Xingyang (), is a

county-level city 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 ...

of Henan Province, South Central

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, it is under the administration of the

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 Chi ...

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 ...

. It is situated 15 kilometers to the west of Zhengzhou city proper. The population of Xingyang is around 590,000 and the

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...

of Xingyang is about .

Administration

The

of Xingyang administers 16 township-level divisions, including 2 sub-districts , 9

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

, 2 townships, 1

ethnic township The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

and 1

landscape division A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the p ...

. ;Subdistricts # Suohe Subdistrict () # Jingcheng Subdistrict () ;Towns # Qiaolou Town () # Yulong Town () # Guanwu Town () # Wangcun Town () # Sishui Town () # Gaoshan Town () # Liuhe Town () # Cuimiao Town () # Jiayu Town () ;Townships # Chengguan Township () #

Gaocun Gaocun Town () is a town and the county seat of Mayang Miao Autonomous County in Hunan, China. The town is located in the mid-northern region of the county, it was reformed to merge ''Luxikou Township'' (), Liping Township (), ''Gudapo Township ...

Township () # Beimang Township () ;Ethnic townships #

Jinzhai Hui Ethnic Township Jinzhai County (), previously Lihuang County (, named after Wei Lihuang), is a county in the west of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, bordering the provinces of Henan to the northwest and Hubei to the southwest. It is under the jurisd ...

()

Climate

History

The name of Xingyang, coming from '' Shangshu'', means the city located in the north of Xing River (). The history of Xingyang can be retrieved in books written more than 3,000 years ago. It is believed in Chinese legend that Xingyang is the place where

Chang'e Chang'e ( ; , alternatively rendered as Chang-Er or Ch‘ang-o), originally known as Heng'e, is the Chinese goddess of the Moon. She is the subject of several legends in Chinese mythology, most of which incorporate several of the following elem ...

flew to the Moon. In addition, many influential persons in

Chinese history The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...

were from Xingyang, such as

Shen Buhai Shen Buhai (; c. 400c. 337) was a Chinese essayist, philosopher, and politician. He served as Chancellor of the Han state under Marquis Zhao of Han for fifteen years, from 354 BC to 337 BC. A contemporary of syncretist Shi Jiao and Legalist Sh ...

, a

legalist Legalist, Inc. is an investment firm that specializes in alternative assets in the private credit industry. Today the firm manages approximately $750 million across three separate strategies: litigation finance, bankruptcy ( debtor-in-possession ...

in the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

) and

Li Shangyin Li Shangyin (, 813858), courtesy name Yishan (), was a Chinese poet and politician of the late Tang dynasty, born in the Henei Commandery (now Qinyang, Henan). He is noted for the imagist quality of his poems and his "no title" () style of ...

(a poet in late

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

). Moreover, Xingyang is considered as the origin place of the people whose surname is Zheng () in the world. Xingyang is home to remains from the Han dynasty. Buddhist antiquities have been found there.

Economy

In 2004 the GDP is ¥ 14.5 Billion, and the GDP per capita is ¥ 23,387. Located on the flat southern bank 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 Ha ...

, Xingyang's Wangcun Town is known for its

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

. Since their development started in 1986, the pond systems in Wangcun have grown to the total size of 15,000 '' mu'' (10 km²), making the town the largest aquaculture center in

North China North China, or Huabei () is a geographical region of China, consisting of the provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. Part of the larger region of Northern China (''Beifang''), it lies north of the Qinling–Hu ...

. In 2007, construction started in Wangcun on a large turtle farm raising the Yellow River Turtle (a local variety of the Chinese softshell turtle). With the capacity for raising 5 million turtles a year, the facility was expected to become Henan's largest farm of this kind.荥阳开建河南省最大黄河鳖养殖基地
(Construction started in Xingyang on the province's largest Yellow River Turtle farm), www.zynews.com,　 2007-07-24

Transportation

Travelling within the city is convenient and cheap by bus or taxi. In 2005, the start fee of Taxi for the first 3 kilometres is about ¥ 4, and the cost for every additional kilometre is ¥ 1. Fares are generally somewhat higher during 10 pm to 6 am. Normally ¥ 6-7 is maximum for traveling in the city Xingyang. The Zhengzhou West Railway Station is located in Xingyang.

Tourist attractions

* Chuhehanjie (, or Hong Gou) is a famous place in early

Western Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a war ...

where

Liu Bang Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Empe ...

, the creator of

, fought for years with his rival,

Xiang Yu Xiang Yu (, –202 BC), born Xiang Ji (), was the Hegemon-King (Chinese: 霸王, ''Bà Wáng'') of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period (206–202 BC) of China. A noble of the Chu state, Xiang Yu rebelled against the Qin dyna ...

. Because none of them could win after years, they decided to use the Chuhehanjie to divide China into two parts, with the eastern part to

and western part to

after negotiation.

broke this agreement later when

retreated from Xingyang to rescue the capital of his territory, which was attacked by

Han Xin Han Xin (; 231/230–196 BC) was a Chinese military general and politician who served Liu Bang during the Chu–Han Contention and contributed greatly to the founding of the Han dynasty. Han Xin was named as one of the "Three Heroes of the e ...

. The border between the two is commonly referenced in ''

Xiangqi ''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as '' shogi'', '' janggi'', Western chess, '' ...

'' (i.e., Chinese chess) as the symbolic divider between the two sides of a game board. *

Hulao Pass Hulao Pass () is a choke point northwest of Xingyang, Henan province, China in the foothills of Mount Song. It is the site of many historical battles, being the eastern guard for the capital Luoyang for several dynasties. With Mount Song to the ...

is an important site in

Three Kingdoms Period The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the We ...

where

Lü Bu Lü Bu () (died 7 February 199), courtesy name Fengxian, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of Imperial China. Originally a subordinate of a minor warlord Ding Yuan, he betr ...

fought with

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the ...

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

, and Zhang Fei. * The Ruins of Yangshao civilization () * Huancuiyu Landscape area

Agricultural products

* Xingyang dried persimmon * Guangwu Megranate

Notable residents

The hometown of the character Zheng (T: 鄭, S: 郑) from '' The Tale of Li Wa'' is Xingyang.Nienhauser, William H. Jr. (

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

).
A Third Look at "Li Wa Zhuan"
" '' T'ang Studies'' (Print , Online ), 2007(25), pp. 91–110. -- Cited: p. 100.

References

External links

Official website of Xingyang Government
{{Authority control County-level divisions of Henan Zhengzhou Cities in Henan