Tangshan (Chinese: 唐山; pinyin: Tángshān) is a coastal, industrial prefecture-level city in the northeast of Hebei province. It is located in the eastern part of Hebei Province and the northeastern part of the North China Plain. It is located in the central area of the Bohai Rim and serves as the main traffic corridor to the Northeast. The city faces the Bohai Sea in the south, the Yan Mountains in the north, Qinhuangdao across the Luan River to the east, and Tianjin to the west.
Much of the city's development is thanks to the industrialization, beginning in 1870, when Kailuan Group established coal mines in the region. It's the birthplace of China's first standard-gauge railway, the first railway plant, the first steam locomotive, and the first cement factory. It was hailed as China's "cradle of industrialization". Even today, Tangshan is a hub of steel, energy, chemical, and ceramics production. Ping opera, which originated from the city's Luanzhou county, is one of the five most popular Chinese operas.
The city has also become known for the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, flattened much of the city, killed at least 255,000 residents according to official estimates. The city has since been rebuilt, has become a tourist attraction, and is among the 10 largest ports in China.The city of Tangshan is approximately 149 km (93 mi) east by south east of Beijing. It takes roughly 2 hours by road to get from Tangshan to Beijing and 1 hour by road to reach Tianjin. Tangshan's prefecture population was 7,577,289 at the 2010 census, with 3,187,171 in the built-up (or metro) area made of the 6 urban core districts.


Tangshan is a city rich in history and culture. The famous poet Li Bai (Li Po) was born here, as were the poets Yu Wuling and Zhang Yue. It was at Tangshan that the first Chinese railway, built by British engineers under supervision of Zhan Tianyou in 1881-1885, began operation on July 1, 1885. In 1932 it became one of the sites for China's first steel mill (the other site being Anshan). The city has also been an important center for ceramics production since ancient times; its clay deposits are known to be among the best in China.

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