Shangqiu

Shangqiu (商丘; shāngqiū) is a city in eastern Henan province, China.

Understand

Shangqiu has a history of over 4,000 years. It was the first capital of the Shang Dynasty, and later served as the capital of some states including Song in the Zhou Dynasty and Liang in the Han Dynasty. At present, Shangqiu is one of the agricultural areas in China and mainly grows wheat, corn, cotton and pears. Shangqiu is also famous for its wine, refrigerators, aluminium and electrical bicycle industry.

Though under the administration of Henan Province, Shangqiu shares more cultural similarity with the Huaihai region (淮海地区), a marginal area that includes part of Eastern Henan, southwest Shandong, Northern Jiangsu and Northern Anhui.

Shangqiu administers:

• 2 districts: Liangyuan (梁园) and Suiyang (睢阳). The downtown is on the boundary between the two districts.
• 1 county-level city: Yongcheng (永城).
• 6 counties: Minquan (民权), Sui County (睢县), Ningling (宁陵), Zhecheng (柘城), Xiayi (夏邑) and Yucheng (虞城).

Get in

By train

Shangqiu is one of the large railway hubs in China. The Longhai Railway (Lianyungang - Lanzhou), Jingjiu Railway (Beijing - Kowloon), Xulan High-speed Railway (Xuzhou - Lanzhou) and the under-construction Shanghang High-speed Railway (Shangqiu - Hangzhou) pass Shangqiu. Shangqiu has railway connections to nearly all major cities in China.

Shangqiu has two railway stations. When you ride a train, be careful about which station you should go, because the distance between the two stations is 8 km and can take you more than 30 minutes by bus or 15 minutes by taxi from one station to the other.

🌍 Shangqiu Railway Station (商丘火车站), Zhanqian Road, Liangyuan District. The main railway station in Shangqiu. On the Longhai and Xulan High-speed Railway. (updated Apr 2019)

🌍 Shangqiu South Railway Station (商丘南站), Nanjing Road, Liangyuan District. The relatively smaller railway station in Shangqiu. Mainly serves the train along Jingjiu Railway. (updated Apr 2019)

By bus

Long-distance buses arrive Shangqiu frequently from nearby major cities such as Zhengzhou and Xuzhou and smaller cities such as Zhoukou, Bozhou, Heze and Kaifeng. You can buy a ticket from the long-distance bus station or wave to the passby buses on their route.

🌍 Shangqiu Central Bus Station (商丘中心汽车站, 303汽车站), Zhanqian Road, Liangyuan District. Just across the Zhanqian Road from Shangqiu Railway Station. The first choice for passengers to transfer from train to bus. (updated Apr 2019)

🌍 Shangqiu Main Bus Station (商丘客运总站), Kaixuan Road, Liangyuan District. The older long-distance bus station. (updated Apr 2019)

🌍 Shangqiu Wanli Bus Station (商丘万里汽车站), Zhongzhou Road, Liangyuan District. Local buses service to nearby small cities and towns. (updated Apr 2019)

Get around

By bus

All the long-distance bus stations serve to the counties under the administration of Shangqiu.

City bus service is available in Liangyuan and Suiyang districts. Majority of the bus routes pass Shangqiu Railway Station, so it is nearly possible to go to any places with only one transfer there. But miserably, there is a lacking of direct bus routes for the same area in the city. Therefore, even two places are on the same side of the city, you still have to go to downtown to transfer at the railway station.

By taxi

By bicycle

Shared bicycles are available across downtown and major towns in counties.

See

Downtown

🌍 The Ancient City of Shangqiu (商丘古城). The origin of Shangqiu and has a history of over 4,000 years. The present buildings on the ground were mainly built in Ming Dynasty, and most of the buildings before Ming Dynasty are buried because of flooding of the Yellow River. It is surrounded by moat called Southern Lake (南湖). The main attractions include City Wall (城墙), Gongyang Gate (拱阳门), Gongchen Gate (拱辰门), Zhangxun Temple (张巡祠), Yingtian Academy (应天书院), Zhanghui Hall (壮悔堂) and Mu's Siheyuan (穆氏四合院). (updated Apr 2019)

🌍 Ebo Temple (火神台). The temple that sacrifices the god of fire, who is also the ancestry of Shang's people. The name of "Shangqiu" origins from here (Shang = Shang's people; Qiu = small hill, where this temple is built). (updated Apr 2019)

🌍 Shangqiu Museum (商丘博物馆). The main museum of Shangqiu. Introduce the history of Shangqiu. (updated Apr 2019)

Inner Suburbs

🌍 Huanghegudao National Forest Park (黄河故道国家森林公园). The Yellow River flew through here before 1855. Now it is a popular recreation area for all Shangqiu citizens. (updated Apr 2019)

Outer Suburbs and Counties

🌍 Mangdang Mountain (芒砀山), Yongcheng. The only natural hills in Shangqiu, with the highest altitude of 156.8 meters. Clustered tombs of the kings of State of Liang in Han Dynasty. Many delicacy cultural relics were excavated and reserved in the museum nearby and Henan Museum in Zhengzhou. (updated Apr 2019)

🌍 Homeland of Mulan (木兰故里), Yucheng. The homeland of Hua Mulan (花木兰). (updated Apr 2019)

🌍 Homeland of Zhuangzi (庄子故里), Minquan. The homeland of Zhuangzi (庄子). (updated Apr 2019)

🌍 Fengcheng Lake (凤城湖), Sui County. The county seat of Sui County before Qing Dynasty, flooded by the Yellow River and became a lake. Good resort place for citizens in Sui County. The tomb of Duke Xiang of Song (宋襄公) is on the island of the lake. (updated Apr 2019)

Do

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Connect

Go next

• Kaifeng, one of the ancient capitals in China. One-hour ride of high-speed railway or two-hour ride of normal railway west from Shangqiu.
• Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province. 1.5-hour ride of high-speed railway or 2.5-hour ride of normal railway west from Shangqiu.
• Xuzhou, the center city of Huaihai District, famous for its culture of Han Dynasty. Half-hour ride of high-speed railway or 1.5-hour ride of normal railway east from Shangqiu.
• Jining, the homeland of Kongzi (Qufu) and Mengzi (Zoucheng). Ride the bus from Shangqiu Central Bus Station.

Routes through Shangqiu

Zhengzhou ← Kaifeng ←	W  E	→ Xuzhou → Lianyungang
Beijing ← Heze ←	N  S	→ Bozhou → Nanchang