Once merely a small village, Shangqiu has grown significantly in recent years. It is important geographically because it lies at a confluence of several major railway tracks, making its train station a major regional transportation hub.
History
The history of Shangqiu is closely related to the very beginning of Chinese history. Dates back to the Three August Ones and Five Emperors periods , Emperor Shennong, Emperor Zhuanxu and Emperor Ku were living in the present Shangqiu area. The son of Emperor Ku, Qi , who helped Yu the Great to control floods, was enfeoffed the area of Shang , who also became the ancestor of the ancient nationality of ''Shang''. It is said that the ''Shang'' people first started trading with neighboring countries by shipping the goods with ox wagens. Since then, people doing business are called ''Shang people'' , which is still the case now, although people are not likely to know the origin of the words. The thirteenth generation grandson of Qi , overthrew the ruling Xia Dynasty and founded the Shang Dynasty, with its first capital at Nanbo . Around 11 century BC, Shang Dynasty was replaced by Zhou Dynasty. The royal descendants of Shang Dynasty were enfeoffed the area of Shangqiu, which later became the .
Geography and Climate
Shangqiu is located in the east part of the Henan province. The longitude is from 114°49′E to 116°39′E and latitude is from 33°43′N to 34°52′N. The prefecture-level city of Shangqiu covers an area of 10,704 km? and has a population around 8.22 million . The climate is typical of a temperate characteristic, with windy warm Springs, hot summers, cool falls, and cold Winters. The annual average temperature is 14.1°C. The average annual is about 712 mm.
Government
The government of Shangqiu is responsible for the making and implementing of local policies. Since agriculture is still a major part of the economy of Shangqiu, many of the work is related to farmers and the development of the rural area. It is also observed that the government is exerting more and more efforts to attract foreign investment to spur local development.
The current mayor is Wang Baocun.
Administration
The prefecture-level city of Shangqiu administers 2 , 1 county-level city and 6 .
*Liangyuan District
*Suiyang District
*Yongcheng City
*Yucheng County
*Xiayi County
*Minquan County
*Ningling County
*Zhecheng County
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Economy
Agriculture
Situated on the North China Plain, Shangqiu is traditionally an agricultural region. The fertile soil and convenient irrigation facilities greatly help the production of crops and other plants. As of 2005, there are about 719,864 hectare planted. The most important agricultural products are wheat, maize, cotton, sesame, vegetables, fruit, tobacco, and livestock. In 2002, it produced about 4.5 million tons of crops, 200 thousand tons of cotton, 1.1 million tons of fruits, and 550 thousand tons of livestock.
Industry
Compared with the agriculture, the industry of Shangqiu is relatively less-developed. However, since the 1990s, it has experienced rapid growth. The food producing and packing company, Kedi group, has already been the number one exporter of frozen vegetables in the country. The large reservation of coal in Shangqiu also boosts up the energy industry, such as electricity generation and Aluminium electrolysis.
Transportation
Since the completion of east-west running Longhai railway in 1916, Shangqiu has been a local transportation center. This standing is greatly enhanced following the construction of the Beijing-Kowloon railway in 1996, which crosses with Longhai railway at Shangqiu. Nowadays, Longhai railway has become the Chinese segment of the larger "European-Asia continental landbridge," which runs from the sea port city Lianyungang to Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Shangqiu thus obtains the name of the city of the "golden cross." On the other hand, the road transport is also convenient and getting even better. The east-west direction Lianyungang-Khorghas national route 310 and north-south Beijing-Zhuhai national routh 105 also cross at Shangqiu. Highway traffic is fast-developing too. The Shangqiu-Kaifeng
segment of the Lianyungang-Khorghas highway is already in use. Future planning for highway construction is also underway.
Education
The education sector of Shangqiu is mainly professional training oriented, with an
increasing number of such colleges coming into sight ever since the 1990s.
Colleges and universities
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Society and culture
Lying in the heart of the North China Plain, Shangqiu benefits from a deep cultural tradition. The first star observatory in China, Ebo Tai, was established in Shangqiu. Yingtian Shuyuan, one of the largest four official education agencies in north Song Dynasty, is located in the Suiyang district of Shangqiu. The Suiyang traditional city, which was built in 1511 during the Ming Dynasty, is one of the best protected traditional cities in China, and was enlisted as one of the famous historical cities in China by the central government in 1986. The rich culture also raised many famous cultural figures. Cangjie , the legendary inventor of Chinese characters, was living in Shangqiu in the far-ancient periods. Zhuangzi , the great ancient philosopher of China, was born here around 4 century BC. Another great philosopher, Mozi , living in the same period as Zhuangzi, was also a Shangqiu native. The famous woman warrior, Hua Mulan , was also among the great figures of Shangqiu.
Tourist attractions
The ancient city of Suiyang
Temple of Hua Mulan (木兰祠）
Former residence of Zhuangzi
Ebo Tai, the first star observatory of China
Mangdang mountain tourism site
Famous people of Shangqiu
Cangjie
Zhuangzi
Mozi
Hua Mulan
Jiang Yan
Hou Fangyu
Miscellaneous
*Shangqiu is also a Roman Catholic diocese.
*Dazhouzhuang village, the hometown of the heroine Hua Mulan, lies about 55 km southeast of Shangqiu city. The village contains a temple dedicated to Mulan, and many nearby businesses use her name as a local trademark.
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