Atlas of China
Zhoukou 周口Zhōukǒu
Fuxi's mausoleum, Laozi's birthplace and a breakfast soup thick with pepper
About Zhoukou
Zhoukou is a river port on the eastern Henan plain, where the Sha, Ying and Jialu rivers meet. Huaiyang, the ancient Chen, keeps the Taihao Mausoleum of the mythical ruler Fuxi, whose temple fair in the second lunar month draws large crowds, and Pingliangtai, a walled town more than 4,000 years old with some of the earliest drainage pipes found in China. Luyi, where Sima Qian placed the birthplace of Laozi, honours him at the Taiqing and Mingdao palaces.
What to eat in Zhoukou
- Xiaoyao hulatang pepper soup (逍遥镇胡辣汤)
Listed sites in Zhoukou
15 sites in Zhoukou are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.
- Taihao Fuxi Mausoleum 太昊陵 5A scenic area · National heritage site
A vast temple-and-tomb complex to Fuxi (Taihao), the legendary first of China's Three Sovereigns, honoured here since at least the Tang and laid out in its present form by the Ming and Qing along an axis of about 750 m through nine courtyards and a succession of gates. - Guandi Temple, Zhoukou 周口关帝庙 4A scenic area · National heritage site
A temple to Guan Yu that also served as the guild hall of Shanxi and Shaanxi merchants trading at Zhoukou, where three rivers meet; it was begun in 1693 and finished in 1852 after repeated enlargements. - Jianye Canal Town, Zhoukou 建业运河古镇 4A scenic area · on the map
A leisure area built from 2017 along Zhoukou's old canal, with a commercial street in old-town style, a large food hall of Central Plains dishes, homestays, camping, boat trips and a farm area. - Taiqing Palace (Laozi's Birthplace), Luyi 太清宫 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
The Taoist temple at the traditional birthplace of Laozi, recorded as a Laozi shrine since AD 165 and raised by the Tang emperors, who claimed Laozi as their ancestor, into the imperial Taiqing Palace in 743. - Xiangetai (Confucius Memorial Terrace) 弦歌台 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
A Confucian shrine on an island in a lake at the south-west corner of Huaiyang old town, built to recall how Confucius and his disciples were trapped without food between the states of Chen and Cai and he went on teaching and playing music. - Ye Family Manor, Dengcheng 叶氏庄园 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
The family seat of the Ye merchants, who grew rich from river trade on the Sha River, built in stages over more than a century from the Kangxi to the Xianfeng reigns in the old town of Dengcheng. - Zhoukou Wildlife World 周口野生动物世界 4A scenic area · on the map
A large safari park and entertainment complex opened around 2020 in Zhoukou Forest Park, with walk-through animal areas, a drive-through enclosure where visitors tour in their own cars or a park train, a bird garden and a ride zone with roller coasters. - Dacheng Academy 大程书院 National heritage site · on the map
An academy founded in 1075 by the Neo-Confucian philosopher Cheng Hao while he was magistrate of Fugou, and named after him, the elder of the two Cheng brothers. - Former Lütan School and Ji Hongchang's Former Residence 吕潭学校旧址 National heritage site
The village school founded in 1921 in a former temple at Lütan by Ji Hongchang (1895–1934), a general who fought the Japanese in Chahar in 1933, joined the Communist Party in 1934 and was executed by the Nationalist government that year. - Nandun Ancient City Site 南顿故城 National heritage site · on the map
The site of Nandun, capital of the small state of Dun after it was pushed south by Chen, until Chu conquered it in 496 BC, with remains from the Xia and Shang to the end of the Han. - Pingliangtai Ancient City Site 平粮台古城遗址 National heritage site · on the map
A walled town of the Longshan culture, built more than 4,000 years ago, with square rammed-earth walls about 185 m along each side; it is described as the earliest square-planned town found in China. - Shousheng Temple Pagoda, Gaoxian 高贤寿圣寺塔 National heritage site
A hexagonal seven-storey brick pagoda, 28.5 m tall, first built in the Song and rebuilt in 1518, which leans visibly to the north-east, probably because of soft ground on that side. - Shousheng Temple Pagoda, Shangshui 商水寿圣寺塔 National heritage site
A hexagonal nine-storey brick pagoda, 41.5 m tall, begun in 1033 at the site of the vanished Shousheng Temple on the bank of the Sha River. - Taikang Confucian Temple 太康文庙 National heritage site
The county Confucian temple of Taikang, founded in 1426, wrecked in the wars at the end of the Ming and repaired under the Qing. - Yuanzhai Old Residences (Yuan Shikai's Family Home) 袁寨古民居 National heritage site · on the map
The fortified manor of the Yuan family, bought and rebuilt from 1857 by the official Yuan Jiasan, where Yuan Shikai, later President of the Republic of China and briefly self-proclaimed emperor, spent his childhood.
On the map
Open Zhoukou on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.
Open Zhoukou on the map