Pinghu (Chinese: 平湖; pinyin: Pínghú) is a county-level city in northeast Zhejiang Province, just outside of Shanghai. It sits next to the East China Sea and the north shore of Hangzhou Bay. Prior to the Ming Dynasty, Pinghu was part of Haiyan County. In 1430 Pinghu County was established. In 1991 Pinghu became a county-level city under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Jiaxing.