Ancient civilization

A booming commercial hub by the Jinshui River.[China Daily]

In 1977, a great number of relics like stone utensils, earthenware, seeds and the remains of humans and domesticated animals were discovered in Peiligang village in the suburbs of Zhengzhou. Archaeologists confirmed the Neolithic Age relics date back 7,000 to 8,000 years, the earliest evidence of human civilization in China.

Other discoveries formed a continuous and complete chronological table of history in Zhengzhou, even before the age of written records. The Dahecun civilization dates to 6,000 years ago. The relics of the city wall of the Shang Dynasty capital about 3,600 years ago were also discovered in Zhengzhou.

In the ensuing thousands of years of recorded history, Zhengzhen was the capitals of the Zheng Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC-476 BC) and the Han Kingdom during the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC).

During the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), many emperors selected Zhengzhou as the site of their mausoleums.

In addition to relic sites, Songshan Mountain is another destination popular with tourists.

Some 90 km from the city center of Zhengzhou, Songshan is home to the famous Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Chinese kungfu and the Zen sect of Buddhism still thriving in China, Japan and South Korea.

The mountain is also a World Geopark because of its unique geological structure and landscape.

Another noted tour is on the Yellow River in the city's northern suburbs.

After ending its torrential journey in its upper and middle reaches, the muddy river flows calmly 'above' the central plain in Zhengzhou.

And the riverbank is literally above the surrounding land. Its embankment is more than 10 m higher in elevation as it stretches several hundred miles to its estuary.

The embankment is the result of centuries of effort to tame the river's wildness and is a silent witness to Chinese history and civilization.

The Yellow River is the mother river of China, creating a vast plain stretching from Henan to Beijing, perhaps one of the largest alluvial plains in the world. The river's floods have brought fertile soils onto the plain, benefiting the people and nurturing civilization for thousands of years.

Yet it was so wild that it frequently destroyed lives and property and even led to the fall of several dynasties.

For generation after generation, ceaseless effort to tame the river continued, resulting in the greatest embankment project in the world.