Huairou District (Chinese: 怀柔区; pinyin: Huáiróu Qū) is situated in northern Beijing about 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the city center (about a 1½ to 2 hour drive).

In 1995 during the United Nation's 4th World's Women Conference in Beijing, the Civil Society community was forced to meet in the Huairou district, an hour from the official proceedings, leading to a great deal of discontent, as many of the non-governmental actors present felt marginalized.

In a tent at the Civil Society Village established especially for poor, grassroots women at the conference (organized by GROOTS International), the Huairou Commission, a registered non-governmental organization with a global secretariat in Brooklyn, NY, was established to ensure that grassroots women would have a voice at subsequent UN conferences and in other development processes.

Therefore, Huairou is of great importance to Beijing in ensuring the environmental quality and the ecosystem of the capital city.

Its major agricultural products are chestnuts, walnuts, hawthorns, sweet pears, and apricots.