Atlas of China
Zhengzhou 郑州Zhèngzhōu
Shaolin kung fu, Mount Song's temples and Shang walls amid the traffic
About Zhengzhou
Henan's capital grew up as a railway junction where the Beijing–Guangzhou and Longhai lines cross, yet rammed-earth walls of a Shang city some 3,500 years old still stand within it. To the south-west rises Mount Song, honoured as the central peak of China's Five Great Mountains. Around Dengfeng at its foot, UNESCO-listed monuments include the Shaolin Temple, by tradition the cradle of Chan Buddhism and of Shaolin kung fu, and the Songyue Pagoda of the 520s, the oldest surviving brick pagoda in China.
What to eat in Zhengzhou
- Mutton huimian noodles (羊肉烩面)
Featured places in Zhengzhou
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Shaolin Temple 少林寺
The cradle of Chan Buddhism and kung fu, at the foot of Mount Song
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Henan Museum 河南博物院
Zhengzhou's treasure house of Central Plains bronzes, jades and Neolithic finds
Listed sites in Zhengzhou
70 listed sites are in Zhengzhou. These are the 33 rated 5A or 4A; see all 70 in the Henan list.
- Aoparara Water Park, Xiangdiwan 香堤湾·奥帕拉拉水公园 4A scenic area · on the map
An outdoor summer water park next to the Xiangdiwan hotel on Zhongyuan West Road in Yulong town, Xingyang, on the western edge of Zhengzhou, built around a large wave pool. - Central Plains Western Henan Anti-Japanese War Memorial Park 中原豫西抗日纪念园 4A scenic area · on the map
A memorial park in Tianzhongwan village, deep in the Fuxi Mountain area of Xinmi, where General Pi Dingjun set up the Communist-led Western Henan anti-Japanese base area in 1944. - Changshou Mountain, Zhulin 竹林长寿山 4A scenic area · on the map
A hill park of about 8.7 km² at Zhulin town in eastern Gongyi, best known for its autumn red leaves and for rocks likened to a dragon and a turtle, which gave it its old name of Longgui Mountain. - Cherry Valley, Zhengzhou 樱桃沟 4A scenic area · on the map
A rural area of loess gullies, woods and cherry orchards about 15 km south-west of central Zhengzhou, crossed by walking trails and dotted with old villages, some of whose houses now hold artists' and makers' studios. - China Greening Expo Garden, Zhengzhou 中国绿化博览园 4A scenic area · on the map
A landscaped park of about 190 hectares in Zhongmu county east of Zhengzhou, opened in 2010 as the China Greening Expo Garden and laid out around a central lake with themed gardens. - Daxiong Mountain Xianren Valley 大熊山仙人谷 4A scenic area · on the map
A mountain-valley scenic area of about 36 km² in Xuzhuang town, Dengfeng, with a lake, streams, waterfalls, caves and red-rock cliffs. - Du Fu's Birthplace 杜甫故里 4A scenic area · on the map
A memorial park below Bijia Hill in Nanyaowan village, Zhanjie town, Gongyi, at the place traditionally held to be where the Tang poet Du Fu (712–770) was born and spent his childhood. - Fanjiamen Scenic Area 范家门 4A scenic area · on the map
A rural scenic area run by a village tourism company in the hills of Tangzhuang town, north-east of Dengfeng, rated 4A at the end of 2023. - Fantawild Adventure Zhengzhou 郑州方特欢乐世界 4A scenic area · on the map
A technology-themed amusement park opened in 2012 in Zhongmu county east of Zhengzhou, with roller coasters, a flying-theatre ride and dark rides on science-fiction, myth and history themes. - Fengle Farm Resort and Malawan Wave Pool 丰乐农庄·马拉湾海浪浴场 4A scenic area · on the map
A leisure resort opened in 2003 beside the Yellow River levee in Huiji district, north of Zhengzhou, with a large hotel, hot-spring baths, gardens, an animal area, go-karts and a baseball park. - Fengquan Lake Scenic Area 凤泉湖 4A scenic area · on the map
The largest scenic area in the Fuxi Mountain tourist zone of north-western Xinmi, covering about 10 km² of red-rock hills, ravines and a lake; it is on the official list as Sanquan Lake. - Fuxi Grand Canyon 伏羲大峡谷 4A scenic area · on the map
A red sandstone gorge about 5 km long in the Fuxi Mountain area of north-western Xinmi, with walkways under overhanging cliffs and a series of natural waterfalls. - Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory 观星台 4A scenic area · National heritage site
A brick-and-stone observatory built in 1276 to designs by the Yuan astronomers Guo Shoujing and Wang Xun: a 9.46 m truncated tower with a 31 m stone 'sky-measuring scale' laid due north, on which the noon shadow of a gnomon was read to fix the length of the year. - Gubaidu Feihuang Tourist Area 古柏渡飞黄 4A scenic area · on the map
An outdoor recreation area on the south bank of the Yellow River at Wangcun, Xingyang, run together with the neighbouring Gubaidu cherry garden. - Gubaidu Fengle Cherry Blossom Garden 古柏渡丰乐樱花园 4A scenic area · on the map
A large cherry-blossom park near the Yellow River in Wangcun town, northern Xingyang, planted with more than 80 varieties of cherry tree in four themed sections. - Hometown of the Yellow Emperor (Xuanyuan Temple) 黄帝故里 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
A memorial complex of about 7 hectares on the northern edge of old Xinzheng, honoured as the birthplace of the legendary Yellow Emperor, Huangdi, where a large ancestor-worship ceremony is held each year on the third day of the third lunar month. - Jianye Huayi Brothers Film Town 建业·华谊兄弟电影小镇 4A scenic area · on the map
A film-themed town in Zhongmu county east of Zhengzhou, built in old-street style as a set of film streets: Zhengzhou Street recreates the city's Dehua Street, Datong Road and Fushou Street as they looked about a century ago, and Taiji Street is themed on the film Tai Chi. - Kang Baiwan Manor 康百万庄园 4A scenic area · National heritage site
The fortified hillside estate of the Kang family of merchants and landowners, who lived here for some four centuries from the late Ming, at Kangdian beside the Luo River in Gongyi. - Only Henan: Land of Dramas 只有河南·戏剧幻城 4A scenic area
An immersive theatre park opened in June 2021 in Zhongmu county, directed by Wang Chaoge: a walled 'fantasy city' of rammed loess, 328 m on each side, set among wheat fields. - Qinglong Mountain and Ciyun Temple 青龙山·慈云寺 4A scenic area · National heritage site
A forested range of about 51 km² south-east of Gongyi city, a forest park since 1998, with waterfalls, pools and lakes linked by lakeside trails, red leaves in autumn and frozen falls in winter. - Red Stone Forest, Fuxi Mountain 红石林 4A scenic area · on the map
An area of red sandstone pinnacles and cliffs, about 8 km², around Jianshan and Niuxinshi villages in the Fuxi Mountain area of north-western Xinmi. - Songyang Academy 嵩阳书院 4A scenic area · National heritage site
One of the four great academies of the Northern Song, founded as a Buddhist temple in 484, later a Taoist temple and from 1035 a Confucian academy where the philosophers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi taught. - Yellow Emperor Romance Park 黄帝千古情 4A scenic area · on the map
A theme park built by Songcheng Performance with the Xinzheng government around a large stage show, 'Yellow Emperor Romance', a song-and-dance spectacle about the Yellow Emperor and the history of the Central Plains. - Yellow River Fujing Eco World 黄河富景生态世界 4A scenic area · on the map
An agri-tourism park of more than 600 hectares on the Yellow River floodplain at Huayuankou, north of Zhengzhou, set up to hold down wind-blown sand by farming it. - Yinji International Tourist Resort 银基国际旅游度假区 4A scenic area · on the map
A large resort complex in Liuzhai town, Xinmi, south-west of Zhengzhou, combining an indoor ice-and-snow park, a water park, hot-spring baths, an animal park and an ocean-themed park with hotels and a lakeside shopping street. - Zhaixinglou Scenic Area 摘星楼 4A scenic area · on the map
A mountain scenic area in the Daxiong Mountain provincial forest park in Xuzhuang town, south of Dengfeng, opened in the late 2010s beside Yanglin village. - Zhengzhou Garden Expo Park 郑州园博园 4A scenic area · on the map
The 119-hectare site of the 11th China (Zhengzhou) International Garden Expo, in the Airport Economy Zone south-east of Zhengzhou, laid out as 94 outdoor show gardens. - Zhengzhou Haichang Ocean Park 郑州海昌海洋公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A marine theme park in Zhongmu county east of Zhengzhou, with aquarium halls for whale sharks, polar animals, penguins and jellyfish, an Ultraman-themed hall and some twenty rides including a Ferris wheel. - Zhengzhou Shang City 郑州商都古城 4A scenic area · National heritage site
The visitor area on the remains of Zhengzhou's early Shang-dynasty capital, a national heritage site whose rammed-earth inner wall ran for about 7 km round what is now the heart of the city. - Zhengzhou Xiangshan Scenic Area 郑州香山 4A scenic area · on the map
A leisure area built around Xiang Mountain in Daye town on the eastern side of Mount Song, named after a shrine that, by local tradition, people raised to the Tang poet Bai Juyi after he toured the area as governor in 830. - Zhengzhou Yellow River Cultural Park 郑州黄河文化公园 4A scenic area
The former Zhengzhou Yellow River Scenic Area, a national scenic area and geopark on the hills along the south bank of the Yellow River about 20 km north-west of central Zhengzhou, with wide views where the river leaves the hills for the plain. - Zhongyuan Tower 中原福塔 4A scenic area
Henan's radio and television tower in south-eastern Zhengzhou, 388 m to the tip of its mast and built in 2008–09 entirely of steel, on a base shaped like a ritual cauldron. - Zhongyue Temple 中岳庙 4A scenic area · National heritage site
The temple of the god of Mount Song, the Central Sacred Peak, where emperors had sacrifices offered; it traces its origins to the Qin dynasty, and its present buildings are Qing reconstructions after a fire at the end of the Ming.
Getting to Zhengzhou
Train, flight and driving times from the cities most visitors come from, with stations, fares and how many run a day; each opens the full comparison.
- Pingyao 平遥 train 3 h 45 min with a change at Taiyuan
- Taiyuan 太原 high-speed train 2 h 25 min, 25 a day, from ¥228
- Xi'an 西安 high-speed train 1 h 44 min, 129 a day, from ¥225
- Wuhan 武汉 high-speed train 1 h 33 min, 126 a day, from ¥293
- Nanjing 南京 high-speed train 2 h 39 min, 55 a day, from ¥321
- Tianjin 天津 high-speed train 3 h 14 min, 31 a day, from ¥361; a nonstop route is listed
- Datong 大同 high-speed train 4 h 12 min, 9 a day, from ¥355; a nonstop route is listed
- Qingdao 青岛 high-speed train 3 h 46 min, 26 a day, from ¥314; one nonstop flight a day, 1 h 50 min in the air
- Changsha 长沙 high-speed train 2 h 48 min, 86 a day, from ¥472
- Hangzhou 杭州 high-speed train 4 h 26 min, 37 a day, from ¥491; 7 nonstop flights a day, 2 h in the air
- Shanghai 上海 high-speed train 3 h 42 min, 63 a day, from ¥515; 10 nonstop flights a day, 2 h in the air
- Chongqing 重庆 high-speed train 4 h 33 min, 34 a day, from ¥504; 7 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 45 min in the air
- Chengdu 成都 high-speed train 5 h 8 min, 33 a day, from ¥528; 13 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 55 min in the air
- Xining 西宁 2 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 10 min in the air
On the map
Open Zhengzhou on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.
Open Zhengzhou on the map