ZHENG ZHOU 郑州 capital of Henan province －GREEN CITY

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• published: 27 Dec 2008
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Zhengzhou (simplified Chinese: 郑州; traditional Chinese: 鄭州; pinyin: Zhèngzhōu), formerly called Zhengxian is a prefecture-level city, and the capital of Henan province, People's Republic of China.The prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou administers 12 county-level divisions, including 6 districts, 5 county-level cities and 1 county.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. 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 (1111771 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 581618), Tang (618907), and early Song (9601127) 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.Zhengzhou is a flat industrial city set amid the farmland of the central China plain. While it is not a tourist city, it is a good example of a remarkably fast-changing city in China without some of the tourism clutter. Note: Finding people to speak English can be a challenge sometimes so come prepared with some Chinese Language or the places you wish to go to written down for taxi drivers. The best known tourist attraction is Shaolin Temple (少林寺), which is about more than 50 miles southwest of Zhengzhou. Shaolin Temple is famous not only as one of China's important Buddhist shrines, but also as the ancient center of Chinese kung-fu. 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, Boddhidharma, settled in the temple, and as legend has it, created a sort of 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 MuseumZhengzhou'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.