Xinxiang ( ;
postal: Sinsiang) is a
prefecture-level city
A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure.
During the Republican era, many of China ...
in northern
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
, China.
It borders the provincial capital of
Zhengzhou to its southwest,
Kaifeng
Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the No ...
to its southeast,
Hebi
Hebi ( ; postal: Hopi) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, China. Situated in mountainous terrain at the edge of the Shanxi plateau, Hebi is about south of Anyang, northeast of Xinxiang and north of Kaifeng.
As of the 202 ...
and
Anyang to its north,
Jiaozuo
Jiaozuo ( ; postal: Tsiaotso) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Henan province, China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to the east, Jiyuan to th ...
to its west, and the provinces of
Shanxi and
Shandong to its northwest and east respectively.
Its total population was 6,251,929 as of the
2020 Chinese Census
The Seventh National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (), also referred to as the 2020 Chinese Census, was the seventh national census conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. Census wo ...
. As of the 2018 estimation, 2,743,200 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of 4 urban districts (''
Weibin,
Hongqi,
Muye
Muye District () is a district of the city of Xinxiang, Henan province, China.
History
The BC Battle of Muye ended Shang hegemony over the Wei and Yellow Rivers and established the state of Zhou.
Administrative divisions
As 2012, this district ...
,
Fenquan''),
Yanjin county,
Xinxiang county and
Huixian City which are now being conurbated as the city is expanding very quickly.
History
Xinxiang was site of the
Battle of Muye
The Battle of Muye () or Battle of the Mu was a battle fought in ancient China between the rebel Zhou state and the reigning Shang dynasty. The Zhou army, led by Wu of Zhou, defeated the defending army of King Di Xin of Shang at Muye and capt ...
where the
Shang Dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
was overthrown by the Zhou. Xinxiang dates from the
Sui dynasty (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, which covered neighbouring cities -
Anyang,
Hebi
Hebi ( ; postal: Hopi) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, China. Situated in mountainous terrain at the edge of the Shanxi plateau, Hebi is about south of Anyang, northeast of Xinxiang and north of Kaifeng.
As of the 202 ...
,
Puyang
Puyang is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China. Located on the northern shore of the Yellow River, it borders Anyang in the west, Xinxiang in the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Hebei ...
,
Jiaozuo
Jiaozuo ( ; postal: Tsiaotso) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Henan province, China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to the east, Jiyuan to th ...
and
Heze
Heze, formerly known as Caozhou, is the westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong province, China, it borders Jining to the east and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively.
History
Caozhou was at the center ...
, between 1949 and 1952, for the purpose of pacifying Nationalist guerillas through military action and accepting surrender.
In July 2021, Xinxiang was harshly impacted by the
flooding in Henan, which affected about 470,000 people and over of cropland.
Geography
Climate
Pollution
According to a 2015 report by
Greenpeace,
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
(Xinxiang's province) has the most severe
air pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different typ ...
of all the provinces in China, with an average
PM2.5
Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The ter ...
concentration of 103.3 μg/m3 (
microgram
In the metric system, a microgram or microgramme is a unit of mass equal to one millionth () of a gram. The unit symbol is μg according to the International System of Units (SI); the recommended symbol in the United States and United Kingdom whe ...
s per
cubic meter
The cubic metre (in Commonwealth English and international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or cubic meter (in American English) is the unit of volume in the International System of Units (SI). Its symbol is m ...
). The report found that Xinxiang has the 13th most polluted city air in China, with a PM2.5 concentration of 114.6 μg/m3 (over 11 times the safe limit established by the
WHO
Who or WHO may refer to:
* Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun
* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism
* World Health Organization
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
) during the first quarter of 2015. Swiss firm
IQAir
IQAir is a Swiss air quality technology company, specializing in protection against airborne pollutants, developing air quality monitoring and air cleaning products. IQAir also operates AirVisual, a real-time air quality information platform. As ...
reported that Xinxiang suffered from an average PM2.5 concentration of 51.5 μg/m3 in 2020, ranking 31st in China, and 89th in the world.
In 2015, environmental
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
Airman () purchased wheat samples farmed in the town of
Wangcun, in Xinxiang, near a battery factory, and found it had
cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...
levels up to 17 times the national safe limit.
The following year, the group again purchased wheat samples in the towns of and Wangcun, and found cadmium levels up to 34.1 times the national safe limit.
Following this report, the Xinxiang municipal government launched a program to purchase contaminated wheat, and convert the farmland to other purposes.
However, again in 2017, the group purchased additional wheat samples, and found them to have cadmium levels up to 18 times the national limit, with all samples purchased exceeding national safety limits.
In response, government officials from the
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of Dakuai met with the group, and pledged to further investigate the samples and stop growing wheat on contaminated farmland.
Religion
Xinjiang
Roman Catholics are served by the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang (), which was established on July 7, 1936, on missionary territory split off from the then
Apostolic Vicariate of Weihuifu () (now Diocese of
Jixian). It is a pre-diocesan jurisdiction, which is exempt (i.e., directly subject to the Holy See and its missionary
Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples), and not part of any
ecclesiastical province
An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...
.
It has had the following incumbent ''Apostolic Prefects of Xinxiang (Roman Rite) :''
* Father Thomas Megan (),
Divine Word Missionaries
The Society of the Divine Word ( la, Societas Verbi Divini), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Ri ...
S.V.D.) (born USA) (1936.07.07 – retired 1948), died 1951
* Fr. Johannes Schütte (), S.V.D. (born Germany) (1948 – death 1971.11.18), also
Superior General of
Society of the Divine Word (Divine Word Missionaries) (1958.03.28 – 1967.12.15) and Vice-Secretary of Pontifical Commission of Justice and Peace (1968–1971.11.18)
* Joseph Zhang Wei-zhu () (first Chinese and secular priest) (1992, with clandestine episcopal consecration)
Military
Xinxiang is the headquarters of the
83rd Group Army
The 83rd Group Army (), formerly the 54th Group Army, is a military formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces (PLAGF). The 83rd Group Army is one of twelve total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground f ...
of the
People's Liberation Army, one of the three group armies that comprise the
Jinan Military Region
The Jinan Military Region was a PLA Military Region located in the east of the People's Republic of China, covering the Shandong and Henan Provinces, which also formed military districts. It appears that Yang Dezhi was one of the first commander ...
responsible for defence of the
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...
plain.
Administration
The
prefecture-level city
A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure.
During the Republican era, many of China ...
administers 4
districts, 3
county-level cities
A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...
and 5
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
.
*District:
**
Weibin District ()
**
Hongqi District
Hongqi District () is a district of the city of Xinxiang, Henan province, China.
Administrative divisions
As 2012, this district is divided to 5 subdistricts, 2 towns and 1 township.
;Subdistricts
;Towns
*Hongmen
The Tiandihui, the Hea ...
()
**
Muye District
Muye District () is a district of the city of Xinxiang, Henan province, China.
History
The BC Battle of Muye ended Shang hegemony over the Wei and Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is ...
()
**
Fengquan District
Fengquan District () is a district of the city of Xinxiang, Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which ...
()
*County-level city:
**
Huixian
Huixian () is a county-level city under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinxiang, in the northwest of Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. He ...
City ()
**
Weihui
Weihui (), formerly Jixian or Ji County (), is a county-level city in the north of Henan province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinxiang
Xinxiang ( ; postal: Sinsiang) is a prefecture-level city in no ...
City ()
**
Changyuan
Changyuan () is a county-level city in the east of Henan province, China, bordering Shandong province to the east. Formerly under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinxiang, since 1 January 2014 it has been directly administered ...
City ()
*County:
**
Xinxiang County ()
**
Huojia County ()
**
Yuanyang County ()
**
Yanjin County ()
**
Fengqiu County
Fengqiu County () is a county in the north of Henan province, located on the north (left) bank of the Yellow River. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinxiang.
In ancient times, Pingqiu County () was located to the ea ...
()
Economy
Frestech, a major
home appliance
A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation.
Appliances are divided into three ...
company, was located in Xinxiang prior to its liquidation in 2018. One of the business units spun off in Frestech's dissolution, Xinfei Electric Group, continues to operate in Xinxiang.
Xinfei Electric Group, now a wholly-owned subsidy of
Aviation Industry Corporation of China
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot a ...
, produces
refrigerated trucks, military vehicles,
RVs
A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camper ...
, modular building structures, precision equipment, refrigerators, air conditioners, and environmental control equipment.
Other important enterprises located in Xinxiang include Golden Dragon Copper Group, Bailu Chemical Fibre, Henan Kelong Group, and AVIC XINHANG Industry Corporation.
Agriculture and textiles
Textiles and processed food are also major products of Xinxiang. As an old textiles base, the cotton industry is very developed in Xinxiang.
Transport
The city is a rail junction and industrial centre at the head of navigation on the
Wei River
The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization.
The source of the Wei River is close to ...
. The river, made navigable for small vessels by river improvements in the 1950s, links the city with
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
, the main port for
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. 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.
Rail
Xinxiang is located at the junction of the
Beijing-Guangzhou,
Xinxiang-Yueshan and the
Xinxiang-Yanzhou Railways.
Xinxiang has two railway stations:
Xinxiang Railway Station and
Xinxiang East Railway Station.
Education
There are several universities and colleges located in the
prefecture-level city
A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure.
During the Republican era, many of China ...
.
*
Henan Normal University
*: newly combined university located in the eastern part of Xinxiang, it has 21 faculties and 3 centers
*
Henan Institute of Science and Technology
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
*
Xinxiang Medical University
*
Henan Mechanical and Electrical Engineering College
*
Xinxiang Hygiene School
Sister city
*
Kashiwara
file:Kashiwara City Office, Osaka pref01.JPG, 270px, Kashiwara City Hall
is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 67,698 in 32007 households and a population density of . The total area of the city ...
,
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
, Japan
See also
*
History of the political divisions of China The history of the administrative divisions of China is covered in the following articles:
* History of the administrative divisions of China before 1912
* History of the administrative divisions of China (1912–1949) (Republic of China on the mai ...
*
List of Catholic dioceses in China
The Catholic Church in China comprises 152 Latin jurisdictions:
* 21 ecclesiastical provinces (including one for Taiwan), consisting of 21 Metropolitan archdioceses and 100 suffragan dioceses
* 29 Apostolic Prefectures
* 1 exempt diocese, the di ...
*
List of twin towns and sister cities in China
This is a list of places in China which have standing links to local communities in other countries known as "town twinning" (usually in Europe) or "sister cities" (usually in the rest of the world).
A
Anqing
* Calabasas, United States
* C ...
*
Air pollution in China
Pollution in China is one aspect of the broader topic of environmental issues in China. Various forms of pollution have increased as China has industrialised, which has caused widespread environmental health problems.Jared Diamond, '' Collapse: ...
*
Soil contamination in China
References
Sources and external links
Government website of Xinxiang
Window on Xinxiang
Xinxiang University
{{authority control
Populated places established in the 1st millennium
Cities in Henan
Contaminated farmland
Prefecture-level divisions of Henan
National Forest Cities in China