Top 10 Attractions in Zhengzhou

Plan your Zhengzhou tour? Zhengzhou, located 25 kilometers south of the Yellow River, is the capital of Henan Province. Zhengzhou is considered to be the cradle of China's civilization.

Zhengzhou is an outstanding tourist city and one of the eight Chinese ancient cities. Song Mountain is known as one of the Five Mountains of China; Shaolin Temple is reputed to be “the Number One Temple under Heaven”.

It is home to the Shaolin Temple, traditionally considered the birthplace of Zen Buddhism, and the temple's collection of stupas is the largest in China. In recent years, Songshan scenery spot has become a good place for sightseeing, mountaineering, adventure, research and recreation.

Entrance Fee: CNY 80 (Saolin Temple is also included) Opening Hours: 8:00-17:00 How to get there: take Buses No. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9 from the downtown area to the Song Mountain.

The Shaolin Monastery and its famed Pagoda Forest were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 as part of the "Historic Monuments of Dengfeng."

Entrance Fee: CNY 100 Opening Hours: 8:00-17:00 How to get there: take Buses No. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9 from the downtown area to the Song Mountain, there are also many buses to the temple from the long-distance bus station of Zhengzhou.

The Huang Di's birthplace Area is mainly composed of 5 districts showing the related Huangdi Culture. Every year a grand ceremony is held to commemorate the birth of Huangdi. Entrance Fee: Free Opening Hours: 09:00-17:30 How to get there: Take a train or bus to Zhengxin, then change for Bus 101 and get off at the site

No. 04: Henan Museum (河南博物馆) Henan Museum, located in Zhengzhou, is a newly built-built modern history and art museum. It opened to the public on May 1, 1998. Henan Museum occupies an area of more than 100,000 square meters, with a total floor space of 78,000 square meters.It has a collection of more than 130,000 pieces of cultural relics through the ages. In addition to its collection of human history the museum is also home to many relics of natural history including dinosaur bones and fossils.

Entrance Fee: CNY 20

Opening Hours: 9:00-17:00 How to get there: Buses No. B1, 83, 32, 39, 42, 61, 69 and 96 can take you to the Henan Museum.

No. 05: Yellow River Scenic Area （黄河游览区) Zhengzhou Yellow River Scenic Area is a National 4A Class tour region which is located at 30 kilometers to the northwest of the Zhengzhou. The scenic area is surprisingly beautiful. As seen from a high point in this scenic area, the mighty Yellow River rushes by and demonstrates tremendous force with rolling and falling of the river’s torrents.The Yellow River Scenic Area includes five scenic spots: Five Dragons Peak, Camel Mountain Range, Yueshan Temple, Stone Figures of Yandi and Huangdi, and Ancient City of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu.Entrance Fee: CNY 60 Opening Hours: 08:10-18:00 How to get there: take shuttle buses at Zhengzhou Railway Station to the Yellow River Scenic Area

At the city of Gongyi, 80km east of Zhengzhou, lies the North Song Dynasty Imperial Tombs. The Mausoleum of Northern Song Dynasty is the burial site for seven emperors in North Song Dynasty (960-1127), together with their empresses, princes, princesses and ministers. The tomb area resembles an open-air museum with thousands of stone carvings.

Entrance Fee: free of charge Opening Hours: 9:00-17:00 How to get there: Take bus from Zhengzhou to Gongyi, then change for bus 1, 2,3 and 6

The Shang City Ruin, which was found by Henan cultural work team in the 1950s, is located in the eastern suburbs of Zhengzhou city.

The Shang City Ruin covers an area of 25 square kilometers.Within the city walls, houses and gravesites have been uncovered alongside several workshops that were engaged in smelting, casting and carving, some ancient wells and evidence of silos. Large numbers of relics have been found in the area too, including carved shells, stones and jade.

Entrance Fee: CNY 2 Opening Hours: the whole day How to get there: Take Bus No.2 from the bus station, and get off at the Dongmenkou Stop, then walk to the park.

Erqi Memorial Tower, which is located at the Erqi Square of Zhengzhou, was built in 1971. Erqi Memorial Tower is the memorial of the Erqi Strike, which occurred on February 7, 1923.

The Erqi Memorial Tower has altogether 14 storeys, totaling 63 meters in height, and is also called Twin Tower, because its body is made up of two connected quinquangular parts. A winding stair inside the tower brings you up to the top floor, where you can get a bird's-eye view of the whole city of Zhengzhou.

Entrance Fee: free of charge Opening Hours: 8:30-18:30 How to get there: take Buses No. 2, 9, 26, 28, 32, 57, 58 to the Erqi Memorial Tower

Entrance Fee: RMB10 Opening Hours: 8：30-17：00 How to get there: Bus No.308 for the site

The most prominent of these early Tang era pagodas is a 40 meters tall square-based stone tower with eaves, its ground floor measuring 7 meters on each side with 2 meters thick walls. Inside this pagoda is a shrine and a jade statue of the Buddha that was presented to the pagoda in 1409 during the Ming Dynasty.

Entrance Fee: CNY 10 Opening Hours: 9:00-17:00 How to get there: take the Tourist Bus to Fawang Temple from Zhengzhou Bus Station; or take a taxi

Zhengzhou Highlight Day Tour Tour from US$ 75 p/p Zhengzhou 3 Day Tour from US$ 289 p/p Zhengzhou Car Rental with Driver from US$ 89

Further Readings

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