A report on Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin and North China

Hebei or, (alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China.

Tianjin ( ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin, is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea.

North China, or Huabei is a geographical region of China, consisting of the provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia.

Nevertheless, its built-up area, the third largest in China after Guangzhou and Shanghai, is slightly bigger, including three districts in Hebei (Sanhe, Dachang Hui and Zhuozhou) being conurbated but with Miyun and Pinggu Districts in Beijing not agglomerated yet.

It is located in Northern China, and is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of the State Council with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts.

Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin to the southeast; together, the three divisions form the Jingjinji megalopolis and the national capital region of China.

Tianjin borders Hebei Province and Beijing Municipality, bounded to the east by the Bohai Gulf portion of the Yellow Sea.

In 1421, when the Yongle Emperor moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, the province started to be called as "North Zhili" or just "Zhili", which means "Directly Ruled (by the Imperial Court)".

The capital was also moved from Baoding to the upstart city of Shijiazhuang, and, for a short period, to Tianjin.