Xinxiang ( ; postal: Sinsiang) is a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China' ...

in northern

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

, China. It borders the provincial capital of

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the Nationa ...

to its southwest,

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the N ...

to its southeast, Hebi and Anyang to its north, Jiaozuo to its west, and the provinces of

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

and Shandong to its northwest and east respectively. Its total population was 6,251,929 as of the

2020 Chinese Census The Seventh National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (), also referred to as the 2020 Chinese Census, was the seventh national census conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. Census wo ...

. As of the 2018 estimation, 2,743,200 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of 4 urban districts ('' Weibin,

Hongqi Hongqi (, Chinese for "Red Flag") may refer to: *Red Flag (magazine), ''Hongqi'' (magazine), published by the Chinese Communist Party from 1958 to 1988 *Hongqi (marque), Hongqi (automobile), luxury car series of First Automobile Works (FAW), Changc ...

, Muye, Fenquan''), Yanjin county, Xinxiang county and Huixian City which are now being conurbated as the city is expanding very quickly.

History

Xinxiang was site of the Battle of Muye where the

Shang Dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally suc ...

was overthrown by the Zhou. Xinxiang dates from the Sui dynasty (581-618) and was a small market center before being developed as an industrial center in the 1950s. It also served as the capital of the short-lived

Pingyuan Province Pingyuan () was a former province of the People's Republic of China that existed between 1949 and 1952. Its capital was Xinxiang, now in Henan province. History Pingyuan Province was established on August 20, 1949, comprising adjoining prefectur ...

, which covered neighbouring cities - Anyang, Hebi, Puyang, Jiaozuo and

Heze Heze, formerly known as Caozhou, is the westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong province, China, it borders Jining to the east and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively. History Caozhou was at the cent ...

, between 1949 and 1952, for the purpose of pacifying Nationalist guerillas through military action and accepting surrender. In July 2021, Xinxiang was harshly impacted by the flooding in Henan, which affected about 470,000 people and over of cropland.

Geography

Climate

Pollution

According to a 2015 report by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth ...

(Xinxiang's province) has the most severe

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

of all the provinces in China, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 103.3 μg/m3 ( micrograms per cubic meter). The report found that Xinxiang has the 13th most polluted city air in China, with a PM2.5 concentration of 114.6 μg/m3 (over 11 times the safe limit established by the WHO) during the first quarter of 2015. Swiss firm IQAir reported that Xinxiang suffered from an average PM2.5 concentration of 51.5 μg/m3 in 2020, ranking 31st in China, and 89th in the world. In 2015, environmental

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

Airman () purchased wheat samples farmed in the town of Wangcun, in Xinxiang, near a battery factory, and found it had

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...

levels up to 17 times the national safe limit. The following year, the group again purchased wheat samples in the towns of and Wangcun, and found cadmium levels up to 34.1 times the national safe limit. Following this report, the Xinxiang municipal government launched a program to purchase contaminated wheat, and convert the farmland to other purposes. However, again in 2017, the group purchased additional wheat samples, and found them to have cadmium levels up to 18 times the national limit, with all samples purchased exceeding national safety limits. In response, government officials from the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

of Dakuai met with the group, and pledged to further investigate the samples and stop growing wheat on contaminated farmland.

Religion

Xinjiang

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

are served by the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang (), which was established on July 7, 1936, on missionary territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Weihuifu () (now Diocese of Jixian). It is a pre-diocesan jurisdiction, which is exempt (i.e., directly subject to the Holy See and its missionary

Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

), and not part of any

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

. It has had the following incumbent ''Apostolic Prefects of Xinxiang (Roman Rite) :'' * Father Thomas Megan (),

Divine Word Missionaries The Society of the Divine Word ( la, Societas Verbi Divini), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Ri ...

S.V.D.) (born USA) (1936.07.07 – retired 1948), died 1951 * Fr. Johannes Schütte (), S.V.D. (born Germany) (1948 – death 1971.11.18), also

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized ...

Society of the Divine Word The Society of the Divine Word ( la, Societas Verbi Divini), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Ri ...

(Divine Word Missionaries) (1958.03.28 – 1967.12.15) and Vice-Secretary of Pontifical Commission of Justice and Peace (1968–1971.11.18) * Joseph Zhang Wei-zhu () (first Chinese and secular priest) (1992, with clandestine episcopal consecration)

Military

Xinxiang is the headquarters of the 83rd Group Army of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

, one of the three group armies that comprise the Jinan Military Region responsible for defence of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan ...

plain.

Administration

The

administers 4 districts, 3

county-level cities A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...

and 5

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. *District: ** Weibin District () ** Hongqi District () ** Muye District () ** Fengquan District () *County-level city: ** Huixian City () ** Weihui City () ** Changyuan City () *County: ** Xinxiang County () **

Huojia County Huojia County () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinxiang, in the northwest of Henan province, China. The name Huojia, which means "capturing üJia", was used as the county name in 111 BC when Emperor Wu of H ...

() ** Yuanyang County () ** Yanjin County () ** Fengqiu County ()

Economy

Frestech Frestech (Xinfei Electric Co., Ltd.) is a Chinese-foreign joint venture jointly invested in and established by Henan Xinfei Electric (Group) Co. Ltd., Singapore Hong Leong Corporation Ltd and Hn-sin Electric Pte Ltd in October, 1994. Currently, it ...

, a major

home appliance A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. Appliances are divided into three t ...

company, was located in Xinxiang prior to its liquidation in 2018. One of the business units spun off in Frestech's dissolution, Xinfei Electric Group, continues to operate in Xinxiang. Xinfei Electric Group, now a wholly-owned subsidy of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, produces refrigerated trucks, military vehicles, RVs, modular building structures, precision equipment, refrigerators, air conditioners, and environmental control equipment. Other important enterprises located in Xinxiang include Golden Dragon Copper Group, Bailu Chemical Fibre, Henan Kelong Group, and AVIC XINHANG Industry Corporation.

Agriculture and textiles

Textiles and processed food are also major products of Xinxiang. As an old textiles base, the cotton industry is very developed in Xinxiang.

Transport

The city is a rail junction and industrial centre at the head of navigation on the

Wei River The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. The source of the Wei River is close ...

. The river, made navigable for small vessels by river improvements in the 1950s, links the city with

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

, the main port for

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Later, due to heavy industrial chemical pollution, the river course had been totally cut off and got filled up. After recent dredges, it is still no more than a man-made lake.

Rail

Xinxiang is located at the junction of the Beijing-Guangzhou, Xinxiang-Yueshan and the Xinxiang-Yanzhou Railways. Xinxiang has two railway stations:

Xinxiang Railway Station Xinxiang railway station () is a railway station in Weibin District, Xinxiang, Henan, China. The station is on Beijing–Guangzhou railway, and serves as the eastern terminus of Xinxiang–Yueshan railway and the western terminus of Xinxiang� ...

and Xinxiang East Railway Station.

Education

There are several universities and colleges located in the

. * Henan Normal University *: newly combined university located in the eastern part of Xinxiang, it has 21 faculties and 3 centers * Henan Institute of Science and Technology * Xinxiang Medical University * Henan Mechanical and Electrical Engineering College * Xinxiang Hygiene School

Sister city

* Kashiwara,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Japan

References

Sources and external links

Government website of Xinxiang

Window on Xinxiang

Xinxiang University
{{authority control Populated places established in the 1st millennium Cities in Henan Contaminated farmland Prefecture-level divisions of Henan National Forest Cities in China