Handan
Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China.
The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shandong on the east. At the 2010 census, its population was 9,174,683 inhabitants of whom 2,845,790 lived in the built-up area made of 5 urban districts. By the end of 2024, the total resident population of the city is 9,182,100, and the urbanization rate of the resident population is 62.10%. Yongnian District in Handan and Shahe City in Xingtai have largely formed into a single conurbation.
Getting to Handan
Flights to Chongqing, Dalian, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai Pudong, Shanghai Hongqiao. Official website (Chinese). High speed G trains arrive in Handan East Railway station. Slow trains arrive in Handan Railway station, in the center of the city. A long distance bus departs from the bus station near the old Railway Station (邯郸长途汽车站).
Worth seeing
Mother of Grace Cathedral in Daming (大名宠爱之母堂). Take the bus in Handan East Bus Station to Daming. This cathedral was built in 1918 by French missionaries. Guangfu Ancient City (广府古城). A typical northern Chinese ancient town surrounded by an artificial river. The city wall stands ten meters tall. The original wall was built in the Tang Dynasty.
Things to do
Congtai Park (丛台公园). This park in the city centre contains a lake and a small zoo. For ¥5 the Wuling Cong Tai Terrace with 2 pavilions on top can be visited. The terrace was built by King Wuling of the Zhao State. Zhao Park (赵苑). A big park in the north-west of the city that has some small re-built structures to remember the old Zhao Kingdom. Jingniang Lake (京娘湖).
- 01Luer Garden
- 02Purple Mountain Park
- 03Handan Dao Historic and Cultural Street
Where to eat
Eat a traditional Chinese breakfast on the street. Street vendors usually serve breakfast from 06:00-09:00, some of which are type of soup such as 豆浆, 豆沫, 豆腐脑儿, 小米粥, 胡辣汤. You can drink it with 油条, deep fried dough sticks that can be sweet or salted. There are vendors in each street, for instance in front of the Renmin Street Mosque or on Congtai Street in front of 政通小区. 重庆巴奴火锅, 丛台路. Hotpot. ¥40 per person.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.