Xinxiang (xīn xiāng 新乡) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province (hé nán shěng 河南省), People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou (zhèng zhōu 郑州) to its southwest, Kaifeng (kāi fēng 开封) to its southeast, Hebi (hè bì 鹤壁) and Anyang (ān yáng 安阳) to its north, Jiaozuo (jiāo zuò 焦作) to its west, and the provinces of Shanxi (shān xī 山西) and Shandong (shān dōng 山东) to its northwest and east respectively.

History

Xinxiang was a battlefield during Muye War (mù yě zhàn zhēng 牧野战争), which was the earliest big war in Chinese history. Xinxiang dates from the Sui dynasty (AD 581-618) and was a small market center before being developed as an industrial center in the 1950s. It also served as the capital of the short-lived Pingyuan province (píng yuán shěng 平原省) between 1949 and 1952.


Climate

Xinxiang enjoys a mild continental monsoon climate with an annual average temperature of around 57.2F (14ºC). The city is characterized by four clear-cut seasons. The best seasons to visit Xinxiang are spring and autumn when the climate is cool and pleasant (May-June, September-October).


Attractions

Xinxiang boasts 46 cultural relics and 60 scenic spots for visitors to enjoy. Among the highlights are King Lu's Mausoleum, Baligou Scenic Area, and Baiquan Scenic Area.

Located about 8 miles (13 km) north of Xinxiang city proper at the south foot of the Phoenix Mountain (fèng huáng shān 凤凰山), the Mausoleum of King Lu (lù wáng líng 潞王陵) is the only intact Ming feudal prince's tomb in China. It includes two tombs, the King Lujian tomb in the east and the tomb of his wife in the west. It is an representative of the architecture of Ming Dynasty mausoleums and it also reflects the history and culture of the Ming Dynasty.

Baligou Scenic Area (bā lǐ gōu fēng jǐng qū 八里沟风景区), situated at the south foot of Taihang Mountains (tài háng shān 太行山), is about 31.5 miles (50 km) from Xinxiang City. As the soul of Taihang Mountains, it is as spectacular as the famous Huangshan Mountain. It attracts regular visitors each year to enjoy fresh air, charming scenery of the natural oxygen bar, peerless waterfalls and so on.

Baiquan Scenic Area (bǎi quán fēng jǐng qū 百泉风景区) is around 13.7 miles (22 km) away from Xinxiang City. With a history of more than 3000 years, the water area is rich in historical relics as well as gifted beautiful landscapes.

Other scenic spots include: Bigan Temple (bǐ gàn miào 比干庙), Guan Mountain Geo-park (guān shān dì zhì gōng yuán 观山地质公园), and Wanxian Mountains Scenic Area (wàn xiān shān fēng jǐng qū 万仙山风景区), etc.

 
Guoliangcun

Nestled away on its cliff-top perch high up in the Wanxian Mountains in north Henan is this delightful high-altitude stone hamlet. For centuries sheltered from the outside world by a combination of sheer inaccessibility and anonymity, Guoliangcun (guō liàng cūn 郭亮村) shot to fame as the bucolic backdrop to a clutch of Chinese films, which firmly embedded the village in contemporary Chinese mythology.

Today the village attracts legions of artists who journey here to capture the unreal mountain scenery on paper and canvas. New hotels have menacingly sprung up at the village's foot, but the original dwellings – climbing the mountain slope – retain their simple, rustic charms, while long treks through the mind-boggling scenery more than compensate efforts at journeying here.

Approximately 6°C colder than Zhengzhou, Guoliangcun is cool enough to be devoid of mosquitos year-round (locals say), but pack very warm clothes for winter visits, which can be bone-numbing (hotels are too primitive for central heating). Visiting off season may seem odd advice, but come evening the village can be utterly tranquil, and moonlit nights are intoxicating. Occasional power cuts plunge the village into candlelight, so pack a small torch.

Location: Huixian, north of Xinxiang City
Transportation: Guoliangcun is accessible via expressway and the S229 highway from Zhengzhou, before a series of mountain roads head up to the village. It is best done on a tour from Zhengzhou as buses don't run here direct — trains and buses go part of the way to Xinxiang. Xinzheng International Airport is the closest one, receiving flights from Beijing in about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Tel: 0373-6718988/6718998
Opening Hours: No time limits. (But the buses from Huixian to Guoliangcun set out only at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.)
Admission Fee: CNY60 (admission to the Wanxian Mountains Scenic Area)
Tips: It would be better to stay for 2 days. And then you can enjoy the sunrise and sunset on the mountain.


Transportation

The city is a rail junction and industrial center at the head of navigation on the Wei River (wèi hé 卫河). The river, made navigable for small vessels by river improvements in the 1950s, links the city with Tianjin, the main port for Beijing. Later, due to heavy industrial chemical pollution, the river course had been totally cut off and got filled up. After recent dredges, it is still no more than a man-made lake.

Railway
Xinxiang Railway Station is a rail junction and offers regular trains to reach a large number of cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Chengdu, Guilin, etc.

Bus

Xinxiang Central Bus Station offers buses to China's major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, Xi'an, Jinan and Taiyuan, and to neighboring areas such as Zhengzhou, Nanyang, Anyang, Pingdingshan, etc.

Air

There is no airport in Xinxiang. However, visitors can have Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport as an aero transfer station for the short distance between Xinxiang and Zhengzhou. Xinxiang has only two airport buses daily departing at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.. So many people prefer to get to Zhengzhou by train firstly and then changes to the airport at the nearby Zhengzhou Hotel where runs buses to the airport per hour.