Kaifeng Overview

Kaifeng overview can help you have a more comprehensive understanding of Kaifeng from the basic information, geographical location, climate, administrative divisions and so on.

Basic Information

Geography 

Kaifeng City is located in the hinterland of North China Plain and the eastern part of Henan Province. It is adjacent to Zhengzhou in the west, connected to Shangqiu in the east, Xuchang and Zhoukou in the south, and facing Xinxiang across the Yellow River in the north. Kaifeng has a total area of 6,247 square kilometers, of which the urban area of Kaifeng is 1,849 square kilometers. The city is 92 kilometers wide from north to south and 126 kilometers long from east to west. Kaifeng is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, with flat terrain and fertile soil, mostly clay, loam and sandy soil, suitable for planting various crops. In Kaifeng, the Yellow River bed is continuously raised due to sediment deposition of the Yellow River, forming a "suspended river above the ground" with the river higher than the city. In Kaifeng, several ancient capital cities and prefecture cities were deeply buried 3 to 12 meters below the ground due to the previous floods of the Yellow River. Six cities were stacked up and down, including 3 capital cities, 2 provincial cities and 1 prefectural city, forming a unique landscape of rare city stacks in China.

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Climate

Kaifeng enjoys a temperate continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. Kaifeng climate is generally characterized by cold and dry winter, dry and windy spring, hot and rainy summer, and cool autumn. The multi-year average temperature is about 14.52℃, the average frost-free period is 221 days, and the average precipitation is 627.5 mm. The precipitation is mostly concentrated in July and August in summer.

Best Time to Visit

Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to October) are the best seasons to visit Kaifeng, because it is neither too hot nor too cold during this period. The climate in Kaifeng is comfortable in autumn, and Chrysanthemum is in bloom. There is also a chrysanthemum fair in mid-October. Before and after Qingming Festival, Kaifeng will hold a "Kaifeng Qingming Cultural Festival", at which time there will be a large-scale parade of Song costumes, which is very attracting.

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Administrative Divisions

Kaifeng has jurisdiction over 5 municipal districts and 4 counties, including Gulou District(鼓楼区), Longting District(龙亭区), Yuwangtai District(禹王台区), Shunhe Hui District(顺河回族区), Xiangfu District(祥符区), Weishi County(尉氏县), Lankao County(兰考县), Qixian County(杞县), Tongxu County(通许县), etc.

History

The activities of Kaifeng's ancestors can be traced back to the Neolithic Age. The Wanlonggang sit(万隆岗遗址) in Wanlong township of Xiangfu district, and the Duantougang site(断头岗遗址) in Weichuan town of Weishi county have discovered some early Neolithic Peiligang cultural sites. Their excavation proves that human activities were already taking place in Kaifeng city as early as 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. Kaifeng has more than 4,100 years of history of city construction and capital construction, including Xia Dynasty, Wei State in Warring States Period, Houliang, Houjin, Houhan and Houzhou in Five Dynasties, Song Dynasty, Jin Dynasty and other dynasties successively established their capitals here. Kaifeng is known as the ancient capitals of eight dynasties, forming the “Song Culture”, which inherited the Han and Tang Dynasties, opened Ming and Qing dynasties and had far-reaching influence.

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Culture

Kaifeng culture includes its history, Song culture, Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, religious culture, food culture, opera culture, people, folk customs, intangible cultural heritages, etc, which intermingle and influence each other. Kaifeng is a well-known hometown of folk arts in China, enjoying the good reputation of "Hometown of Chinese Opera", "Hometown of Chinese Wood-block New Year Picture", "Hometown of Chinese Bian Embroidery", "Hometown of Chinese Chrysanthemum", etc. There are exquisite handicrafts such as Bian embroidery, mandarin porcelain, wood-block New Year pictures, etc. and rich and colorful folk arts such as temple fairs, lantern shows, bird markets, flower markets, night markets, kites, gamecock, pan drums, lion dances, stilts, land boats, suona, etc. 

Read More: Kaifeng Culture and Kaifeng Festivals and Events.

Transportation

Kaifeng has a superior geographical location and convenient transportation, and direct trains and buses to and from Beijing, Zhengzhou and Luoyang are available in Kaifeng. There is no airport in Kaifeng City. Of all the airports in Henan Province, the nearest one is Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport, 70 kilometers away from Kaifeng City. If you wanna take plane, you need to fly to Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport first, and then take the intercity bus or intercity train from the airport to Kaifeng. For internal transportation, bus is one of the main modes of transportation in the Kaifeng city. Besides, taxi and rickshaw are easily available. 

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Things to Do 

Historical and Cultural Attractions

Kaifeng enjoys a long history, espcially famous for its history and culture of Song dynasty. The Iron Pagoda, Xiangguo Temple, Baogong Memorial Hall, Yanqingguan, Yuwangtai, Po Pagoda and other key cultural relics in Kaifeng have high research value, historical and cultural value and tourism value. Kaifeng is one of Henan's three major stone carving concentration areas. There are more than 1,000 stone carvings from Han Dynasty to Republic of China preserved and collected in the scenic spots and historic sites. They are valuable cultural relics for studying social economy, history and culture, science and technology and calligraphy.

Chrysanthemum Appreciation

Kaifeng Chrysanthemum Fair flourished as early as the Northern Song Dynasty and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. During the Double Ninth Festival, Kaifeng people have the custom of enjoying chrysanthemum and drinking chrysanthemum tea. Now, the custom of chrysanthemum fair has been followed in Kaifeng till now. In the autumn season, chrysanthemum flowers in Longting and Wansui Mountain of Kaifeng are blooming one after another. The whole city of Kaifeng is full of chrysanthemum and fragrant with chrysanthemum everywhere. 

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Economy

Kaifeng is Henan Province's newly-rising sub-central city, the central plains urban agglomeration's core development area city, the Zhengzhou metropolitan area's core city, the main city of Zhengzhou's aviation port area, and an important wing of the integrated development of Zhengzhou and Kaifeng. Kaifeng Free Trade Zone is also one of the three major areas of China (Henan) Pilot Free Trade Zone. In 2018, Kaifeng's GDP was 200.223 billion yuan, an increase of 7.0% over the previous year. Among them, the added value of the primary industry was 27.32 billion yuan, up 3.9%. The added value of the secondary industry was 77.925 billion yuan, up 6.9%. The added value of the tertiary industry was 94.978 billion yuan, up 8.2%. Per capita GDP was 43,936 yuan, up 6.8% over the previous year.

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Natural Resources

Water Resources

The water resources in Kaifeng mainly include surface water and shallow groundwater, with the total water resources averaging 835 million cubic meters (excluding transit water) for many years. Among them, the surface water is about 351 million cubic meters, accounting for 42% of the total resources, and the groundwater available for exploitation is 484 million cubic meters, accounting for 58% of the total resources.

Biological Resources

Kaifeng is rich in biological resources, with more than 800 species of terrestrial and aquatic plants. There are a wide variety of animals, mainly including pigs, cattle, sheep, donkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, fish, birds and other breeding animals and more than 60 species of wild animals. It has become an important breeding base for pigs, cattle and sheep in Henan Province. The Kaifeng Yellow River carp is well-known in China.

Mineral Resources

Kaifeng's proven underground mineral resources include coal, oil and natural gas, with an estimated total oil output of 560 million tons and natural gas reserves of 48.5 billion cubic meters. Coal resources are deeply buried and the predicted reliable reserves are about 7.79 billion tons. In addition, there are abundant underground mineral resources such as limestone, rock salt and gypsum.

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