Hedong District () is located at the heart of the municipality of

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

, People's Republic of China. Its name literally means "east of the river", referring to its location east of the

Hai River The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), also known as the Peiho, ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea. The Hai River at Tianjin is formed by the confluence of five watercourses: the ...

. Parts of the district were once part of the Russian Concession during the colonial period in the early 20th century. As of 2020, Hedong District has a population of 858,787. It hosts

Tianjin Railway Station The Tianjin railway station () is the principal railway station in Tianjin, China. It was established in 1888, rebuilt in 1987-1988, and restructured in 2007-2008. Its Chinese big title was written by Deng Xiaoping in 1988, for celebrating 100t ...

, Tianjin Customs House and General Mail Office of Tianjin. It also hosts

Tianjin Conservatory of Music The Tianjin Conservatory of Music () is a university in Tianjin, China, under the municipal government. It was founded in 1958 as one of nine conservatories of music in China. Notable alumni * Shi Guangnan, composer (1940-1990) * Jie Ma, pipa ...

and Tianjin Polytechnic University (which used to be a branch of Tianjin University, the oldest university of China).

History

In 1125, the territory of what would become Hedong District was part of Dazhigu, and fell under the control of Jin dynasty. It became a maritime transport hub during the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...

. In 1404, the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

built a series of military settlement on the southern bank of

, causing the economic center of the region to shift south away from Dazhigu. For the rest of the Ming dynasty, Dazhigu remained part of Jinghai county. During the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

, the area belonged to Wuqing county. After Eight-Nation Alliance occupied Tianjin in 1900, a portion of Wuqing county became part of Russian concession, while a piece of land south of Russian concession was given to Belgian as concession. In 1924, Republic of China regain the control of Russian concession, and set it as the 3rd district. Belgian concession was returned in 1931, where it became the 4th district. The city of Tianjin was occupied by Japan from 1937 to 1945, during which the border of districts within the city was redrawn 4 times. After the founding of

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, the area was divided into the 4th and 5th districts in 1951, and the latter was merged into the 4th district a year later. In 1956, the 4th district was given the current name Hedong. Its name was shortly changed to Dongfeng() district in 1966, before changing back two years later.

Administrative divisions

There are 13

subdistricts A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, Indon ...

in the district:

Transportation

Metro

Hedong is currently served by three metro lines operated by

Tianjin Metro The Tianjin Metro or Tianjin Rail Transit is the rapid transit system in the city of Tianjin, which was the second city in mainland China after Beijing to operate a subway system (the Beijing Subway opened in 1971). Opened in 1984, the syste ...

: * - Tianjinzhan , Yuanyangguojizhongxin, Shunchiqiao, Jingjianglu, Cuifuxincun * - Tianjinzhan * - Tianjinzhan , Dawangzhuang, Shiyijing Road, Zhigu, Dongxing Road, Zhongshanmen, Yihaoqiao, Erhaoqiao

Education

Universities

*Tianjin Conservatory of Music *Tianjin Polytechnic

High schools

*Number Seven High School * High School Attached to Conservatory of Music * No. 32 High School

Primary schools

* Hedong Experimental Primary School * Hedong First Center Primary School

Culture and leisure

Cultural Interests

* Tianjin Railway Station * Tianjin Custom House * General Mail Office of Tianjin * Hedong Library * Music Street

Parks

* Second Palace Park * Hedong Park * Riverside (Hebin) Park

Hospitals

* Tianjin First Center Hospital (Dong Yuan) * Tianjin Third Center Hospital * Tianjin Fragrant Hill Hospital

References

Districts of Tianjin {{Tianjin-geo-stub