An Overview of Henan Province and Zhengzhou city

Henan province is the most important birthplace of Chinese civilization and Chinese nation. Located in the mid-east of China, mid-and-lower reaches of Yellow River and southwestern side of the North China Plain, it is named Henan mainly because that most of its areas lie in the South of the Yellow River. 4000 years ago, Henan was then called Yuzhou, the center of nine states of ancient China, and abbreviated to Yu. it was also named Zhongzhou or Zhongyuan (means centre).

   Henan is the major settlement for early Chinese nation, which harbors most of the political, economic and cultural centers in Chinese history. Over 2000 years since the founding of capital of Xia Dynasty, the first dynasty in Chinese history, more than 20 dynasties followed to establish their capitals in the province, such as Shang (Chaoge), Western Zhou (Chengzhou Luoyi), Eastern Zhou, Western Han (initial period), Eastern Han, the Caowei, Western Jin, Northern Wei, Sui, Tang, Wu Zhou, Later Liang, Later Tang, the later Jin, Eastern Han, Later Zhou, Northern Song and Jin. Of eight big ancient capitals in China, Henan has four, namely, Zhengzhou of Xia, Anyang of Shang, Luoyang of 13 dynasties and Kaifeng of 7 dynasties. The entire land area totals 167,000 square kilometers (nationally 17th, 1.74 percent of the total area). By the end of 2009, its population reached at 99.67 million, the biggest in China.

   Provincial capital Zhengzhou, bordering Yellow River in the North, reaching Song Mount in the west and facing broad Huanghuai Plain in the southeast, constitutes a provincial hub of politics, economy and culture. The glorious past leaves behind ample cultural heritages, demonstrated by more than 1400 historical sites including 26 state-level cultural relic preservations. The Mt. Songshan scenery is world cultural heritage, and one of 44 key scenic spots nationwide and awarded as National Exemplary Civilized Tourist Spot.“The world most fantastic temple” -- Shaolin Temple is situated under the foot of the Mt. Songshan, which is known to the whole world for its Shaolin martial art. Nearby is Songyang academy –one of China’s earliest astronomic buildings and one of the four famous academies in Song Dynasty - and Zhongyue Temple, the extant biggest Taoism architectural complex.

   Around Zhengzhou, there exists countless ancient counties, heritages, tomb groups, architectures, mountain passes, and battlefield ruins. Well-known historical personages such as Yellow Emperor-the first ancestor of Chinese Nation - and Liezi, Zichan, Dufu, Bai Juyi, Gaogong were born in Zhengzhou. Featuring temperate climate and distinct seasons, its annual average temperatures range between 13℃and 16℃.

   Zhengzhou enjoys easy transportation and developed communication. As central traffic point, Longhai railway and Beijing-Guangzhou Railway converge here with access to 107 and 310 state highways, Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway and Lianhuo Expressway. Its Xinzheng International Airport connects to the rest of the world with 61 charted airlines by over 20 international airways. It also runs irregular chartered flights to Russia, Singapore, Korea and Japan, and with regular ones to Hong Kong and Macao. It sends in total 817 flights to more than 60 cities every week.