Xinyang ( zh, s= , t=信陽 , p=Xìnyáng; postal: Sinyang) is a

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

in southeastern

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

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

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, the southernmost administrative division in the province. Its total population was 6,234,401 according to the 2020 census. As of the 2010 census, 1,230,042 of them lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of two urban districts, Pingqiao and Shihe.

History

As early as over 8,000 years ago,

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

cultures began primitive agriculture of considerable scale along the

Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

, such as the Peiligang, Longshan and Qujialing cultures. During the

Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward was an industrialization campaign within China from 1958 to 1962, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Party Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to transform the country from an agrarian society into an indu ...

, one million farmers died in what was known as the Xinyang Incident.

Geography

Geography of city

The prefecture-level city of Xinyang has a total land area of . The city is located in the southernmost part of

Province on the south bank of the

and in the middle of the

Dabie Mountains The Dabie Mountains () are a major mountain range located in central China. Running northwest-to-southeast, they form the main watershed between the Huai River, Huai and Yangtze rivers. The range also marks the boundary between Hubei Province (n ...

area. It borders the cities

Zhumadian Zhumadian ( zh, s= , t= , p=Zhùmǎdiàn; Postal romanization, postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang, Henan, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to ...

to the north and Nanyang to the northwest, and the provinces of

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

and

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

to the east and south respectively. The region where Xinyang is located is considered a subtropical area and the Dabie mountainous terrain is mainly to the north, south, and east of the city.

Climate

Xinyang has a

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

-influenced, four-season

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfa/Cwa''), with cold, damp winters, and hot, humid summers. The months of April through June here are slightly cooler than much of the rest of the province. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July; the annual mean is . The annual precipitation is just above , and close to two-thirds of it occurs from May to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 38% in March to 47% in four months, the city receives 1,974 hours of bright sunshine annually; January through March are the cloudiest months.

Administration

The Xinyang City is divided into two

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

and eight

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

. Xinyang City has 2 districts and 8 counties, including

Shihe District Shihe () is a District (China), district of the city of Xinyang, Henan province, China. Administrative divisions As of 2012, this district is divided to 9 subdistricts, 3 towns and 6 townships. ;Subdistricts ;Towns ;Townships References Ex ...

, Pingqiao District,

Huangchuan County Huangchuan County (; local pronunciation: ''Huāngchuǎn Xiàn'') is a county of southeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China. It is located in the center of Xinyang City, straddling the Huang River. The 13th five-year plan of Xinyang ...

, Guangshan County, Xi County,

Xin County Xin County or Xinxian () is a county in the southeast of Henan province, China, bordering Hubei province to the south. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinyang Xinyang ( zh, s= , t=信陽 , p=Xìnyáng; Postal roman ...

, Luoshan County, Shangcheng County, Huaibin County, and Gushi County.

Demographics

According to the Seventh National Census in 2020, the city’s Permanent Population (

hukou ''Hukou'' ( zh, c=户口, l=household individual) is a system of household registration used in the People's Republic of China. The system itself is more properly called ''huji'' ( zh, c=户籍, l=household origin), and has origins in Histo ...

) was 6,234,401.Compared with 6,108,683 people in the Sixth National Census in 2010, the number increased by 125,718, representing a growth of 2.06%, with an average annual growth rate of 0.20%. According to the 2010 Census, the population of Xinyang is of 6,109,106 inhabitants, 6.39% less than the population marked on the last census of 2000, when there were 6,527,368 inhabitants in the city. Its built up area is home to 1,230,042 inhabitants spread out on 2 urban districts and .

Culture

Xinyang Tea Culture Festival is held during April 28 and 30 of every year. The 25,000-capacity Xinyang Stadium, which has a capacity of 25,000, is located in the city. It is used mostly for association football and sometimes for athletics. Guangshan Jingju Temple

The Jingju Temple in Guangshan county was the source of the first Chinese section of the Buddhist " Tiantai school" as early as the fifth year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty (554 A.D.), since the saint monk Huisi came to the Jingju Temple. Emperor Shenzong of Song bestowed the "Emperor entitled Brahma Temple" still conserved in the temple.