Zhengzhou

Zhengzhou 郑州
—  Prefecture-level city  —
郑州市
Zhengzhou City
Location in Henan
Zhengzhou Location in Henan
Coordinates: 34°45′37″N 113°38′31″E / 34.76028°N 113.64194°E / 34.76028; 113.64194Coordinates: 34°45′37″N 113°38′31″E / 34.76028°N 113.64194°E / 34.76028; 113.64194
Country	China
Province	Henan
City seat	Zhongyuan
Subdivisions	List Districts Erqi Guancheng Hui Huiji Jinshui Shangjie Zhongyuan County-level cities Dengfeng Gongyi Xingyang Xinmi Xinzheng County Zhongmu
Government
- Mayor	Zhao Jiancai
Area
- Prefecture-level city	7,446.2 km2 (2,875 sq mi)
- Urban	1,010.3 km2 (390.1 sq mi)
Population (2007)
- Prefecture-level city	7,356,000
- Density	987.9/km2 (2,558.6/sq mi)
- Urban	4,508,000
- Urban Density	4,462/km2 (11,556.6/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC (UTC+8)
Postal code	450000
Area code(s)	371
Website	http://www.zhengzhou.gov.cn/

Zhengzhou (simplified Chinese: 郑州; traditional Chinese: 鄭州; pinyin: Zhèngzhōu; Postal map spelling: Chengchow), formerly called Zheng County (Chinese: 郑县; pinyin: Zhèng Xiàn), is a prefecture-level city, and the capital of Henan province, People's Republic of China.

History

The Shang Dynasty established Aodu (隞都) or Bodu (亳都) in Zhengzhou (see also: History of China). The pre-historical city had been long lost even before the time of the First Emperor of China. Since 1950 archaeological finds have shown that there were Neolithic settlements in the area and that the Shang Bronze Age culture, which flourished there from about 1500 BC, was centered on a walled city. Outside this city, in addition to remains of large public buildings, a complex of small settlements has been discovered. The site is generally identified with the Shang capital of Ao. It is preserved in the Shang Dynasty Ruins monument in Guanchen District. The Shang, who continually moved their capital, left Ao, perhaps in the 13th century BC. The site, nevertheless, remained occupied; Zhou (post-1050 BC) tombs have also been discovered. Traditionally it is held that in the Western Zhou period (1111–771 BC) it became the fief of a family named Guan. From this derives the name borne by the county (xian) since the late 6th century BC — Guancheng (City of the Guan). The city first became the seat of a prefectural administration in AD 587, when it was named Guanzhou. In 605 it was first called Zhengzhou — a name by which it has been known virtually ever since.

The name of Zhengzhou came from Sui Dynasty (AD 581), albeit it was located in Chenggao, another town. The government moved to the contemporary city during Tang Dynasty. It achieved its greatest importance under the Sui (AD 581–618), Tang (618–907), and early Song (960–1127) dynasties, when it was the terminus of the New Bian Canal, which joined the Yellow River to the northwest. There, at a place called Heyin, a vast granary complex was established to supply the capitals at Luoyang and Chang'an to the west and the frontier armies to the north. In the Song period, however, the transfer of the capital eastward to Kaifeng robbed Zhengzhou of much of its importance.It is a capital during the five dynasties of Xia, Shang, Guan, Zheng, and Han, and a prefecture during the eight dynasties of Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing.

In 1903 the Beijing–Hankou railway arrived at Zhengzhou, and in 1909 the first stage of the Longhai Railway gave it an east–west link to Kaifeng and Luoyang; it later was extended eastward to the coast at Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, and westward to Xi'an (Chang'an), Shaanxi Province, as well as to western Shaanxi. Zhengzhou thus became a major rail junction and a regional center for cotton, grain, peanuts (groundnuts), and other agricultural produce. Early in 1923 a workers' strike began in Zhengzhou and spread along the rail line before it was suppressed; a 14-story double tower in the center of the city commemorates the strike. In 1938, during the war with Japan, the retreating Chinese Nationalist Army blew up the dikes retaining the Yellow River about 32 km northeast of the town, flooding a vast area. At about the same time, in their drive to relocate industry in the interior far from the invading Japanese, the Chinese transferred all the local plants to the west.

When the Communist government came to power in 1949, Zhengzhou was a commercial and administrative center, but it had virtually no industry. Because it was the center of a densely populated cotton-growing district, it was developed into an industrial city, with industry concentrated on the west side so that the prevailing northeast winds would blow fumes away from the city. There are cotton-textile plants, spinning mills, textile-machinery works, flour mills, tobacco and cigarette factories, and various food-processing plants; coal is mined nearby.

Zhengzhou also has a locomotive and rolling-stock repair plant, a tractor-assembly plant, and a thermal generating station. The city's industrial growth has resulted in a large increase in population, largely of industrial workers from the north. Trees have been planted throughout the city's more than 23 km² area, holding down the sand that formerly blew in thick gusts through the city. A water diversion project and pumping station, built in 1972, has provided irrigation for the surrounding countryside. The city has an agricultural university.

Administration

Subdivisions of Zhengzhou

The prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou administers 12 county-level divisions, including 6 districts, 5 county-level cities and 1 county.

• Zhongyuan District (中原区)
• Erqi District (二七区)
• Jinshui District (金水区)
• Guancheng Hui District (管城回族区)
• Huiji District (惠济区)
• Shangjie District (上街区)
• Xingyang City (荥阳市)
• Gongyi City (巩义市)
• Dengfeng City (登封市)
• Xinmi City (新密市)
• Xinzheng City (新郑市)
• Zhongmu County (中牟县)

Geography

Located just north of the province's center and south of the Yellow River, Zhengzhou borders Luoyang to the west, Jiaozuo to the northwest, Xinxiang to the northeast, Kaifeng to the east, Xuchang to the southeast, and Pingdingshan to the southwest. It is geographically the center city of China.

Zhengzhou is situated to the south of the Yellow River where its valley broadens into the great plain and at the eastern extremity of the Xionger Mountains. Zhengzhou is at the crossing point of the north–south route skirting the Taihang Mountains and the mountains of western Henan and the east–west route along the southern bank of the Yellow River.

Close to the Yellow River to the north, bordering the Songshan Mountain to the west, and adjacent to the Huanghuai Plains to the southeast, Zhengzhou is in the region of 34°16'~34°58N and 112°42'~114°14'E, covering a total area of 7446.2 square kilometers , including city area of 1013.3 square kilometers and built area in central city area of 147.7 square kilometers.

The land descends from west to east. Its west is characterized by mountains & hills whereas the east is mostly of plains. Located in medium latitude zone Zhengzhou has a temperate semi-moisture continental monsoon climate ,cold in winter and hot in summer, centralized dryness and wetness, and warm in spring and cool in autumn with four clearly-defined seasons. An annual average temperature stands at 14.4 ℃, but highest temperature at an average of 27.3℃ in July and coldest at an average 0.2℃ in January. Annual rainfall stands at 640.9 mm, frost-free period 220 days, and annual sunshine time about 2400 hours. There are 35 big and small rivers and streams, which belong to the two big water systems of the Yellow River and Huaihe River, respectively. The section of the Yellow River flowing through Zhengzhou extends 150.4 kilometers.

Climate

Zhengzhou experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cwa).

Culture and Tourism

As an ancient Chinese capital and a traditional trading center, Zhengzhou maintains abundant cultural heritage that reflects its glorious history as well as the culture of Henan Province. Zhengzhou Confucius Temple, initially built in Eastern Han Dynasty 1900 years ago, is one of the oldest Confucius Temple in China. Other important architectural heritage in the city include the Remains of Shang Dynasty, Town God Temple and Erqi Memorial Tower. There are the remains of the Shang Dynasty capital city (3,600 years ago) in Zhengzhou's east side located around Shangcheng lu (商城路).

While it is not a tourist city, it's an example of a remarkably fast-changing city in China (without minor tourism clutter). The best known tourist attraction is the Shaolin Temple (少林寺), which is more than 50 miles southwest of downtown Zhengzhou. Shaolin Temple is not only known as one of China's important Buddhist shrines, but also as the ancient center of Chinese kung-fu. When the temple was built in 495, the temple was originally designed to house Batuo, a celebrated Indian monk, who, after many years of spreading Buddhism, was later known as Fo Tuo, or Grand Monk. In 537, another famous Indian monk named Boddhidharma, settled in the temple. According to legend, he created a primitive bare-hand combat routine called “xingyi boxing” after he had sat meditating in a cave for nine years. That started the kung-fu tradition at the temple.

Henan Museum

Zhengzhou's most notable cultural institution is the Henan Museum (河南省博物院), one of China's most important museums. The provincial museum in particular requires at least a half day visit to do justice to the many impressive exhibits, which range from prehistoric times, including dinosaur bones, up through the Qing Dynasty. The admission price was 20 yuan, but has now been made free of charge.

Zhengzhou Zoo (动物园, Dong Wu Yuan) is located on Hua Yuan Lu (花园路). The newly built Zhengzhou Botanic Garden is at the western edge of Zhengzhou city.

There are large water, light and music shows on display in Zheng Dong Xin Qu (New Eastern District) during the weekend at 8.30 pm in the summer and 8:00 pm during the winter months. The show is about 25 minutes long and is free of charge. People would have to arrive before 8.00 for a seat. The show times can change from 8:00 and 8:30 without warning.

Other famous attractions of Zhengzhou include the Song Mountain(Song Shan, now is a World Geopark recognised by UNESCO), Yellow River and the birth place of Huangdi(黄帝)(recognized as the ancestor of Chinese people).

• Martial arts: Shaolin Monastery (shào lín sì) (Buddhist Monastery)
• Chinese opera: Henan opera (yù jù)

Gallery

Erqi Memorial Tower	Zhengzhou Confucius Temple	|Zhengzhou Town God Temple	Shang Dynasty Remains
|Shaolin Temple	Zhengzhou Botanic Garden	|Zhengzhou Botanic Garden	Zhengzhou Museum

Economy

Zhengzhou, along with Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing and Wuhan, is one of the most important cities in inland China. It's the second largest city in central China (including provinces of Henan, Shanxi, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi). It is the economic center of Henan Province and the surrounding areas such as southeast Shanxi Province and southwest Shandong Province. Due to its strategic location in one of the most populous areas in the world (nearly 100 million people in Henan Province alone) and in China's railway, road and aviation transport networks, Zhengzhou is increasingly attracting domestic and international investment as well as migrants from other areas, which is transforming the city into one of the largest economic center in China. GDP per capita of Zhengzhou was RMB40,398 in 2008.

Agriculture

By the end of 2006, Zhengzhou has a total population of over 7 million, of which 2.88 million live in rural area.^[2] Its main products include apples, paulownia, tobacco, maize, cotton, and wheat. In addition, Zhengzhou also produces Yellow River carp, Zhengzhou watermelons, Xinzheng jujube, [Xingyang] dried persimmons, Guangwu Pomegranate and Zhongmu garlic, all of which are specialties that are rarely found outside the region.

Mining

Zhengzhou and the surrounding area have large reserves of coal and other minerals. Coal mining and electricity generation are traditionally important in the local economy.

Manufacturing

Zhengzhou has been one of the major industrial cities in The People's Republic of China since 1949. The city's staple industry is textiles. Others manufactured items include tractors, locomotives, cigarettes, fertilizer, processed meats, agricultural machinery, and electrical equipment. Some high-tech companies in new material, electronics and biotechnology are also growing rapidly during the recently years, especially in the high-tech industrial park in the northwest of the city.

Service

The service industry of Zhengzhou include retail, wholesale, hospitality, finance, exhibition, transport and delivery, tourism, education, etc. Zhengzhou is famous for its shopping. Because of its transport advantage, consumers can shop for many products at competitive prices in Zhengzhou. With a number of domestic and international institutions having regional offices in the city, Zhengzhou is becoming the financial center in central China. Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) is one of the only three future exchanges (inc. Shanghai Future Exchange and Dalian Commodity Exchange) in China and is becoming an important global player specialised in agricultural future exchange. Equipped with newly built facilities such as Zhengzhou International Conference and Exhibition Center, it is also one of the most important exhibition city in the country, hosting various influential exhibition and conference events all year round. Third party logistics (3PL) in Zhengzhou has also been experiencing industrial boom during the past few years. As a transit and tourist center of Henan Province and central China, Zhengzhou is the center of Henan cuisine and also has many restaurants of all different cuisines from other parts of the country and the world.

Famous Companies

• Yutong, China's largest bus producer.
• Shaolin Bus, a famous small-to-medium-sized bus producer.^[3]
• Zhengzhou Nissan, a subsidiary of Dongfeng Nissan, specialized in SUV and pick-up manufacture.
• Sanquan, one of China's largest fast frozen food producers.
• Synear, one of China's largest fast frozen food producers.
• Dennis, a regional retail chain.
• Jianyeor Henan Construction, a famous real estate developer which owns a famous soccer club of China Super League.

Economic Development Zones

Zhengdong CBD

The Zhengdong New Area (simplified Chinese: 郑东新区) also known as Zhengzhou Eastern New District, similar to Binhai New Area in Tianjin and Hengqin New Area in Zhuhai are just one of dozen major economic development zones that are currently developing in various region of China.^[4]

A great measure taken by Henan Province and Zhengzhou City to establish and develop Zhengdong New District for speeding up Zhengzhou's development. Mr. Kisho Kurokawa, Japan's world well-known planner and architect, who has brought in advanced ideas including ecological city, co-existing city, metabolic city and ring city, designs the overall conceptual planning scheme for Zhengdong New District. The scheme won the "Prominent Award for City Planning Design" at the first session of Annual Meeting of the World Architects Alliance in 2002. Zhengdong New District, located at the eastern Putian district clusters in the overall planned Zhengzhou City approved by the State Council, starts from the State Highway 107 in the west to the Jing-Zhu Expressway in the east, from Zhengzhou Airport Expressway in the south to the Lian-Huo Expressway in the north. Zhengdong New District is the key project of Henan Province whose total far-reaching planned area is 105 square kilometers and short-term planned construction area 45 square kilometers. The plan of Zhengdong New District adopts the concept of district cluster development to divide the urban structure into Central Business District (CBD), Longhu Lake District, Commercial Residential & Logistic District and Economic & Technological Development Area, etc. Each district cluster, linked by mutual connections of ring highways, has commercial, service and administrative centers alongside. The CBD mainly focuses on the functions of finance, office, business and residence, with the planned area of about 6 square kilometers of artificial lake (Longhu Lake) in the northwest surrounded by low-rise residential district; the secondary CBD center, situated on the byland extending to Longhu Lake, is designed for tourism and residence; with high-rise residential district on its both sides, an urban commercial and cultural center axis line connects the CBD and secondary CBD center; logistics center and industry are mainly concentrated in the V-shape industries belt; in addition, the massive planned ecological green land circles the river, lake, expressway, ring way and main road. The conceptual idea of Zhengdong New District pictures a historical culture and ecological development axis line with southwest-northeast trend, assembling Erqi Square, historical sites in the Shang Dynasty, provincial and municipal administrative working area, CBD, secondary CBD center, Longhu Lake and principal rivers of Jinshui River and Xiong'er River running through the whole city. Zhengdong New District exerts its function as an urban hub, and thus works out a scheme of sustainable urban development with Chinese characteristics for Zhengzhou's far-reaching construction.

At present, the plan of starting area has put into construction, infrastructure such as road in the district is basically completed, transfer of land for construction and land requisition and removal are on the way, many items entering CBD such as International Conference & Exhibition Center and Broadcasting & TV Center have started to construct, and preliminary preparation of Henan Art Center, Higher Learning Institute Parks and Scientific and Technological City are on the way. The Administrative Committee of Zhengdong New District is making its full efforts to promote the construction of the projects in the starting area to realize the short-term objective of "establishing the image in three years and forming the scale in five years".

Currently, a six-star hotel in the CBD area is being built. When finished, the hotel building will become the tallest skyscraper in Zhengzhou with a height of 280 meters.

ZhengDong CBD also holds China's largest wetland filtration system for water.

Transport

Train

Zhengzhou, where the Longhai railway (east-west) meets the Jingguang railway (north-south), is a major railway hub in China. Nearly all trains on routes to Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an pass through Zhengzhou. It is officially recognized as one of the eight major railway centers by the Ministry of Railway of China. Zhengzhou is easy to reach from Beijing (between 5-8 hours) and Shanghai (6-14 hours) by train. Further travelling to Xi'an (8 hours, no fast train) is also possible. A tourist-friendly train leaves for Xi'An every morning.

In the new national high-speed railway network under construction, two most important lines -- Jingguang (Beijing to Guangzhou), Xulan (Xuzhou to Lanzhou, extended to Shanghai and Urumuqi) intersect in Zhengzhou, which guarantees the city a strategic transport advantage for the future. When completed, the high-speed railway network will provide fast train service from the city to Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an and Wuhan at a speed of 350km/h. The new high-speed railway station (the New Zhengzhou Station), as one of the largest in Asia, is under construction in Zhengdong New Area.

Proposed high-speed railway connections between Zhengzhou and Chongqing, Jinan, Hefei and Taiyuan are under discussion.

Highways

The surrounding area of Zhengzhou, along with Yangtze Delta (Shanghai), Pearl River Delta (Hong Kong-Guangzhou) and Beijing Metropolitan area, has the highest highway density in China. Zhengzhou is the center of Henan highway network that provides roughly one hour road trip to the surrounding cities of Kaifeng, Xinxiang, Xuchang, Jiaozuo and Luoyang. Other major cities within the province can be reached in 3 hours. National highway network also links Zhengzhou to all major cities in China.

• China National Highway 220

Taxi

The base taxi fare starts at 6 yuan. Every additional kilometer (past the initial 2 kilometers included in the base fare) costs 1.5 yuan with rates starting at 8 yuan after 10pm. There are now a few newer taxis operating that have higher starting rates of up to 10 yuan (usually based from the airport).

Bus

The city has a well-developed public transportation system and you can get most places by bus for 1yuan (or 2yuan for some of the newer air-conditioned buses). Bus passes can be purchased to eliminate the hassle of always needing to carry exact change.

The first project of Zhengzhou Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System was completed in 2009, which provides a 30km long circle line (B1) along the Second Ring Road in the city. The BRT B1 buses run on exclusive lanes at both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. There are branch BRT routes (B11 to B19) linking B1 route and other important part of the city.

Air

Zhengzhou International Airport

Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport is recognized as one of the eight major gateway airports by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. It is 37 km southeast of the city centre. An airport shuttle bus runs between the airport and the Civil Aviation Hotel 民航大酒店 (Mín Háng dà jiǔ diàn) on 金水路 (Jīnshuĭ Lù) in the heart of Zhengzhou. It costs 15 yuan per person to ride the shuttle in either direction. A taxi from the airport will cost about 140 yuan, while a taxi to the airport will cost about 90 yuan. There will also be an extra 10 yuan toll fee for the taxi using the airport expressway.

On February 8, 2009, the direct air route between Zhengzhou and Taipei was launched at Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport. The Zhengzhou-Taipei flight was operated by Shenzhen Airlines^[5].

Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport is also a focus city of China Southern Airline and Shenzhen Airlines

Subway

The plan of "Zhengzhou Subway line No. 1" as well as "Zhengzhou Subway line No. 2", recently have been approved by National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in Feb. 2009^[6]. Zhengzhou Subway, will be a rapid transit rail network that serves both the urban and suburban districts of Zhengzhou municipality. As planned, those two projects will start from 2009 and will be finished in 2013 and 2015 respectively^[7]. Also as referenced in the long term plan, there are another 4 lines pending approval^[8], Line 3 and Line 4 will be under construction during 2015-2020 and will be in operation by 2020, project on Line 5 and Line 6 will begin since 2020^[9].

Accommodation

There are several styles of accommodation in Zhengzhou, from 5 star luxury style hotels to hostels. A few of the hotels are: Holiday Inn Express, Sofitel, Golden Palace Hotel, Pearl Hotel, Yuda Palace, Crowne Plaza, and the Hotel Home. The majority of the hotels are near the central business district or the rail station.

Colleges and universities

Public

• Zhengzhou University (郑州大学)
• Henan Agricultural University (河南农业大学)
• Henan University of Technology (formerly Zhengzhou Institute of Technology)
• Henan University of Finance and Economics （河南财经学院）
• Zhongyuan Institute of Technology (中原工学院)
• Zhengzhou University of Light Industry (郑州轻工业学院)
• Zhengzhou Institute of Aeronautical Industry Management (郑州航空工业管理学院)
• North China Institute of Water Conservancy and Hydroelectric Power (华北水利水电学院)
• Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (河南中医学院)
• Henan Textile University (河南纺织专科学校)

Military

• Information Engineering University of People's Liberation Army (解放军信息工程大学)

Private

• Zhengzhou College of Economics (郑州经济专修学院)
• Huanghe S&T University (黄河科技学院)
• Sias International University (郑州大学西亚斯国际学院)

Notable people

• Bai Juyi (772 – 846), Tang Dynasty poet.
• Deng Yaping (1973 – ), a four-time table tennis Olympic champion.
• Du Fu (712—770), Tang Dynasty poet, born in Gongyi (now in Zhengzhou).
• Wei Wei (1920—2008), a modern era writer.

Politics

List of mayors (incomplete):

1. Song Zhihe (宋致和): October 1948-August 1955
2. Hu Shujian (胡树俭): June 1983-February 1991
3. Zhang Shiying (张世英): February 1991-June 1993
4. Song Tianbao (朱天宝): June 1993-November 1996
5. Chen Yichu (陈义初): November 1996-February 2003
6. Wang Wenchao (王文超): February 2003-February 2006
7. Zhao Jiancai (赵建才): February 2006- (incumbent)

List of the CPC Party Chiefs of Zhengzhou:

1. Gu Jingsheng (谷景生): October 1948-December 1948
2. Wu Defeng (吴德蜂): December 1948-June 1949
3. Zhao Wucheng (赵武成): June 1949 - April 1953
4. Song Zhihe (宋致和): April 1953-August 1956
5. Wang Lizhi (王黎之): August 1956-January 1968
6. Wang Hui (王辉): March 1971-January 1974
7. Zhang Junqing (张俊卿): January 1974-December 1977
8. Yu Yichuan (于一川): December 1977-December 1979
9. Li Baoguang (李保光): December 1979-May 1983
10. Jiang Jinfei (蒋靳非): May 1983-September 1984
11. Yao Minxue (姚敏学): September 1984-August 1987
12. Cao Lei (曹磊): August 1987-July 1990
13. Song Guochen (宋国臣): July 1990-May 1992
14. Zhang Deguang (张德广): May 1992-December 1995
15. Wang Youjie (王有杰): December 1995-June 2001
16. Li Ke (李克): June 2001-

Sister cities

Zhengzhou view from space

International

• Jinju, South Korea
• Saitama, Japan
• Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
• Samara, Russia
• Schwerin, Germany
• Shumen, Bulgaria
• Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• Irbid, Jordan
• Joinville, Brazil
• Mariental, Namibia

Domestic

• Guangzhou, Guangdong
• Yichun, Heilongjiang
• Haikou, Hainan
• Jinan, Shandong
• Wenzhou, Zhejiang
• Qingdao, Shandong
• Lianyungang, Jiangsu
• Ningbo, Zhejiang
• Wuxi, Jiangsu

See also

• List of historical capitals of China

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Zhengzhou

• Zhengzhou Government website (Chinese)
• Zhengzhou map
• Zhengzhou Technology Markets
• Zhengzhou INTLR Tech
• Search for Zhengzhou bus lines (Chinese)

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