| Hengshui | |
| Native Name: | 衡水市 |
| Native Name Lang: | zh |
| Nickname: | Peach City (Chinese: 桃城), Lake City (Chinese: 水市湖城) |
| Settlement Type: | Prefecture-level city |
| Image Map1: | Location_of_Hengshui_Prefecture_within_Hebei_(China).png |
| Map Caption1: | Location of Hengshui City jurisdiction in Hebei |
| Pushpin Map: | China Hebei#China Northern Plain#China |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the city centre in Hebei |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | People's Republic of China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Hebei |
| Seat Type: | Municipal seat |
| Seat: | Taocheng District |
| Established Title: | Settled |
| Established Date: | 1265 |
| Established Title2: | Established |
| Established Date2: | May 31, 1996 |
| Area Total Km2: | 8836.95 |
| Area Metro Km2: | 608.8 |
| Area Urban Km2: | 608.8 |
| Area Urban Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 4212933 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Districts |
| Population Metro: | 805000 |
| Population Urban: | 805000 |
| Population Density Metro Km2: | auto |
| Population Density Urban Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type2: | GDP[2] |
}
| P: | Héngshuǐ |
| L: | "horizontal river" |
Hengshui is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Shandong to the southeast. As of the 2020 census its population was 4,212,933 inhabitants whom 805,000 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Taocheng urban district.[3] It is on the Beijing–Kowloon railway.
| Map | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Hanzi | Hanyu Pinyin | Population (2010 census) | Area (km2) | Density (/km2) | ||
| 1 | Taocheng District | Chinese: 桃城区 | Táochéng Qū | 522,147 | 602.5 | 867 | |
| 2 | Jizhou District | Chinese: 冀州区 | Jìzhōu Qū | 362,013 | 918 | 394 | |
| 3 | Shenzhou City | Chinese: 深州市 | Shēnzhōu Shì | 566,087 | 1,244 | 455 | |
| 4 | Zaoqiang County | Chinese: 枣强县 | Zǎoqiáng Xiàn | 391,469 | 903 | 437 | |
| 5 | Wuyi County | Chinese: 武邑县 | Wǔyì Xiàn | 315,693 | 830 | 380 | |
| 6 | Wuqiang County | Chinese: 武强县 | Wǔqiáng Xiàn | 214,549 | 442 | 485 | |
| 7 | Raoyang County | Chinese: 饶阳县 | Ráoyáng Xiàn | 280,498 | 573 | 490 | |
| 8 | Anping County | Chinese: 安平县 | Ānpíng Xiàn | 328,512 | 493 | 666 | |
| 9 | Gucheng County | Chinese: 故城县 | Gùchéng Xiàn | 487,025 | 941 | 518 | |
| 10 | Jing County | Chinese: 景县 | Jǐng Xiàn | 528,693 | 1,183 | 447 | |
| 11 | Fucheng County | Chinese: 阜城县 | Fùchéng Xiàn | 341,087 | 698 | 489 | |
Hengshui High School and Hengshui University[4] are located in Hengshui.
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.[5]
There is a Buddhist Temple on the outskirts of the city and a bridge in the old part of the city - one of the few remnants of the old town.
Hengshui has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk), with hot, humid summers due to the East Asian Monsoon and brief, though very cold and dry winters, owing to the prevailing dry north-westerly winds that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone.
Precipitation totals 496.9 mm annually with more than three quarters falling during the summer half. Extreme temperatures range from -20.6°C to 42.8°C for the 1981-2010 period. Relative humidity is highest in the summer and lowest in the spring, preceding the monsoonal period. Due to the very dry winter conditions, snowfall is not common, though occurs almost every year, usually in small amounts.
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.[6]
Hengshui is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Hengshui.