Yangquan is a prefecture level city located in eastern Shanxi Province. It is an emerging industrial city and the political, economic, and cultural center of eastern Shanxi. Under its administration, there are two counties, namely Pingding County and Yuxian County, three districts, namely suburban district, urban district and mining district, and economic-technological development zone. The city covers an area of 4559 square kilometers and has a permanent population of 1.31 million by the end of 2021.
Yangquan is the gateway of Shanxi, and the hub of Shanxi and Hebei. It is located in the middle of the two provincial capital cities of Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang, both of which are 100 kilometers apart. The two major cities, with heavy industry and light industry, have strong economic complementarity with
Yangquan. Located in the junction zone between the developed eastern region and the midwestern areas, Yangquan has a strategic position of connecting the east with the west and supporting both regions. Yangquan is also located in the reasonable transportation sector of the Economic Region around the Bohai Sea and the Yangtze River Delta Economy Zone. In the radius of 500 kilometers from Yangquan, there are cities such as the capital city of Beijing, the Tianjin municipality, the provincial capital of Taiyuan, Zhengzhou, Jinan, and other cities. From Yangquan you can go east through Tianjin, Qingdao, and
Huanghua Port to the Bohai Sea. It is an important channel from the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu region and developed coastal areas to the mainland.
Yangquan is an inspiring city producing outstanding people and an ideal city for living. Yangquan was formerly known as a city with gushing springs. Located at 38 ° N, surrounded by nine mountains and with seven rivers running through, Yangquan enjoys a moderate climate without severe cold in winter and scorching heat in summer. It is a beautiful city and an ideal place for health preservation with the title of National Garden City, National Sanitary City and National Greening Model City. There are many talents and celebrities here, such as famous historian Lv Sicheng in ancient times, Shi Pingmei, one of the four talented women and writer of the Republic of China, famous science fiction writer Liu Cixin, and Baidu president Robin Li in the Present Age.
Yangquan is endowed with abundant coal resources, which have the advantages of shallow burial, large reserves, easy exploitation and high quality. As the bauxite resource in Yangquan is very rich, the aluminum industry is thriving here. After more than 20 years of construction, an aluminum industry
chain has been formed with main products such as aluminum oxide, electrolytic aluminum and aluminum profiles.
Yangquan is rich in tourism resources. Scenic spots and historic sites dot here and interweave with colorful natural landscapes, constituting a unique tourism resources. The famous Niangziguan Pass, the Ninth Pass of the Great Wall, and the Guguan Great Wall of ancient Zhongshan State, which was built
150 years earlier than the Badaling Great Wall in China stand here. And there are also many beautiful scenic spots such as the Cangshan Mountain where a legendary story of loyalty happened during the Spring and Autumn period, Guanshan Academy where a large number of literary scholars throughout
history have lived in seclusion and studied, the former residence of Shi Pingmei who is a famous modern female writer and one of the four talented women of the Republic of China, the Guanwang Temple which is a masterpiece of ancient Chinese architecture, the Liangjiazhai Hot Spring (80℃) which is known as the “the finest high temperature radon spring under heaven” , the Yuhuang Cave which is known as the “First Karst Cave in Taihang Mountains area”, as well as the Shinaoshan Forest Park which is dominated by the monument and museum to commemorate the Great War of the Hundred regiments during the period of the Chinese people’s all-out War of Resistance against Japanese aggression. In addition, the Dachang ancient village, Yaolinsi Forest Park, Wanhua Cave and Yuhua Cave and many other scenic spots are being continuously improved and developed. At present, there are 16 established tourist attractions open to the public in Yangquan City, including four 4A level scenic spots, three 2A level scenic spots, and three 3A level scenic spots.
Yangquan has the most dense highway and railway networks in the province. The Shitai Railway and Shuohuang Railway (from Shenchi County in Shuozhou City, Shanxi province to Huanghua Port in Hebei province) run from east to west, while the Yangshe Railway (from Yangquan City to Shexian County, Hebei province) and Yangyu Railway (from Yangquan City to Yuxian County) run from north to south. The smooth operation of the Shitai high-speed passenger dedicated line has greatly shortened the travel time between Yangquan and the surrounding central cities. It takes only 30 minutes to Taiyuan in the west and Shijiazhuang in the east, and only 2 hours to Beijing. Yangquan has become an important railway junction connecting Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, Henan, Hebei and Shanxi. The highway here also leads in all directions. National highways 307 and 207, as well as the Taiyuan-Jiuguan Expressway, Yangquan-Wutaishan Expressway, and Beijing-Kunming Expressway intersect in the urban district of Yangquan City. It only takes 1 hour to Taiyuan and 1 hour to Shijiazhuang, and it takes only 4 hours to Beijing. Based on this, a criss-cross traffic pattern with the urban area as the center, radiating the counties, towns and neighboring provinces and cities is formed. Air transportation here is also very convenient. From Yangquan to Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang airports are both100 kilometers. The city has a number of civil aviation ticket offices, ticket purchase, delivery are very convenient.
The established largest single intelligent computing center in Asia, Baidu Yangquan Intelligent Computing Center is located here. “Yangquan City Brain” project is leading the digital application of new smart cities in China. Yangquan will soon become the first prefecture-level city in the country to open up autonomous driving in the whole region. In recent years, Yangquan has been committed to accelerating the cluster of six “ten billion level” industries, including new energy batteries, digital economy, carbon based new materials, new energy, solid waste utilization, and modern logistics. It has implemented the Digital Intelligent New City action and is trying to make the city become a Smart Car City, Webcast City, and Digital Intelligent “Double Carbon” City so as to realize a magnificent transformation from “Coal City” to “Digital Intelligent New City”.
