Anyang: A Cultural Gem for Tourists
to Visit
  I have spent many years in China and travelled extensively taking groups of business executives, university academics and students to various parts of China. I have visited Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Chengdu, Kunming, Shenyang and Shandong many times. I have cast my eyes on the Great Wall and on the Forbidden City, Xi’an and other sites more times than I want to remember. I had thought I’d pretty much been everywhere but recently I visited Anyang and was very impressed and questioned why it had taken me so long to see this interesting city and also why more American and Europeans miss what is a very important stop on any Chinese visit. Anyang (simplified Chinese: 安阳; traditional Chinese: 安陽; pinyin: Ānyáng is the northern most city in Henan province. The city has a population of between 5-6 million people with the urban center being over 2 million people which is considered a small to medium city by Chinese standards but large by most western criteria. In getting to the city I travelled from Beijing and the best way to make the trip is by train from Beijing West station with the trains leaving at multiple points during the day. The trip costs between $20-$30 based on the class of service selected and the trip now takes about four hours at top speeds of between 150-160 Kms/hour. Higher speeds were reached earlier but following the railroad accident last year all the trains are running slower which most people I talked with thought was a good thing. Along the tracks we saw the new High-Speed Railroad line being laid out. This was suppose to be completed in 2012 but is delayed and although most people are unsure when the line will be finished, sometime in 2013 seemed to be the best guess. Once this high-speed line is put in place it should take about two hours for the trip from Beijing to Anyang.   In Anyang, there are many small hotels in the central city. Many of them are clean and the staff are friendly but most are less than four stars. On the edge of the city is a newly built 5 star hotel run by BTG-Jianguo Hotels & Resorts known as the HuaQiang Jianguo Hotel Anyang. This very modern upscale hotel has just under 370 rooms and first class service which is the equal of Beijing or Shanghai. The Hotel also has an impressive ballroom and meeting venues and was the site of the First and Second China International Gas Energy Summits held in Anyang in 2010 and 2011. Many members of the staff speak English and the buffet breakfast is by far the best western breakfast in Anyang.  The area around Anyang has been occupied by humans since prehistoric times. Around 2000 BC, the sage-king Zhuanxu and Emperor Ku are said to have established their capitals around Anyang. Their mausoleums are today situated in Sanyang village south of Neihuang County. In the early part of the 14th century BC, King Pangeng of the Shang Dynasty established his capital 2 kms north of the modern city on the banks of the Huan River that flows through the city. His city was known as Yin and was the first stable capital in Chinese history. The Dynasty also took the name of Yin and the capital served 12 kings in 8 generations until they were conquered by King Wu of the Zhou in 1046 BC. Anyang is thus one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China. Historically the area is very rich and includes the Yangshao Culture, Longshan Culture and Xiatun Culture, the memorial mausoleums of Emperor Zhuanxu and Emperor Ku and the first library of written inscriptions on tortoise shell and animal bone which document early Chinese pictographic or character writing. Also found in Anyang are Soul Spring Temple which is said to be the “First Ancient Buddhist Temple in Henan” and the starting point of Buddhism in China, 10,000-Buddha Ravine plus Wenfeng Pagoda, Xiuding Temple Pagoda and Mingfu Temple Pagoda. Scenic areas located nearby include Taihang Linlu Hill Scenic Area in the Taihang Mountains and the Red Flag Canal. In addition to Tianning Si (Mansion Temple) which was established in the Zhou dynasty and that has a scenic gate house, the three-room Hall of the Heavenly King and the Precious Hall of the Great Hero, Anyang is also most well known for Wengeng Pagoda. Wenfeng Ta (Literature Peak Pagoda) is on the grounds of the Tianning Temple and is believed to have been built in 925. The current pagoda was constructed in the Ming Dynasty and received its name in the Qing Dynasty, due to its proximity to the Confucian temple located just a short distance away. This pagoda is viewed from many places in the city and is a symbol of Anyang and noted throughout China because of the unique fact that the top of the pagoda is larger than the base which is just opposite from most Chinese temple pagodas. Also located in Anyang is the world heritage site of Yin Xu which was an ancient capital city of the late Shang Dynastry (approximately 1300-1046 BC). The Yinxu Museum which sits on the ruins of the Shang Dynasty capital of Yin and includes both a very nice museum which is located below ground, several digging sites showing previously exposed burial sites and an explanation about the tortoise shell and animal bone “libraries” that documented much early Chinese pictographic writing are all very much worth a visit. The site includes the Palace and Royal Ancestral Shrines Area, with a total of more than 80 house foundations, and the only tomb of a member of the royal family of the Shang Dynasty to have remained intact, the Tomb of Fu Hao, the only female Queen of the late Shang Dynasty. The large number and the considerable workmanship of the burial accessories unearthed attest to the advanced level of Shang handicraft industry and are part of the cultural heritage of the country.     The grounds have pathways with many trees in a park like setting and the Red lacquer gate and many other points are well worth a picture. Along the river nearby Anyang-based Zhenyuan Group Cultural Tourism has built a highly attractive exhibition and auction center and is in the process of completing a high-end hotel and cultural tourism area on the river bank.   Across town don’t miss the Anyang Museum of Chinese Characters which is located in a very distinctive new building. The museum ticket office is on the right as you enter and in addition to selling tickets also can arrange guides who will help you better understand what you are seeing and put it into a cultural context. The museum starts on the ground floor and then you go up to the second floor on a tour that demonstrates the evolution of Chinese characters since ancient times as shown through cultural relics like the oracle bones but also including rubbed stone inscriptions, bronze vessels of the Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Zhou (1066-256 BC) Dynasties, ancient coins, Chinese chops or seals, writing bamboo and silk, and calligraphy work from different dynasties. Besides characters of the Han majority, the museum also reflects writing of Hui and Man ethnic groups, plus writing of over 40 other types of written languages used by China’s other minority ethnic groups, including the Uyghur, Tibetan, Zhuang, Miao and Kazakh. At the completion of your tour you can stop off in the 2nd floor gift shop which was very quiet the day I visited. I enjoyed my visit to Anyang which even in the summer heat was pleasant and cooler in the Yinxu Museum area and along the river which according to some officials I met maybe further improved to increase its scenic nature. For any person interested in China and its culture, I believe Anyang is definitely worth the visit and despite the fact I was over 4 hours by train from Beijing I was surprised how many people I met who spoke English and were pleased to be given the chance to use it. About the Author: Christopher W. Runckel, a former senior US diplomat who served in many counties in Asia, is a graduate of the University of Oregon and Lewis and Clark Law School. He served as Deputy General Counsel of President Gerald Ford’s Presidential Clemency Board. Mr. Runckel is the principal and founder of Runckel & Associates, a Portland, Oregon based consulting company that assists businesses expand business opportunities in Asia. (www.business-in-asia.com) Until April of 1999, Mr. Runckel was Minister-Counselor of the US Embassy in Beijing, China. Mr. Runckel lived and worked in Thailand for over six years. He was the first permanently assigned U.S. diplomat to return to Vietnam after the Vietnam War. In 1997, he was awarded the U.S. Department of States highest award for service, the Distinguished Honor Award, for his contribution to improving U.S.-Vietnam relations. |
