the Peoples Republic of China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Harbin has direct jurisdiction over nine metropolitan districts, Harbin is the eighth most populous Chinese city and the most populous city in Northeast China. According to the 2010 census, the area made of seven out of nine urban districts had 5,282,093 inhabitants. Harbin serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural, Harbin, which was originally a Manchu word meaning a place for drying fishing nets, grew from a small rural settlement on the Songhua River to become one of the largest cities in Northeast China. Founded in 1898 with the coming of the Chinese Eastern Railway, having the most bitterly cold winters among major Chinese cities, Harbin is heralded as the Ice City for its well-known winter tourism and recreations. Harbin is notable for its ice sculpture festival in the winter. Besides being well known for its historical Russian legacy, the city serves as an important gateway in Sino-Russian trade today, in the 1920s, the city was considered Chinas fashion capital since new designs from Paris and Moscow reached here first before arriving in Shanghai. The city has been voted China Top Tourist City by China National Tourism Administration in 2004, on 22 June 2010, Harbin was appointed a City of Music by the UN. Human settlement in the Harbin area dates from at least 2200 BC during the late Stone Age, Wanyan Aguda, the founder and first emperor of the Jin dynasty, was born in the Jurchen Wanyan tribes who resided near the Ashi River in this region. In AD1115 Aguda established Jins capital Shangjing Huining Prefecture in todays Acheng District of Harbin, after Agudas death, the new emperor Wanyan Sheng ordered the construction of a new city on a uniform plan. The planning and construction emulated major Chinese cities, in particular Bianjing, Huining Prefecture served as the first superior capital of the Jin empire until Wanyan Liang moved the capital to Yanjing in 1153. Liang even went so far as to destroy all palaces in his capital in 1157. Wanyan Liangs successor Wanyan Yong restored the city and established it as a capital in 1173. Ruins of the Shangjing Huining Prefecture were discovered and excavated about 2 km from present-day Achengs central urban area, the site of the old Jin capital ruins is a national historic reserve, and includes the Jin Dynasty History Museum. The museum, open to the public, was renovated in late 2005, mounted statues of Aguda and of his chief commander Wanyan Zonghan stand in the grounds of the museum. Many of the artifacts there are on display in nearby Harbin. After the Mongol conquest of the Jin Empire, Huining Prefecture was abandoned, in the 17th century, the Manchus used building materials from Huining Prefecture to construct their new stronghold in Alchuka. The region of Harbin remained largely rural until the 1800s, with ten villages
7.
Qiqihar
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Qiqihar is one of the 13 Larger Municipalities in China, and the second largest city in the Heilongjiang province, China. The built-up area made up of Longsha, Tiefeng and Jianhua districts had 979,517 inhabitants and these are mainly Han Chinese, though the city is also home to thirty-four minorities including Manchu, Daur, and Mongolians. Close to Qiqihar are numerous wetlands and the Zhalong Nature Reserve, the Khitan people settled in the region under the Liao dynasty. The word Qiqi is a reference to a river, the word hari refers to defense. Qiqihar is one of the oldest cities in the northeast of China, the region was originally settled by nomadic Daur and Tungus herdsmen. Qiqihar is a Daur word, which border or natural pasture. The citys original name was Bukui, the Chinese transcription of a Daur word meaning auspicious, the citys oldest mosque, the Bukui Mosque, actually predates the foundation of the city itself by seven years. As the Czarist Russian eastward advance to the Pacific coast, Qiqihar became a major center in 1674. In 1691, a stronghold was constructed in Qiqihar because of the Qing governments campaigns against the Mongols, around 1700 it was a center for Russo-Chinese trade. A military depot with barracks and an arsenal was set up there, Heilongjiang Martial domiciled in Qiqihar City in 1699. It enlisted Han people to teach the local Solon people farming techniques, providing materials. In 1903, The completion of the Chinese Eastern Railway made Qiqihar a center for communications between China and Russia, a network of lines radiating from Qiqihar was extended into the northwestern part of Heilongjiang Province including Jiagedaqi and Manzhouli in the late 1920s. General Ma Zhanshan was ordered to act as Governor and Military Commander-in-chief of Heilongjiang Province on October 10,1931, General Ma declined a Japanese ultimatum to surrender Qiqihar on November 15. However, after the loss of Jiangqiao Campaign, the Japanese began their occupation of Qiqihar on November 19,1931, Qiqihar became a major military base for Guandong Army and its economic importance also grew rapidly. During the occupation, the Imperial Japanese Army established Unit 516 in Qiqihar for research into chemical warfare, a major mustard gas tank left over from the Second Sino-Japanese War buried underground was accidentally damaged in August 2003, causing 43 injuries and one death. After the defeat of Japan, the Democratic Regime Qiqihar Municipal Government was established, Japanese forces in Northeast China surrendered to the Soviet Union while Japanese forces in the rest of China surrendered to the United States. Qiqihar was controlled by the Communists on April 24,1946, along with important regional cities like Changchun, Jilin City. Qiqihar was established as the capital of Heilongjiang Province after the foundation of Peoples Republic of China in 1949, however, since Songjiang Province was merged into Heilongjiang Province, the provincial capital was transferred to Harbin in 1954
8.
Hebei
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Hebei is a province of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is 冀, named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei, the name Hebei literally means north of the river, referring to its location entirely to the north of the Huang He 黄河. Hebei was formed in 1928 after the government dissolved the province of Chihli. Beijing and Tianjin Municipalities, which each other, were carved out of Hebei. The province borders Liaoning to the northeast, Inner Mongolia to the north, Shanxi to the west, Henan to the south, Bohai Bay of the Yellow Sea is to the east. A common alternate name for Hebei is Yānzhào, after the state of Yan, plains in Hebei were the home of Peking man, a group of Homo erectus that lived in the area around 200,000 to 700,000 years ago. Neolithic findings at the prehistoric Beifudi site date back to 7000 and 8000 BC, during the Spring and Autumn period, Hebei was under the rule of the states of Yan in the north and Jin in the south. Also during this period, a people known as Dí invaded the plains of northern China. During the Warring States period, Jin was partitioned, and much of its territory within Hebei went to Zhao, the Qin Dynasty unified China in 221 BC. The Han Dynasty ruled the area under two provinces, Youzhou Province in the north and Jizhou Province in the south, Hebei then came under the rule of the Kingdom of Wei, established by the descendants of Cao Cao. After the invasions of nomadic peoples at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the chaos of the Sixteen Kingdoms. Hebei, firmly in North China and right at the frontier, changed hands many times, being controlled at various points in history by the Later Zhao, Former Yan, Former Qin. The Northern Wei reunified northern China in 440, but split in half in 534, with Hebei coming under the eastern half, the Sui Dynasty again unified China in 589. During the Tang Dynasty, the area was formally designated Hebei for the first time, during the earlier part of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Hebei was fragmented among several regimes, though it was eventually unified by Li Cunxu, who established the Later Tang. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the sixteen ceded prefectures continued to be an area of hot contention between Song China and the Liao Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty that came after abandoned all of North China, including Hebei, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty divided China into provinces but did not establish Hebei as a province. Rather, the area was administrated by the Secretariat at capital Dadu. When the Manchu Qing Dynasty came to power in 1644, they abolished the southern counterpart, during the Qing Dynasty, the northern borders of Zhili extended deep into what is now Inner Mongolia, and overlapped in jurisdiction with the leagues of Inner Mongolia
9.
Baoding
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Baoding is a city in Hebei province, China, approximately 150 kilometres southwest of the national capital, Beijing. Baoding is among 13 Chinese cities with a population of over 10 million, Baoding is a city with a history dating back to the Western Han Dynasty. It was destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th century, but after the Mongols established the Yuan Dynasty and it acquired the name Baoding during the Yuan dynasty — the name is roughly interpreted as protecting the capital, referring to the citys proximity to Beijing. Baoding served for years as the capital of Zhili, and was a significant centre of culture in the Ming Dynasty. During the Boxer rebellion, Boxer rebels killed a Turk, two Swiss, and an Italian in Baoding, after Zhili province was abolished in 1928 Baoding became the capital of the newly formed Hebei province. During World War II, the city was the site of a headquarters for Japanese occupation forces, in 1970, however, the rapidly growing city of Shijiazhuang became the provincial capital instead. Baoding is located in the portion of Hebei province and lies on the North China Plain. Bordering prefecture-level cities in the province are Zhangjiakou to the north, Langfang and Cangzhou to the east, Baoding also borders Beijing to the northeast and Shanxi to the west. Elevations in Baodings administrative area decrease from northwest to southeast. 6% of the prefectures area, the highest peak is Mount Waitou, with an elevation of 2,286 metres. Moving southeast from this area, one encounters low-lying mountains and hills, further to the east lies generally flat terrain of 30 to 100 metres elevation. Here the primary rivers are the Juma, Yishui, Cao, Longquan, Tang, Baiyangdian Lake, the largest natural lake in northern China, can be found nearby. Spring can bear witness to sandstorms blowing in from the Mongolian steppe, accompanied by rapidly warming, autumn is similar to spring in temperature and lack of rainfall. The annual rainfall, about 60% of which falls in July and August alone, is highly variable, in the city itself, this amount has averaged to a meagre 513 millimetres per annum. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −3.2 °C in January to 26.8 °C in July, there are 2,500 to 2,900 hours of bright sunshine annually, and the frost-free period lasts 165−210 days. Children aged up to 14 numbered 1,915,800, citizens 15 to 64 numbered 8,370,600, the urban area of Baoding has a population of around 1,006,000. The overwhelming majority of the population is Han Chinese, the language of Baoding is Mandarin Chinese — specifically, the Baoding dialect of Ji-Lu Mandarin. Despite Baodings proximity to Beijing, the Chinese spoken in Baoding is not particularly close to the Beijing dialect — rather, Baoding is located in the centre of the Bohai Rim economic area which includes Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang. One of the largest employers in Baoding is China Lucky Film, and, Yingli group,2010 World Cup sponsor, has its headquarters in Baoding, who is the Global Top 10 solar panel manufacturer
10.
Chengde
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Chengde, previously known as Jehol or Rehe, is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, situated northeast of Beijing. It is best known as the site of the Mountain Resort, the urban center had a population of approximately 450,000 as of 2009. In 1703, Chengde was chosen by the Kangxi Emperor as the location for his summer residence, constructed throughout the eighteenth century, the Mountain Resort was used by both the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors. The site is currently an UNESCO World Heritage Site, since the seat of government followed the emperor, Chengde was a political center of the Chinese empire during these times. The city of Jehol reached its height under the Qianlong Emperor 1735-1796, the great Putuo Zongcheng Temple, loosely based on the Potala in Lhasa, was completed after just four years of work in 1771. It was heavily decorated with gold and the emperor worshipped in the Golden Pavilion, in the temple itself was a bronze-gilt statue of Tsongkhapa, the Reformer of the Gelugpa sect. Under the Republic of China, Chengde was the capital of Rehe province, from 1933 to 1945 the city was under Japanese control as a part of the Manchurian puppet state known as Manchukuo. After World War II the Kuomintang regained jurisdiction, in 1948, the Peoples Liberation Army took control of Chengde. It would remain a part of Rehe until 1955, when the province was abolished, the city is home to large populations of ethnic minorities, Mongol and Manchu in particular. The name for Chengde in Mongolian is ᠬᠠᠯᠠᠭᠤᠨ ᠭᠣᠣᠯ and in Manchu is Erdemu be aliha. Chengde comprises, Chengde is located in the portion of Hebei, with latitude 40° 12－42°37 N, and longitude 115° 54－119°15 E. It borders Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Beijing, and Tianjin, neighbouring prefecture-level provincial cities are Qinhuangdao and Tangshan on the Bohai Gulf, and land-locked Zhangjiakou. Due to its Liaoning border, it is considered a part of both the North and Northeast China regions. From north to south the prefecture stretches 269 kilometres, and from west to east 280 kilometres, for an area of 39,702.4 square kilometres. It is by area the largest prefecture in the province, though as most of its terrain is mountainous, spring warming is rapid, but dust storms can blow in from the Mongolian steppe, autumn cooling is similarly quick. Precipitation averages at 512 millimetres for the year, with more than two-thirds of it falling during the three summer months, with monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 50% in July to 69% in October, the city receives 2,746 hours of sunshine annually. The first ever match in China was organised in Chengde in January 2015 and was played between the Russian and Swedish top clubs Baykal-Energiya and Sandviken. Chengde city was one of the initiators when the China Bandy Federation was founded in December 2014, the city will host the 2018 Womens Bandy World Championship
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