Baiyangdian Lake

Situated between the three major metropolises of Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang, Baoding in north China's Hebei province enjoys a good geographic location and transportation network.

Known as "the south gate of the capital," the city is only 140 km south of Beijing. It takes just one-and-a-half hours to reach Baoding by bus from Beijing on the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway.

Baoding covers an area of 22,000 sq km, with a total population of 11 million.

Serving as Hebei province's political center for a long period in history, Baoding is rich in cultural relics.

One third of the city's territory lies on the Taihang Mountains in the west, one third on the eastern plain area and the other third on the hilly land in between.

As a result, the city has beautiful sceneries of green mountains, abundant forests and clean lakes.

It has one national AAAAA scenic spot, six AAAA scenic spots, two world geoparks, three national geoparks, four national forest parks and one national key scenic spot.

Major attractions include:

Western Qing Tombs

It is a necropolis that incorporates four royal mausoleums where 78 royal members are buried, including four emperors of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and their empresses, imperial concubines, princes and princesses, as well as other royal servants.

It lies at the foot of Yongning Mountain in the north, about 15 km west of Yixian County.

Covering an area of about 800 sq km, it is surrounded by over 20,000 ancient pines.

With enthralling scenery, high cultural value, delicate craftwork and designs, it has proved to be a popular location for tourists from home and abroad.

It became a UNESCO world cultural heritage site in 2000.