Zhao County intro

Zhao County (Zhaoxian) (Chinese: 赵县; pinyin: Zhào Xiàn), a historic town called Zhaozhou (赵州) in the past, is located in Hebei 40 km southeast of the provincial capital Shijiazhuang, and 280 km south of Beijing. Its total land area is 675 km² and total population is around 550,000. There are many historical sites in Zhao County, among which are Zhaozhou (Anji) bridge (赵州桥), Yongtong Bridge (永通桥), Tuoluonijing Tower (陀罗尼经幢), and Bailing (Cypress Grove) Temple (柏林寺). The county is also famous for its agriculture products: snowflake pears (xuehua pear), asparagus，and high-quality wheat.
Known for its long history, the earliest written record of Zhao Zhou dated back 2500 years ago. In Shang Dynasty, Zhao Zhou is a center of horse breeding in Kingdom Fang (方国). Various names were used for where Zhao Xian is located nowadays, including Jipu (棘蒲)，Pingji (平棘），Zhaojun （赵郡）, Qingyuan (庆源) and others.

[ Source:Admin - 09 August 2009 ]