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General
Introduction
Situated
in central-east China and the middle and lower
reaches of the Yellow River, Henan is another
cradle of Chinese civilization. A total of 20
dynasties, from the Xia (c. 21st century-c.
16th century BC) to the Jin (1115-1234), had
their capitals in Henan. Anyang, Luoyang and
Kaifeng are famous ancient capitals. A thriving
ancient economy and splendid culture have pockmarked
the land with a wealth of cultural relics. So
far more than 28,000 sites of archaeological
value have been found, yielding more than 1.3
million precious cultural artifacts. The Eight
Trigrams in the Book of Changes was invented
in Henan, which was the burial place for Fu
Xi, a legendary ruler of great antiquity, and
his wife, and the birthplace for the Yellow
Emperor. Of the 8,000 and more family names
in China, 1,500 originated in Henan. Root-searching
pilgrimages to the Chinese ancestors' mausoleums
have become foremost tourist attractions of
Heanan.
Climate
Henan has a continental climate of the north
temperate zone, with hot, rainy summers, dry,
inclement winters and windy springs. It has
a mean annum temperature of 13oC.-15oC., increasing
from north to south, an annual frost-free period
of 6-8 months, and a mean annual precipitation
of 600-900 mm., also increasing from north to
south.
Topography
Henan's
terrain slopes from west to east. It is bisected
from north to south by the Beijing- Guangzhou
Railway, which is flanked on the west by hills
and mountains and on the east by a vast plain.
On its northwestern border is the Taihang range.
The western mountain area includes the eastern
extensions of the Qinling range--the Yaoshan,
Xionger, Waifang and Funiu mountains. Extending
east from the Waifang Mountains is Songshan,
one of the country's five sacred mountains,
whose main peak towers 1,440 meters above sea
level. The low, flat Nanyang Basin in the southwest
has always been a natural passage between north
and south. On the southern border is the Tongbai
range, which stretches east to adjoin the Dabie
Mountains. The wide plain east of the Beijing-Guangzhou
Railway is part of the North. China Plain and
the principal farming area of the province.
The Huanghe River, which has burst over its
dykes and changed its course many times, has
left broken dykes and sand dunes in the north
of the plain. Of the province's total area,
mountains make up 26 per cent, hills 18 per
cent and plains 56 per cent.
The
Huanghe and Huaihe rivers are Henan's main waterways.
The Huanghe River runs through the northern
part of Henan from west to east for 700 kilometers.
It is narrow and flows swiftly west of Mengjin,
where a key water conservancy project has been
built over the Sanmenxia Gorge. East of Mengjin
it flows slowly across a vast expanse of flatland,
where its silt-choked bed rises higher than
its banks. The Huaihe River flows through southern
Henan from west to east for 300 kilometers,
draining an area 43 per cent of its total catchment
area.
SCENES
& SIGHTS
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou,
capital of Henan Province, has a venerated history
of over 3,000 years. The Beijing-Guangzhou and
Lanzhou-Lianyungang railways cross their ways
in Zhengzhou, turning it into a major railway
hub. Major attractions: ruins of a Shang-dynasty
city, Henan Museum, Yellow River Tourist Zone,
and Monument to February 7 Workers' Uprising.
Dengfeng, a city under Zhengzhou's jurisdiction,
is known for Mount Songshan, a holy mountain
in central China, and Shaolin Temple. Mount
Songshan comprises Taishi and Shaoshi mountains,
and among its sites of historical and cultural
interest are a Yuan-dynasty observatory built
some 700 years ago, China's oldest brick pagoda
in Songyue Temple, and the Songyang Academy,
one of the four major academies in ancient China.
Built in 495 during the Northern Wei as the
ancestral sanctuary of the Ch'an Sect of Chinese
Buddhism, Shaolin Temple on the northern side
of Shaoshi Mountain has made a name for itself
for its martial arts, stone inscriptions of
various dynasties, and Ming-dynasty murals.
To the west of the temple is a forest of 243
brick-and-masonry pagodas built during 1 1,000-year
span from the Tang to Qing dynasties. Gongyi,
a city 80 km west of Zhengzhou, is the site
of a mausoleum buried with the remains of 7
of the 9 Northern-Song emperors. Xinzheng, a
city 40km south of Zhengzhou, was the native
place of the Yellow Emperor.
Luoyang
No
ancient capitals had witnessed the rise and
fall of so many dynasties for so long a time
span as Luoyang, the oldest capital in Chinese
history. For over 1,200 years, Luoyang was the
capital of 13 dynasties, including Xia, Shang,
Western Zhou, Eastern Han, Sui, and Tang. Major
attractions: Longmen Grottoes, White Horse Temple,
and Museum of Ancient Tombs. Luoyang, which
produces the best peonies China has to offer,
is the venue of a yearly peony festival which
lasts from April 15 to 25. Twelve km to the
east of Luoyang Monastery is White Horse Temple,
China's oldest Buddhist temple established in
68 AD, or the 11th year of Yongping reign of
the Eastern Han, but its buildings were rebuilt
during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Construction
of Longmen, one of the three major grottoes
in China 12 km south of Luoyang, began in 494,
but it was not until the Sui and Tang dynasties
that is acquired the scale as we see today.
Among Longmen's wealth of world-famous treasures
are flying Apsaras as well as fine works of
Chinese calligraphy represented by the "20
Longmen Calligraphic Samples". Enshrined
in a total of 2,100 cave-temples are 3,600 stone
inscriptions and 100,000 large and small Buddhist
statues. The 17-metre-high statue of Vairocana
in Fengxian Temple is the most representative
of the trove. Seven km south of Luoyang is Guanlin,
or Temple of Lord Guan, where the head of the
celebrated Shu general is said to have been
buried. Gleaming amidst rich piles of foliage
of more than 1,000 ancient cypresses are the
rooftops and walls of memorial buildings erected
during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Museum
of Ancient Tombs in the northern suburb of Luoyang
is the only one of its kind in China, featuring
25 ancient tombs found in the Mangshan area
of Luoyang.
Kaifeng
Eighty
km east of Zhengzhou is Kaifeng, one of seven
ancient Chinese capitals. Serving for 168 years
as capital of the Northern Song some 900 years
ago, Kaifeng (called "East Capital"
then) was the most prosperous city in the world
with a population of 1.5 million. The East Capital's
thriving street scenes are faithfully portrayed
in the famous Song painting Festival of Pure
Brightness on the River. This is why Kaifeng's
tourist resources are pivoted on its Northern
Song legacy, which includes lron Pagoda, Grand
Chancellor's Temple, Imperial street of the
Song Capital, Dragon Pavilion, Lord Bao's Temple,
and the Garden of Festival of Pure Brightness
on the River. Built in 1049, the Karfeng lron
Pagoda is a 55.08-metre-tall glazed brick structure
whose facade, panelled with brown glazed bricks,
gives it a cast-iron look. Soaring to the sky
like a gigantic pillar, it is a masterpiece
of glazed brick carving in Song tradition and
an emblem of Kaifeng. Enshrined in Grand Chancellor's
Temple built in 555 AD (but the structures on
the premises were all built during the Qing)
is a sculpture of Avalokitesvara with 4 faces
and 1,000 hands and 1,000 eyes, carved out of
the trunk of a 1,000-year-old gingko tree. When
tolled, the gigantic bronze bell in the temple's
bell pavilion can be heard throughout the city.
The Imperial Street of the Song Capital was
for the exclusive use of Song emperors' family
members and aristocrats; today, lined on both
sides with ancient-looking stores, it has become
a shopping paradise. Dragon Pavilion used to
be part of the Song and Jin imperial palaces.
Some of the ancient structures are still there,
including the major hall, their massive forms
echo the Imperial Street in such harmony.
Anyang
Anyang
is a cultural city whose 1,000-year history
dates back to its days as the economic and cultural
centre of the late Shang. Unearthed from the
ruins of the Shang capital 3km north of Anyang
are large numbers of bronze ware, jade carvings
and bone inscriptions which furnish valuable
material for the study of the Shang history.
Xiaotun Village in Anyang is the site of Museum
of Shang Ruins, consisting of an imitation Shang
major hall, an imitation Shang imperial palace,
a replica of the burial chamber of Fuhao (wife
of King Yin of Shang and the first female general
in Chinese history), and Pit No.127, where 17,096
pieces of oracular inscriptions were found.
Yellow
River Tour
A
cruise on the Yellow River, which flows from
west to east across Henan Province for 700km,
brings the visitor to four ancient cultural
cities with a new look-Sanmenxia, Luoyang, Zhengzhou
and Kaifeng-and the Xiaolangdi Water Conservancy
Project. The visitor may also sail down the
river aboard old goatskin rafts or hovercrafts
in Zhengzhou, join local residents in harnessing
the river and planting trees, observe local
habits and customs, or go visiting Xiaolangdi
Water Conservancy Hub under large-scale construction.
Martial
Arts Tour
A
studio east of Shaolin Temple offers martial
arts performances and training courses to groups
and individuals from at home and abroad. Chengjia
Gully in Wenxian County, 60 km north of Zhengzhou,
was the cradle of the Chen school of Taijie
boxing; martial arts training classes are held
on a regular basis in a studio in the county
seat, which is also the site of an annual international
Taijie competition in September.
Martial
Arts Tour
A
studio east of Shaolin Temple offers martial
arts performances and training courses to groups
and individuals from at home and abroad. Chengjia
Gully in Wenxian County, 60 km north of Zhengzhou,
was the cradle of the Chen school of taijie
Boxing; martial arts training classes are held
on a regular basis in a studio in the county
seat, which is also the site of an annual international
taijie competition in September.
FESTIVALS
Inter'l
Shaolin Martial Arts Festival
Time:
September 1-5
Venue: Zhengzhou
What's On: International Shaolin martial arts
performances and challenging contest; performances
and challenging contest; performances of central
Chinese traditional culture; hovercraft cruise
on the Yellow River.
Luoyang
Peony Show
Time:
April 15-25
Venue: Luoyang
What's On: Large-scale peony exhibitions and
peony-related calligraphy and painting show;
flower-arranging competition; visits to Longmen
Grottoes and other attractions; freshwater food
banquets.
Int'l Yellow River Tourist Festival
Time:
April 20-22
Venue: Sanmenxia City
What's On: Following in the footsteps of ancient
emperors on tours of the yellow River; reproduction
of Qinshihuang's military drills at Hangu Pass;
cultural tour of the state of Hao; tour of Loess
Plateau folklore; rafting the Yellow River;
large lantern shows; folk art variety shows.
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