Xingyang

Not to be confused with Xiangyang, Xianyang, or Xinyang.

Xingyang 荥阳市
County-level city
Xingyang Location in China
Coordinates (dm):
Country	China
Province	Henan
Prefecture	Zhengzhou
Area
• Total	908 km2 (351 sq mi)
Population
• Total	590,000
• Density	650/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Website	www.xingyang.gov.cn

Xingyang (simplified Chinese: 荥阳; traditional Chinese: 滎陽; pinyin: xíngyáng), is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. It is situated 15 kilometers to the west of Zhengzhou city proper. The population of Xingyang is around 590,000 and the area of Xingyang is about 908 km².

Administration

The county-level city of Xingyang administers 16 township-level divisions, including 9 towns, 3 townships, 1 ethnic township, 2 sub-districts and 1 landscape division.

1. Suohe Office 索河办
2. Jingcheng Office 京城办
3. Chengguan Township 城关乡
4. Qiaolou Town 乔楼镇
5. Yulong Town 豫龙镇
6. Guanwu Town 广武镇
7. Gaocun Township 高村乡
8. Wangcun Town 王村镇
9. Sishui Town 汜水镇
10. Gaoshan Town 高山镇
11. Liuhe Town 刘河镇
12. Cuimiao Town 崔庙镇
13. Jiayu Town 贾峪镇
14. Jinzhai Hui Ethnic Township 金砦回族乡
15. Beimang Township 北邙乡
16. landscape division

History

The name of Xingyang, coming from Shangshu, means the city located in the north of Xing River (荥). 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 flew to the Moon. In addition, many influential persons in Chinese history were from Xingyang, such as Shen Buhai (申不害，a legalist in the Warring States period) and Li Shangyin (a poet in late Tang Dynasty). Moreover, Xingyang is considered as the origin place of the people whose surname is Zheng (郑氏) in the world.

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, Xingyang's Wangcun Town is known for its aquaculture. 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.

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.

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.

Tourism Sites

• Chuhehanjie (楚河汉界, or Hong Gou) is a famous place in early Western Han Dynasty (西汉，or 西漢) where Liu Bang, the creator of Western Han Dynasty, fought for years with his rival, Xiang Yu (项羽). Because none of them could win after years, they decided to use the Chuhehanjie (楚河汉界) to divide China into two parts, with the eastern part to Xiang Yu and western part to Liu Bang after negotiation. Liu Bang broke this agreement later when Xiang Yu retreated from Xingyang to rescue the capital of his territory, which was attacked by Han Xin. The border between the two is commonly referenced in Xiangqi (i.e., Chinese chess) as the symbolic divider between the two sides of a game board.

• Hulaoguan (虎牢关) is an important site in Three Kingdoms Period where Lü Bu fought with Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei.

• The Ruins of Yangshao civilization (仰韶文化遗址)

• Huancuiyu Landscape area

Famous Agriculture 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.

External links

• Official website of Xingyang Government (simplified Chinese)