Zhoukou (; postal: Chowkow) 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 Chi ...

in eastern

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 a ...

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 out ...

, China. It borders

Zhumadian Zhumadian (; postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to the northwest, Luohe to the north, Zhoukou to the northeast, and the province of ...

to the southwest,

Xuchang Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the southeast, and Pi ...

and

Luohe Luohe (; postal: Loho) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province, China. It is surrounded by the cities of Xuchang, Zhoukou, Zhumadian and Pingdingshan on its north, east, south and west respectively. Its population was 2,367,490 ...

to the west,

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 Nort ...

to the northwest,

Shangqiu Shangqiu (), alternately romanized as Shangkiu, is a city in eastern Henan province, Central China. It borders Kaifeng to the northwest, Zhoukou to the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Anhui to the northeast and southeast respectivel ...

to the northeast, and the province of

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

on all other sides. As of the 2020 census, its population was 9,026,015 inhabitants. However, as of the 2018 estimation, 1,601,300 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') made up of Chuanhui district and the northern part of Shangshui county.

Administration

The

of Zhoukou administers 2

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

, 1

county-level city 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 7

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 ...

. *

Chuanhui District Chuanhui District () is a district of the city of Zhoukou in Henan province, China. It lies at the intersection of the Ying River, Sha River and Jialu River. The name "Chuanhui" means that three rivers come across. From the 17th to 19th centuries, ...

() *

Huaiyang District Huaiyang District () is a district in the prefecture-level city of Zhoukou in the east of Henan province, People's Republic of China. During the Spring and Autumn period the capital of the state of Chen was located there. The Chinese Ma clique ...

() *

Xiangcheng City Xiangcheng () is a county-level city in Zhoukou, Henan, People's Republic of China. It borders Shenqiu to the east, Shangcai to the west, Huaiyang to the north, Pingyu to the southeast, and the province of Anhui in the southeast. It has a popu ...

() * Shenqiu County () * Dancheng County () * Luyi County () * Taikang County () * Fugou County () *

Xihua County Xihua County () is a county in the east-central part of Henan province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhoukou Zhoukou (; postal: Chowkow) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, China. It ...

() * Shangshui County ()

Climate

History

For thousands of years, Chen (now at Huaiyang) had been the center of this area and a nationally well-known city. The ancient city site founded at Pingliangtai (near Huaiyang) is over 4600 years old, which is one of the oldest cities in China. According to the legend,

Fu Xi Fuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲 ~ 伏犧 ~ 伏戲) is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as well a ...

, the first of the Three Sovereigns of ancient China, died in the city. During the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

, Chen was the capital of Chen State and then annexed by Chu. Therefore, the area was usually referred to as "Chen Chu" in ancient times. The leaders of the first Chinese peasant uprising (the

Dazexiang uprising The Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising (), July–December 209 B.C., was the first uprising against the Qin dynasty following the death of Qin Shi Huang. Led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the uprising helped overthrow the Qin and paved the way for ...

) established the government at Chen. The city's name "Zhoukou" is short for "Zhoujiakou", which literally means " Zhou's ferry". Located at the intersection of Jialu River and Shaying River, it started to develop as a river harbor of China's Inland Water Transport System in the early

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. By the end of the 18th century, two towns along the rivers merged into one big town with several tens of thousand permanent residents. From the port, cargo could either be shipped south to the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

or north to 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 ...

. However, after the "

sea ban The Haijin () or sea ban was a series of related isolationist policies in China restricting private maritime trading and coastal settlement during most of the Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasty. Despite official proclamations the Ming policy was ...

" was canceled, sea transport began to play a major role on the trade between

Jiangnan Jiangnan or Jiang Nan (; formerly romanized Kiang-nan, literally "South of the River" meaning "South of the Yangtze") is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, incl ...

and North China, which diminished the utility of inland waterways. The cost of maintaining the river channels kept increasing because of the ever-rising river bed. The appearance of railways and modern roads in the early 20th century lead to a recession in the water transport business nearby. Finally, in the 1970s, a dam was built on the Shaying River, which cut the city's last waterway. In 2000, the government of the Zhoukou prefecture-level city was founded. The old county-level city and its suburban area became

Economy

Zhoukou is a major agricultural producer in the province of

. Its economy is mainly based on the trade of agricultural products, such as grain, cotton, oil, meat and tobacco. In particular, Zhoukou is famous for the skin of the Huai Goat, a local breed of goat.

Transportation

Railways * Luofu Railway (

Fuyang () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China. It borders Bozhou to the northeast, Huainan to the southeast, Lu'an to the south, and the province of Henan on all other sides. Its population was 8,200,264 inhabitants at the ...

) Expressways * Nanluo Expressway (

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyan ...

) * Shangzhou Expressway (

-Zhoukou) * Daguang Expressway (

Daqing Daqing (; alternately romanized as Taching) is a prefecture-level city in the west of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. The name literally means "Great Celebration". Daqing is known as the "Oil Capital of China" and has experi ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

) * Yongdeng Expressway (

Yongcheng Yongcheng () is county-level city in Henan province, China, and is the easternmost county-level division of the province, bordering Anhui province on all sides except the northwest and due north. Yongcheng has significant coal deposits and some i ...

Dengfeng Dengfeng (; postal: Tengfeng) is a county-level city of Henan Province, South Central China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou. Dengfeng has an area of and a population of 630,000. It occupies the so ...

) Highways *

China National Highway 311 China National Highway 311 (G311) runs west from Xuzhou, Jiangsu towards Anhui province, and ends in Xixia County, Henan. It is 748 kilometres in length. Route and distance See also * China National Highways {{China National Highways T ...

(G311) * China National Highway 106 (G106)

Education

Universities and Colleges * Zhoukou Normal University () * Zhoukou Vocational College of Science and Technology () * Zhoukou Institute of Education () * Zhoukou Polytechnic () Schools * Zhoukou No.7 Middle School () * Huaiyang High School () * Zhoukou First High School () * High School of Fugou County () * Xiangcheng First High School () * Shangshui First High School ()

Notable people

Laozi Laozi (), also known by numerous other names, was a semilegendary ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher. Laozi ( zh, ) is a Chinese honorific, generally translated as "the Old Master". Traditional accounts say he was born as in the state ...

(philosopher and central figure in Taoism) *

Wu Guang Wu Guang (, died December 209 BC or January 208 BC) was a leader of the first rebellion against the Qin Dynasty during the reign of the Second Qin Emperor. Life Wu Guang was born in Yangxia (陽夏; present-day Taikang County, Zhoukou, Hen ...

(leader of the

) *

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...

(politician) * Ji Hongchang (general) * Yue Wenhai (governor) *

Shuping Wang Shuping Wang (, ''Wang Shuping''; 20 October 1959 – 21 September 2019) was a Chinese-American medical researcher and public health whistleblower. She exposed the poor practices that led to the spread of hepatitis C and HIV in central China ...

(HIV researcher) * Wei Rui (

sanshou Sanda (), formerly Sanshou (), also known as Chinese boxing or Chinese kickboxing, is the official Chinese kickboxing full-contact combat sport. Sanda is a fighting system which was originally developed by the Chinese military based upon the ...

fighter and professional kickboxer) *

Zhang Zhilei Zhilei Zhang (; born May 2, 1983) is a Chinese professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by ...

(professional heavyweight boxer) * Jia Aoqi (sanshou fighter and professional kickboxer) * Xu Jiayin (Chinese businessman and founder of Evergrande Group)

Sister cities

Petropavl Petropavl ( kk, Петропавл, Petropavl ) or Petropavlovsk () is a city on the Ishim River in northern Kazakhstan close to the border with Russia. It is the capital of the North Kazakhstan Region. Population: 218,956. The city is also kn ...

(Petropavlovsk), Kazakhstan * Taió, Santa Catarina, Brazil

References

External links

Government website of Zhoukou
(in Simplified Chinese) {{Authority control Cities in Henan Prefecture-level divisions of Henan