Zhoukou 周口市

Setting and landscape

The land slopes gently from northwest to southeast under a warm-temperate, semi-humid climate. Its four river systems are the Ying (颍河), Guo (涡河), Huai and Hong (洪河). The city government describes Zhoukou as the only prefecture-level city in Henan with year-round navigation to the Yangtze and the sea.

History

Huaiyang (淮阳), formerly the region's centre, was ancient Wanqiu (宛丘), called the ruins of Taihao (太昊之墟). King Wu of Zhou (周武王) enfeoffed Gui Man (妫满), a descendant of Shun (舜), here as the state of Chen (陈), one of the first ten Zhou fiefs. Chu (楚) destroyed Chen in 479 BC and moved its own capital here in 278 BC, and in 209 BC Chen Sheng (陈胜) and Wu Guang (吴广) made Chen the capital of their Zhangchu (张楚) regime. The city government calls the Pingliangtai (平粮台) walled-town site the earliest square-walled town yet found in China.

What to see

The Taihao Mausoleum (太昊陵) in Huaiyang District is a south-facing tomb and temple complex for Fuxi, whom the city government calls first of the Three Sovereigns. With Longhu Lake (龙湖) it forms a national 5A area; it became a national key cultural relics protection unit in 1996, and its layout dates from the Ming Hongwu reign. Its temple fair runs from the second day of the second lunar month to the third day of the third, and the black-ground painted clay toys called nini gou (泥泥狗), made for it, have been national intangible heritage since 2014.

Zhoukou Guandi Temple (周口关帝庙), also called the Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall (山陕会馆), was built by merchants from those provinces between 1693 and 1852 where three rivers meet, on the north bank of the Shaying River (沙颍河). Taiqing Palace (太清宫), 5 kilometres east of the Luyi (鹿邑) county town, is described by the city government as Laozi's birthplace; it was founded in 165 as a temple to him, and a Tang stele carries Emperor Xuanzong's (唐玄宗) commentary on the Daodejing (道德经).

Food and local products

Hulatang (胡辣汤), a spiced soup, as made in Xiaoyao (逍遥镇), Xihua County (西华县), joined the national intangible heritage list in 2021. Its stock is simmered from beef bones, mutton and crucian carp with more than 20 spices, then filled out with beef and mutton, wheat gluten, glass noodles and day-lily buds and stirred slowly with a wooden ladle; it is eaten with sesame oil, aged vinegar and pan-fried buns. Xiangcheng white sesame (项城白芝麻), Fugou watermelons (扶沟西瓜) and Dancheng sweet potatoes (郸城红薯) carry national geographical indications.

Highlights

• Taihao Mausoleum 太昊陵: Tomb and temple complex for Fuxi in Huaiyang; national key cultural relics protection unit since 1996.
• Zhoukou Guandi Temple 周口关帝庙: Guild hall of Shanxi and Shaanxi merchants built 1693-1852 on the Shaying River.
• Taiqing Palace 太清宫: Temple 5 km east of Luyi county town, founded in 165 at what the city government calls Laozi's birthplace.
• Xiaoyao hulatang 逍遥胡辣汤: Spiced soup from Xiaoyao, Xihua County; national intangible heritage since 2021.