Why was Baoding important in the Qing dynasty?

It was the seat of the governor-general of Zhili, the metropolitan province around Beijing, and so the administrative capital of the region. Senior statesmen such as Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai held the post, although Li spent much of his tenure in Tianjin.

Is Xiong'an part of Baoding?

The three counties that form the Xiong'an New Area — Xiong, Rongcheng and Anxin — formerly belonged to Baoding. Since 2017 they have been administered by the Xiong'an New Area as a separate unit under the provincial government.

What are the Western Qing Tombs?

The burial ground at Yixian of four Qing emperors — Yongzheng, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Guangxu — and their consorts. Together with the Eastern Qing Tombs near Tangshan and the Ming Tombs near Beijing, they form part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Historic city · Cultural centre · Hebei

Baoding

保定 (Bǎodìng)

Seat of the Zhili governors-general on the approach to Beijing

Baoding is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei, south-west of Beijing, which served as the capital of Zhili province under the Qing and of Hebei until 1968. Its jurisdiction covers the Western Qing Tombs, the Han tombs of Mancheng, the Yi River of Jing Ke's farewell, and the mountain scenery of the Taihang at Yesanpo and Langya Shan.

ProvinceHebei

Key facts

Province: Hebei
Administrative level: Prefecture-level city
Area: about 22,200 km²[1]
Resident population: 11.54 million(as of 2020 census)[2]
Capital of Zhili: 1669–1911
UNESCO World Heritage: Western Qing Tombs, part of the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing (2000)[3]

Overview

Baoding owes its importance to its position about 150 km south-west of Beijing on the main road to the south. The Yuan named the city Baoding, “protect and pacify”; from 1669 it was the seat of the governor of Zhili, and from the 1720s of the governor-general, the most senior provincial post in the empire. The yamen where Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai held office still stands in the centre.

The modern city is an industrial and university town, with car, power-equipment and new-energy manufacturers. Since 2017 three of its former counties around Baiyangdian lake have formed the Xiong'an New Area, planned to take institutions out of Beijing.

Names and nicknames

上谷 (Shànggǔ)
Name of a Qin and Han commandery in the region, used as a literary name for the city.
保州 (Bǎozhōu)
Name of the Song-era prefecture on the frontier with the Liao.
京畿重地 (jīngjī zhòngdì)
“vital ground of the capital region”
Traditional description of Baoding's role guarding the southern approach to Beijing.

History

The region belonged to the state of Yan, and the Yi River in the west of the prefecture is where, according to the Records of the Grand Historian, Jing Ke took leave before setting out to assassinate the King of Qin in 227 BCE. The rock-cut tombs of Prince Liu Sheng of Zhongshan and his wife at Mancheng produced the first complete jade burial suits to be excavated, in 1968. Baoding became a Yuan and Ming prefectural seat and, under the Qing, the capital of Zhili. It was a centre of military education in the early Republic, when the Baoding Military Academy trained a generation of officers.

227 BCE
Jing Ke's farewell at the Yi River
Crown Prince Dan of Yan saw off his assassin at the river in what is now Yi county; the song Jing Ke sang there became proverbial.
113 BCE
Burial of Liu Sheng at Mancheng
The tombs of the Han prince and his wife Dou Wan, excavated in 1968, held jade suits sewn with gold wire and the gilt-bronze Changxin Palace lamp.
1669
Capital of Zhili
The governor of the metropolitan province moved his seat to Baoding; the governor-general's yamen that stands today was built in 1729.
1730
Western Qing Tombs begun
The Yongzheng Emperor chose a site at Yixian for his tomb; three more emperors were buried there later.
1912–1923
Baoding Military Academy
The army officers' school trained thousands of officers who later served on all sides of China's wars.
25 September 1941
Five Heroes of Langya Shan
Five Eighth Route Army soldiers covered the retreat of their unit and threw themselves from the cliffs of Langya Shan rather than be captured.
2017
Xiong'an New Area established
Xiong, Rongcheng and Anxin counties were designated as a national new area under separate administration.

Landmarks

Historic site
Zhili Governor-General's Office
直隶总督署 (Zhílì Zǒngdū Shǔ)
The best-preserved provincial yamen of the Qing, with halls, offices and residences on a central axis.
Park or garden
Lotus Pond Academy
古莲花池 (Gǔ Liánhuā Chí)
Garden laid out in the thirteenth century that housed the Lianchi Academy, one of the leading academies of the late Qing; also a Qing travelling palace.
Historic site
Western Qing Tombs
清西陵 (Qīng Xīlíng)
The pine-covered tomb complex at Yixian of the Yongzheng, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Guangxu emperors.
Historic site
Mancheng Han Tombs
满城汉墓 (Mǎnchéng Hànmù)
The tombs of Liu Sheng and Dou Wan, cut deep into Lingshan hill; the finds are in the Hebei Museum.
Nature
Yesanpo
野三坡 (Yěsānpō)
Gorges and river valleys of the Taihang in Laishui county, on the border with Beijing.

Neighbourhoods

Yuhua Road
裕华路 (Yùhuá Lù)
The central east–west axis past the governor-general's office and the Lotus Pond.
Zhuozhou
涿州 (Zhuōzhōu)
County-level city on the Beijing border, hometown of Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, with the Sanyi Temple commemorating their Peach Garden Oath.

Food

Donkey-meat flatbread
驴肉火烧 (lǘròu huǒshao)
Baoding's signature snack: a long crisp flatbread stuffed with chopped braised donkey meat and a spoonful of aspic.
Huaimao pickles
槐茂酱菜 (Huáimào jiàngcài)
Vegetables pickled in sweet bean paste by a firm dating from the Qing.
Bai Yunzhang buns
白运章包子 (Bái Yùnzhāng bāozi)
Hui-style steamed beef buns from a restaurant founded in the early twentieth century.

Culture

Baoding sees itself as the old official city of the north, with a culture shaped by the governors' yamen, the Lianchi Academy and the military academy. Its folk products include the Baoding iron balls turned in the hand for exercise, and Yi county produces inkstones carved from the stone of the Yi River valley. The Baiyangdian lake is associated with the anti-Japanese guerrilla stories of the writer Sun Li and the Yanling Squad.

风萧萧兮易水寒，壮士一去兮不复还。

Fēng xiāoxiāo xī Yì shuǐ hán, zhuàngshì yí qù xī bú fù huán.

“The wind is sighing, the Yi River is cold; the hero leaves, never to return.”

— Song attributed to Jing Ke, 227 BCE, as recorded in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian (史记)

Getting around

Baoding East station on the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed line links the city with Beijing West and Shijiazhuang; the conventional Baoding station is in the centre.
The Tianjin–Baoding intercity railway links the city with Tianjin, passing close to Xiong'an.
Buses and taxis serve the compact old centre; the Western Qing Tombs, Yesanpo and Langya Shan lie in the western counties.

Day trips

Baiyangdian
白洋淀 (Báiyáng Diàn)
Reed marshes and lotus ponds of north China's largest freshwater lake, in the Xiong'an New Area.
Langya Shan
狼牙山 (Lángyá Shān)
Jagged Taihang peaks in Yi county, with the memorial to the Five Heroes.
Baishi Shan
白石山 (Báishí Shān)
Pale marble peaks in Laiyuan county with cliff walkways.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Baoding Municipal People's Government — Baoding Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Baoding — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)

More cities in Hebei

Dynasty

Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 CE) →

The Qing dynasty (1644-1912 CE) was the last imperial dynasty of China, established by the Manchus of north-east Asia, who took Beijing in 1644 and…