Things to do & places to visit in Huaiyang County, Henan, China

Huaiyang County city in Henan, China. Timezone: Asia/Shanghai, current date and time: Wednesday, May 15, 2024, 19:47.

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Top things to do (8)

• Observation Decks & Towers
• Historic Sites
• Ancient Ruins
• Points of Interest & Landmarks
• Bodies of Water
• Parks
• Cemeteries
• Speciality Museums

Top places to visit (11 attractions)

1. 4.5 Fuxi's Mausoleum (5 reviews)
   - Takes you back to the birth of Chinese civilisation
   Wednesday: 8:00 AM - 6:30 PM Cemeteries
   
   
   I have visited this site twice, in May 2017 and yesterday in June 2018. For anyone interested in Chinese culture this is a key site. Fuxi is one of the early, semi-mythical emperors of China who is credited with bringing an institutionalised structure of marriage, family/tribal affiliation and early technology to China. The period is estimated to be about 2,600 BCE. From another perspective he is closely associated with the trigrams and the 'I Ching' - the book of songs' where the trigrams are the basis of Daoist cosmology and mathematical logic. The site covers 36 hectares and information is easily obtained by the use of QR codes and use of Google translation. There are a series of temples of varying antiquity and in two key ones can be found gold statues of Fuxi and his consort Wahuang. There a number of myths including a virgin birth of Fuxi and Wahuang being both wife and sister. I leave you to draw your own comparison! One very unusual feature are the gardens that, for a Chinese garden, is quite distinctive featuring topiary and various shapes of trees including the arch of two dragons playing with a ball. These gardens have many shady and cool spots to provide an escape from the summer sun. The temple is a site of pilgrimage associated with folk religious beliefs in ancestor worship and fertility, so it will get very crowded during Golden Week holidays and times of festivals. The site is also associated with Pingliangtai, which dates from the same period and is said to represent the physical home of Fuxi while the Mausoleum is the spiritual home. English speaking guides are available at the Mausoleum but you may need to book in advance. Mine was knowledgeable and had a good command os English See more..
   
2. 4.5 Longhu Lake, Zhoukou (3 reviews)
   - Large fresh water lake protected for cultural heritage
   Wednesday: 12:00 AM - 11:59 PM Bodies of Water
   
   
   The lake has four sections and is larger than West Lake, Hangzhou. It is currently a 4A site classified as such on cultural heritage due to its connections with Fuxi, Confucius and the I Ching. It has 10 separate mentions in the I Ching. It is wholly fresh water and tightly controlled to sustain the environment with no swimming, or powered boats permitted. Fishing is from permitted land bases only although there is a short season of less controlled fishing for culling. Shore line activiities are also tightly controlled. It hosts over 30 species of birds and has more durnig the migratory season. Tourists can take a lake boat trip on an electric powered boat. The lake is broken up by several reed beds. During the Japanese occupation in the 1930s the lake was well relatively well protected due to its heritage value. It is possible to drive around the lake and modern management alos seeks to minimise water degradation from run-off off the road during wet weather. The boat trip is a relaxing trip offering photographic opportunities and takes about an hour. The Lake area is a location for bird watchers and has viewing areas for that purpose. Plans are being progressed to launch an application for 5-A classification - the highest grade in China See more..
   
3. 3.5 Pingliangtai Ancient City (2 reviews)
   - Site dating from about 2,600 BCE
   Wednesday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Ancient Ruins
   
   
   This is an embryonic tourist attraction and I was told that planes are in place for a future interpretation centre which will be of a real benefit to the site. Currently the non-Chinese speaking visitor will have difficulty in assessing the site as there are simply some holes in the ground and a room with a very basic display of pottery fragments. I was fortunate in having two academics and the site is being excavated by Peking University. Contrary to my initial impression I became quite interested and realised the impirtance of the site to the Chinese as it is tangible evidence for the claim that it has a civilisation of 5,000 years. Pipework is visible (when drawn to one's attention) that show the use of water distribution to the houses. The 'cityy' wall is 13 metres across - but just looks like a grassy mound to the uninformed. It is thought that perhaps a 1,000 people residend in the area and it survived as a settlement for perhaps a 1,000 years, but no-one knows why it went into decline. I suspect other, more powerful dynasties emerged and wished to build their own bigger cities. My star rating was based on being privy to a guide, but I rather guess most people would not have that privilege and the site is still being excavated and as a place to visit rather rudimentary. But it is still worth marvelling at the pottery found and to admise the quality of things so old. See more..
   
4. TaiGuanLing ShangYe Jie (0 review)
   Points of Interest & Landmarks
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5. HuaiYang NiSu YiShuGuan (0 review)
   Speciality Museums
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6. Xiange Tower (0 review)
   Wednesday: 12:00 AM - 11:59 PM Observation Decks & Towers
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7. Grains Tower (0 review)
   Wednesday: 12:00 AM - 11:59 PM Observation Decks & Towers
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8. Draw Diagram Stage (0 review)
   Wednesday: 12:00 AM - 11:59 PM Historic Sites
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9. Baogong Ancestral Hall, Zhoukou (0 review)
   Wednesday: 12:00 AM - 11:59 PM Historic Sites
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10. Longhu Lake (0 review)
    Bodies of Water
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11. Jianzhi Park (0 review)
    Parks
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