Hebei completely surrounds Beijing and Tianjin municipalities (which also border each other). It borders Liaoning to the northeast, Inner Mongolia to the north, Shanxi to the west, Henan to the south, and Shandong to the southeast. Bohai Bay of the Yellow Sea is to the east. A small part of Hebei, an exclave disjointed from the rest of the province, is wedged between the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin. A common alternate name for Hebei is Yanzhào.

Most of central and southern Hebei lies within the North China Plain. The province is bordered by the Yan Mountains (Yan Shan) in the north and Taihang Mountains (Taihang Shan) in the west, while the southeast forms part of the North China Plain. The highest peak is Mount Xiaowutai with an altitude of 2882 m. Hebei borders Bohai Sea on the east. The Hai He watershed covers most of the province's central and southern parts, and the Luan He watershed covers the northeast.

In 2001:
Birth rate: 11.16 births/1000 population
Death rate: 6.18 births/1000 population
Sex ratio: 103.63 males/100 females
Average family size: 3.59
Illiteracy rate (total/male/female): 8.59% / 6.47% / 10.76%

Hebei's main agricultural products are cotton and cereal crops including wheat, maize, millet, and sorghum. Hebei is responsible for most of the cotton produced in China. Other industrial crops like peanut, soya bean and sesame are also produced.

Large quantities of coal and iron can be found in Hebei.

Hebei's industries mainly include textiles, coal, steel, iron, engineering industry, chemical production, petroleum, electricity, ceramics and food.

In 2003:
GDP: 709.54 billion Renminbi
GDP per capita: 10508 Renminbi
GDP growth rate: 11.6%
Employment by industry (primary/secondary/tertiary) (2001): 49.6% / 25.4% / 25.0%

Traditional forms of musical performing arts in Hebei include Pingju, Hebei Bangzi, and Cangzhou Kuaiban Dagu. Traditional arts and crafts include Dingzhou porcelain.

Hebei boasts four world cultural heritage sites: the Imperial Summer Resort and its Eight Outlying Temples in Chengde, and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Eastern and Western Mausoleums. The Imperial Summer Resort is north of downtown Chengde City, 230 kilometers from Beijing. It was here that the Qing emperors went in high summer to escape the heat of the capital and handle state affairs in the comparative cool of Chengde. Construction of the resort started in 1703 and continued for 90 years, through the reigns of emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong.

In contrast to the grandiose Forbidden City in Beijing, the Summer Resort accentuates rural simplicity and the beauty of natural scenery, complemented by both southern and northern gardening techniques. It is the largest imperial garden extant in China, almost twice the size of Beijing's Summer Palace, and incorporates 120 groups of ancient structures.

The east end of the Ming Great Wall is located on the coast at Shanhaiguan, near Qinhuangdao. The Ming Great Wall crosses the northern part of the province. Beidaihe, located nearby, is a popular beach resort.

Hebei cooking is typically based on wheat, mutton and beans.

The Death of the First Emperor

In July of 210 BC a grand procession started out from Pingxiang (in today's Hebei province) and began moving slowly toward Xianyang, the capital city north of today's Xi'an. It was a royal entourage, accompanied by eunuchs and guarded by many soldiers.

The centre of all this pomp was an elaborate closed chariot. Court retainers periodically took food to it and brought back orders. But the chariot's sole occupant would never eat or issue orders again - it was the body of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who had been ill and had died. The ruse was part of a plot by high officials to delay discovery of his death so that they could take power.