Erqi District 二七区

History

Until the late Qing most of the district was farmland, with only a few lanes outside the west gate of the old county town. Construction of the Lu–Han Railway (芦汉铁路) began in 1897, Zhengzhou was opened as a trading port in 1905 and a commercial quarter grew up around the station; once the Bian–Luo Railway (汴洛铁路) opened, the town became a rail junction. By 1916 shopping streets such as Datong Road (大同路), Dehua Street (德化街) and Fushou Street (福寿街) had been laid out. After the People's Liberation Army took Zhengzhou in October 1948 the area became the city's Second District, and in October 1955 it was renamed Erqi in memory of the strike.

Older layers survive too. The district government lists Han-dynasty dwellings at Denggongzhai (邓公寨), the Ming tomb of Prince Daowang of Zhou (周悼王陵), Qing courtyard houses of the tianjingyuan (天井院) type and the Palaeolithic site at Laonainai Temple (老奶奶庙). It also credits a Shang celadon vessel found on Minggong Road (铭功路) with pushing the history of Chinese porcelain back by over a thousand years.

What to see

Erqi Square (二七广场) is the district's best-known sight. The Erqi Memorial Tower (二七纪念塔) at its centre went up in 1971 to honour the strike: two joined five-sided towers of 14 storeys rising 68 metres, with a clock stage carrying six large clocks and a red star at the tip. The tower became a national key protected site in 2006, and the district government describes it as the marker of Henan's kilometre-zero point. Dehua Street, south of the square, dates from 1905 and was rebuilt in the late 1990s as Zhengzhou's first pedestrian shopping street. The Zhengzhou Martyrs' Cemetery (郑州烈士陵园) is also in the district.

Setting and landscape

The south of the district is hilly, and the land falls from southwest to northeast into plain. Four rivers, the Jinshui (金水河), Jialu (贾鲁河), Kong (孔河) and Xiong'er (熊儿河), and the Jiangang (尖岗水库) and Guojiazui (郭家嘴水库) reservoirs all belong to the Huai River system. The district government also counts a 15-kilometre Cherry Valley (樱桃沟), 1,466.6 hectares of vineyards and the 280-hectare Zhengzhou Arboretum (郑州树木园).

Getting oriented

The Beijing–Guangzhou and Longhai railways cross inside the district, which the district government calls the "heart" of China's railways. The Zhengzhou Coach Central Station (郑州客运中心站) is here too, and Metro Line 1 stops at Zhengzhou Railway Station and Erqi Square. Zhengzhou University and the Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics have campuses in the district.

Highlights

• Erqi Memorial Tower 二七纪念塔: Twin five-sided, 14-storey, 68-metre tower of 1971 commemorating the 1923 strike; national key protected site since 2006.
• Dehua Street 德化街: Shopping street begun in 1905, rebuilt in the late 1990s as Zhengzhou's first pedestrian commercial street.
• Zhengzhou Railway Station 郑州火车站: Junction of the Beijing–Guangzhou and Longhai railways, inside the district.
• Laonainai Temple Palaeolithic site 老奶奶庙旧石器时代遗址: Old Stone Age site listed by the district government among its historic remains.