Pingdingshan |
|
Located in mid-southern Henan, Pingdingshan is at the junction of Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and Jiaozuo-Zhicheng Railway, and is connected with Luohe-Baofeng  Railway. She covers a total area of 7,882 square kilometers and has a population of 4.932 million with 2 cities, 4 counties and 4 districts under its jurisdiction.
The history of Pingdingshan can trace back to 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. There still exist ruins of the Peiligang Culture, Yangshao Culture and Longshan Culture of the Neolithic period. Mo Di, the great thinker of the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, Yuan Jie, a celebrated poet of the Tang Dynasty and Shen Zhuliang, known as Duke Ye in history and the claimed ancestor of the Ye Family, a statesman of the Chu Kingdom were born and raised here.
Pingdingshan enjoys favorable natural conditions and has many a place of historic interest and scenic beauty, for instance, Fengxue Temple which has a history of over 1,000 years, Three Su Tombs of the great writer Su Xun and his two sons in the Song Dynasty, the picturesque Stone Man Mountain¡ªa natural reserve, Shimantan National Forest Park which integrates mountains, streams, lakes with towns, Ruzhou Hot Spring praised for its magical water.
Wheat and tobacco are the two dominant crops in this area. The production of tobacco there has long enjoyed a good reputation, hence the place is one of the three tobacco producing areas in China. Jiaxian Red Ox is one of the 8 fine-breed cattle in China and Jiaxian County has thus been designated by the state as a special base for cattle breeding. Local specialities such as Baofeng Liquor, Ru Porcelain, Purple Sand Pottery and others are renowned at home and abroad.
Pingdingshan has rich natural resources. Minerals of 57 kinds have been verified here. The total reserves of raw coal are 10.3 billion tons; the total reserves of iron are 606.4 billion tons; the estimated reserves of sodium salt are 230 billion tons. The city also has 174 large and medium-sized reservoirs with a total capacity of 2 billion cubic meters.
Pingdingshan Coal (Group) Co., Ltd. is the second largest coal mine in the country whose output is under unified state distribution. China Shenma (Group) Co., Ltd. is one of the three largest cord fabrics producing enterprises in the world. The thermal power plant of Yaomeng Electricity Generating Co., Ltd. is one of the backbone plants in Central China's thermal power network. Wuyang Iron and Steel Company is the first key enterprise producing super-wide and super-thick steel plates in China. Tianying (Group) Co., Ltd. is one of the three leading manufacturers of high-voltage electric equipment in China.
In 2005, the city's GDP reached 55.58 billion RMB yuan, an increase of 15.6% over the previous year. Its total export and import value in 2005 was US$ 337.27 million with an increase of 13.0%.
Pingdingshan has formally established friendly relationship with Andong City of Kyongsangbuk-do, South Korea, and the city of Syzran, Russia.
The city flower is Chinese Rose. |
|
