Anyang

Anyang (安阳; Ānyáng) is a city about 120 km north of the Yellow River (黄河) in Henan Province.

Understand

Anyang is 460 km south of Beijing and is a prefecture-level city. It is the northernmost city in Henan.

According to Bronze Age inscriptions, Anyang was the first stable capital city of China dated back to the Shang Dynasty (1554BC–1045BC) during its later period. A great number of oracle bones were discovered in Xiaolitun Village, located at the northwest of Anyang City. The oracle bones were primarily used for divination, and the language used is believed to be the earliest one written in Chinese characters.During the Three Kingdoms Period, there were Cao Wei, Leter Zhao, Ran Wei, Qianyan, Dongwei, and Beiqi, so Anyang City was known as the ancient capital of the Seven Dynasties.

Get in

There are two train stations in Anyang; an older station in the city center and a modern station at the eastern end of the city which serves high-speed rail passing through on the route from Beijing to Zhengzhou.

• 1 Anyang Train Station (安阳火车站). Train station in the city center. 
• 2 Anyang East (安阳东站). High speed railway station on the eastern edge of the city. 
• 1 Anyang Hongqiqu Airport (安阳红旗渠机场), ☏ +86 0372-3296307. (updated Oct 2024)（安阳红旗渠机场）: Located in Tangyin County, Anyang City. Since it is a newly built airport, only two inland Chinese routes have been opened.

From the Zhengzhou airport, direct buses to Anyang run at 13:00 and 17:00 and cost ¥70. More frequent buses and trains run from within the city of Zhengzhou.

Get around

Taxi and bus are the only public modes of transport within the city.The bus fare in the city is ¥1. Taxis in Anyang start at ¥6.

Anyang has launched a lot of electric motorcycles into the city since the previous two years. You only need to scan the QR code to unlock it. When you arrive at your destination.The application will automatically pop up the amount. It is very convenient. Tourism in the city can be the first choice, because Anyang city attractions are dense and the city area is small.

See

• 1 Anyang Museum (安阳博物馆) (Take Anyang City Bus No. 11, No. 12, No. 16, No. 36, No. 50 and get off at Anyang Museum Station.), ☏ 0372-3776786NOCC. Tuesday-Sunday. This large museum shows permanent exhibitions on porcelain, traditional Chinese woodblock new year prints, and on archaeological discoveries dating to several centuries that have been excavated during preparation for the "South-North Water Transfer Project".Anyang City Museum covers a total area of 20,000 square meters, exhibition area of 5000 square meters, a total of 8 warehouses, 7 exhibition halls. Founded in 1958, Anyang City Museum moved into Anyang City Library Museum Complex on December 25, 2008, and as of 2019, there are more than 10,000 cultural relics in the collection. Free. (updated Nov 2024)
• 2 Huanyuan Garden (洹园), Zhangde Road, Beiguan District, 455000, ☏ +86 372 592 2808. Riverside park. (updated Mar 2018)
• 3 Mausoleum of Cao Cao (曹操高陵遗址，曹操高陵遗址博物馆, Cao Cao Mausoleum Site Museum), Xigaoxue Village, Yindu District (殷都区西高穴村) (take bus no. 58 from the Anyang East Railway Station and get off at the last stop), ☏ +86 372 3715315. 08:30-18:00. The final resting place of Cao Cao, a famous Chinese general and warlord who lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty. The location of Cao Cao’s mausoleum was a mystery for many centuries until it was finally confirmed by archaeologists in 2018. Visitors can now visit the mausoleum. The tomb sits on the west facing east, and the plane is shaped like a "甲" shape. The deepest part is about 15 meters above the surface, and the large tomb covers an area of about 740 square meters, which is a two-room brick tomb with a ramp. The slope of the tombway is 39.5 meters long and 9.8 meters wide, and it is mainly composed of the front and rear chambers, 4 side chambers and the tombway. The tomb has a trapezoidal shape on the plane, 18 meters east and west, 22 meters wide and 19.5 meters wide.A museum was opened at the site in 2023. Standard entry tickets are ¥50; children under 1.4 meters and adults over 60 years old can enter for free. (updated Feb 2024)
• 4 National Museum of Chinese Writing, No. 656, East Renmin Avenue, Anyang City, Henan Province (Anyang city by bus No. 3, 21, 24, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 39, 41, 47, 48 can be reached under the bus east station.), ☏ 037-2226-6059NOCC. Monday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 22 a.m.. Modern museum in a spectacular gold-roofed building. Anyang is the site where the first Chinese writing was found. It covers a total area of 143 acres and has a total construction area of 34500 square meters. A total of 4,123 cultural relics, including 305 first-class cultural relics.The museum charts the history of Chinese writing from turtle-shell oracle bones to the modern day.It is a group of post-modern buildings with modern architectural style and Yin Shang court style. Exhibits are chronological and very well presented. There is plenty of English translation and it is highly informative. Adult ticket ¥45, Privilege ticket (children, senior citizens, students) ¥35, Family ticket (one adult, one child) ¥78, Family ticket (two adults, one child) ¥119. (updated Nov 2024)
• 5 Red-flag Canal, Linzhou District (Take Linzhou to Ren Village, Donggang, Hongqi Canal passenger shuttle bus, can be reached.Drive to：①Take the high speed: from Beijing, Hong Kong and Macao Expressway to Nanlin Expressway under the Hongqiqu Station, 200 meters south; take the Changlin Expressway (Changzhi-Linzhou), under the Hongqiqu Station, 200 meters south.②Take the national road: from Zhengzhou City, take the national road 107 to Hui County transfer road 234; take the national road 107, to Anyang through the city, along the Anlin road 50 minutes to reach Linzhou.), ☏ 0372-6040080NOCC. Monday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.. Nationally famous man-made canal built in the 1960s due to water supply shortage in the area. Located in the northern part of Linzhou, Henan Province, China, located at the junction of Henan, Shanxi and Hebei provinces, it is a national AAAAA tourist attraction and national key cultural relics protection unit.The construction of the canal was considered an incredible feat at the time and the story of its construction has been told in films. Adult ticket¥ 80, student ticket ¥40, teacher ticket ¥40, child ticket ¥40.. (updated Nov 2024)
• 6 Tianning Temple (安阳天宁寺塔), 2 Wenfeng North Street, Wenfeng District, 455000, ☏ +86 372 592 3227. Temple with an unusually shaped pagoda.Wenfeng Tower is a very unique tower, built in the second year of Zhou Wenshun (952), so far has more than 1,000 years of history. The tower was built in Tianning Temple, hence the original name Tianning Temple Tower. Adult tickets 24. (updated Mar 2018)

Yinxu

• 7 Yin Ruins (殷墟; Yīnxū) (taxi fare from downtown is about ¥10), ☏ +86-0372-3161002. Mar-Oct: 08:00-18:30; Nov-Feb: 08:00-17:30. Capital of the Shang Dynasty about 1300BC. Yin Hui is a world cultural heritage, China's national key cultural relics protection unit, the national AAAAA level tourist attraction.This site contains a museum, foundations of the Shang Capital and the tomb of Fuhao, a Shang dynasty concubine and general. The Yin Ruins is the first document in Chinese history, and is the site of the late Shang Dynasty, which has been confirmed by Oracle and archaeological excavations. It is also the site of the longest, most frequent and largest ancient Chinese archaeological excavations.At this site, many oracle turtle shells where found. Questions were written on the turtle shells and heat applied caused cracks from which the answers to questions were deduced. An important source of early Chinese writing. A pit where chariots were buried. Takes a whole day especially if you know some Chinese characters (or even just few) or are interested in Chinese history. Entrance ticket includes also the free shuttle bus and entrance to the Shang Dynasty Royal Cemetery (Wangling) some 10 minutes by bus away from the main museum. ¥70. (updated Nov 2024)
• 8 Yinxu Royal Tombs (殷墟王陵遗址) (taxi fare from downtown is about ¥20), ☏ 0372-2253005NOCC. Monday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Several of the tombs have been turned into museums by a building being erected over the tomb.Located in the northern part of the village of Wu Guan on the north bank of Huanhe River in Anyang City, it is opposite the temple site of the palace of Huanbei in Xiaotun Village.The ruins of the royal tomb of Yin Hui are an important part of the world cultural heritage of Yin Hui, which is composed of the ruins of the palace and the ruins of the Huanbei shopping center.There are M260 tomb disclosure and protection house works, 12 royal tomb large tomb vegetation signs, 480 memorial pits, animal memorial pits exhibition works, etc. The site of the royal tomb of Yinxu has become a large-scale historical park integrating cultural relics protection, scientific research, publicity education and tourism and leisure.The tomb site of the Yinxiang Dynasty is regarded as the "second ancient Egypt" by international experts and scholars, and it is the earliest and most complete tomb group known in China. Its discovery confirmed the historical status of the Shang Dynasty city of Yinxiu, directly promoted the study of Chinese slavery society, and became an important cornerstone for exploring the origin of Chinese civilization. (updated Nov 2024)
• 9 Youli Castle Site (羑里城遗址), Tangyin Xian, 107国道 (taxi fare from downtown is about ¥20), ☏ +86 372 623 1399. Cultural remains from Longshan to the Western Zhou periods. The cultural layer is about 7 meters thick. It also comprises remains of the national jail with the longest history in China. It is the very place where "the Western Duke (Jichang) deduced the trigrams into hexagrams during his imprisonment in Youli". Being the leader of the Zhou clan in the end of the Shang Dynasty and with the name of Jichang, King Wen widely adhered to the policy of benevolence, which aroused the suspicious and jealousy of King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty. King Zhou put King Wen into the jail in Youli. During the 7 years of imprisonment, Jichang deducted the nine trigrams of Fuxi into the 64 hexagrams, and wrote the classic "Yi-Ching (the book of changes)". Hence, Youli became the birthplace of the "Yi-Ching", which is known as the origin of the Chinese culture. The later generations built the temple of King Wen in memory of this great man, which has become the sacred place for people to pay respects to the late sage King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty. This place was declared as a National Important Protective Unit of Historical Relics by the State Council in 1996. 
• 10 Yuan Shikai Tomb (袁林; Yuán Lín), ☏ 0372-5061291NOCC. 08:30-17:00. Tomb of the second president of the Republic of China who attempted to restore the empire with himself as the new emperor. The layout and grandeur of the tomb follows that of a Chinese emperor, reflecting Yuan's ambitions. The Chinese name is also a pun on the Chinese word for "imperial tomb" (陵 líng). ¥35. (updated Nov 2024)
• 11 Yuefei Temple, 86 Yuemiao Street, Tangyin Xian, 456150, ☏ +86 372 621 3664. Temple to Chinese hero Yuefei in his home village.Tangyin Yue Fei Temple, also known as Songyue Zhongwu King Temple and Jingzhong Temple, is located in Anyang City, Henan Province, Tangyin County Yuemiao Street No. 86. The first year of construction is unknown.It was rebuilt in the first year of Ming Dynasty (1450). (updated Mar 2018)

Do

Cangxiang Street.（仓巷街） A popular street in Anyang on Chinese social media, with many distinctive shops. The bookshop JiaYiBing（甲乙丙书店） is here.

Buy

Anyang Taoxiaopang Supermarket(安阳淘小胖超市）. Located in Wuyue squareAffordable price. Seafood can be processed free of charge. The cooked food area and dessert area are rich in variety. There is a washstand, microwave oven, ice cube, etc. in front of the supermarket. There are a lot of snacks in the food area, which are made on the day, and the supermarket staff's service attitude is also very good. The supermarket is clean too.

Anyang Outlets. Located on Zhonghua Road in Anyang. There are a lot of sports brands in there. For example, Nike, Adidas, Li Ning, Turbo and so on. There are also many discount activities. If you want to buy clothes. This is a good choice.

Eat

The Sunderry Restaurant Main Store . 60 meters east of the intersection of Delong Street and Shuguang Road. This shop can basically eat most of Anyang's local specialties, and it is an old restaurant .

1.Pulp rice: belongs to salted porridge, but the main tone is sour. I thought it was vinegar, but the waiter said it was fermented with green beans. It tastes good.

2.Daokou Roast chicken: Roast chicken made with secret spices. Chicken is very fragrant, unique aroma, is one of Anyang's specialties.

3.Fried skin residue: It's a bit like Beijing's fried enema. But it's more delicious than fried enema because it's fried with fans and tastes richer. The crunchy and sticky taste is delicious with garlic juice.

4.Deli Blood Cake: Blood Cake is divided into filling and no filling, and I thought it was a nasty thing .But it's a dish made from buckwheat noodles.The filling is also delicious.

Wu Ji's osmanthus soup. North Street in Anyang. Sweet but not greasy, with a strong osmanthus scent. Can be used as an after-dinner dessert.

Liu Xin's lamb chops restaurant. In Huiyuan Street .Recommended set menu for lamb chops and shrimp. Sheep chops are not small. The potatoes inside are super delicious. The shrimp is crispy and the shrimp meat is fresh.Seasoned with moderately sour and sweet taste, with a little spicy taste. Suitable for dinner. It tastes better with a little beer.

Ma Xinhua Specialty Flat Pasta, Plain Road Shop.Anyang flat noodle dish is one of the characteristic traditional snacks in Anyang City, Henan Province, belonging to the Henan cuisine system. Its main raw materials are wide sweet potato noodles, with vegetables, tofu, pig blood. Flourish and spicy, be sure to add the restaurant chili oil and garlic juice, the boss made it himself, very fragrant.

Drink

• A cup of Jiao. A cup of Jiao, ☏ +86 17624431966. 12：00AM~02：00PM. Cangxiang Street 8~11USD. (updated Oct 2024)（一杯乔）A bar on Cangxiang Street. The environment is elegant. There are many kinds of cocktails.It's a good idea to go in for a couple of drinks when you're tired.

Sleep

Home Inn, 87 Jiefang Rd, Beiguan District (next to the railway station, on the east side of it), ☏ +86 372-3211111. A standard chain hotel. Doubles ¥150. 

• 1 Hanting Express, ☏ +86 0372-2233666-0. Check-in: 12:00, check-out: 12:00. Located on Guangming Road, Anyang East Station. Since it is a new hotel in 2023, the environment is clean and the facilities are relatively new. Buffet breakfast is included. £48 per night for a single room. (updated Oct 2024)