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Xingtai (simplified Chinese: 邢台; pinyin: Xíngtái; Wade-Giles: Hsingtai) is a prefecture-level city...

Xingtai (simplified Chinese: 邢台; pinyin: Xíngtái; Wade-Giles: Hsingtai) is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, China. The prefecture-level city of Xingtai, with a total area of 12,486 square kilometers, administers 2 districts, 2 county-level cities and 15 counties. In 2004 it had an urban population of 561,400 and a total population of 6.73 million. It borders Shijiazhuang and Hengshui in the north, Handan in the south, and the provinces of Shandong and Shanxi in the east and west respectively. Xingtai is the oldest City in North China. The history of Xingtai can be traced back 3500 years ago. During the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC ), Xingtai functioned as a capital city. During the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC-256 BC), the state of Xing (邢) was founded in the city from which its present-day name derives. During the Warring States Period (473 BC-221 BC), the state of Zhao made Xingtai its provisional capital. The city was known as Xindu for most of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC) but after the Battle of Julu (in modern Xingtai, 207 BC) it became known as Xiangguo, the capital of the state of Zhao (Changshan). When the Later Zhao (a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms,