Dingzhou

Dingzhou, or Tingchow in Postal Map Romanization, and formerly called Ding County or Dingxian, is a county-level city in the prefecture-level city of Baoding, Hebei Province. As of 2009, Dingzhou had a population of 1.2 million. Dingzhou has 3 subdistricts, 13 towns, 8 townships, and 1 ethnic township. Dingzhou is about halfway between Baoding and Shijiazhuang, 196 km southwest of Beijing, and 68 km northeast of Shijiazhuang.

History
Dingzhou was originally known as Lunu in early imperial China. A tomb about 4 km southwest of Dingzhou from 55BCE was discovered and excavated in 1973. It contained several fragments of Han literature, including manuscripts of Confucius's Analects, the Taoist Wenzi, and the Six Secret Teachings, a military treatise. The identity of the tomb's occupant is unknown, but Chinese archaeologists have speculated that it belonged to Liu Xiu or Xu Xing.

Dingzhou took its present name around 400CE when it became the seat of Ding Prefecture under the Northern Wei, displacing the earlier An Prefecture. In the mid-6th century, its territory held 834,211 people living in 177,500 households. Under the Sui, the seat of Boling Commandery at present-day Anping was renamed "Gaoyang". In 607, Dingzhou then became the eponymous seat of a new Boling commandery and retained that name and status under the Tang until it returned to the name Dingzhou between 621 and 742 and again after 758. Its territory held only 86,869 people in 25,637 households in 639 but recovered to 496,676 people in 78,090 households by 742.

In 1055, under the Song, the city became the home of the 84 m Liaodi Pagoda, which is today China's tallest surviving pre-modern pagoda.

Under the early Republic, it was known as Dingxian (then romanized "Tingsien" or "Ting Hsien") from its status as the seat of Ding County. From 1926 to 1937, the county was the site of the National Association of Mass Education Movement's Ting Hsien Experiment of the Rural Reconstruction Movement. In the 1990s, the New Rural Reconstruction Movement maintained a training and outreach center.

Administrative divisions
Towns:
 * Qingfengdian (清风店镇), Dongting (东亭镇), Liqingu (李亲顾镇), Mingyuedian (明月店镇), Daxinzhuang (大辛庄镇), Xingyi (邢邑镇), Zhuanlu (砖路镇), Liuzao (留早镇), Pangcun (庞村镇), Gaopeng (高蓬镇), Ziwei (子位镇), Dingningdian (叮咛店镇), Dongwang (东旺镇), Kaiyuan (开元镇)

Townships:
 * Dongliuchun Township (东留春乡), Zhoucun Township (周村乡), Daluzhuang Township (大鹿庄乡), Yangjiazhuang Township (杨家庄乡), Zhaocun Township (赵村乡), Xicheng Township (西城乡), Xizhong Township (息塚乡), Haotouzhuang Hui Ethnic Township (号头庄回族乡)

Transportation
Dingzhou is one of the transportation hubs in North China.

Railroads

 * Jingguang railway: Dingzhou Railway Station
 * Jingshi Passenger Railway: Dingzhou East Railway Station
 * Shuohuang Railway: Dingzhou South Railway Station

Highways

 * Jingshi Expressway
 * China National Highway 107

Places of interest

 * Liaodi Pagoda: The tallest existing pre-modern Chinese pagoda
 * Dingzhou Confucius Temple: A well-preserved Confucius temple in Hebei