Shijiazhuang is a prefecture-level city and capital of Hebei Province in China. Shijiazhuang comprises the Shijiazhuang metropolitan area, which has a population of 2.6 million people, the Jingzing Mining District, five county-level cities and twelve counties. In total, Shijiazhuang has a population of 9.6 million people.
Located 280 km (170 mi) to the south of Beijing, Shijiazhuang is experiencing dramatic growth. Its metropolitan population has quadrupled in the past 30 years.