Zhengzhou September 2006

Country Code: +86
Currency: Chinese yuan

FROM THE AIRPORT

Bus: An hourly shuttle bus departs to and from the China Aviation Administration Office on Jin Shui Lu and costs 15 yuan per trip. Service runs from 6 am to 6 pm.

Taxi: A taxi will set you back 80 to 100 yuan, depending on your destination. ( ere is a one yuan surcharge due to rising fuel costs.

TABLE TALK

Cheap chic: Guang Cai Street Markets Adventurous eaters will fi nd hundreds of Muslim and Chinese snacks among the market stalls. Check out what everybody else is eating, and then point your way to gastronomic bliss. Guang Cai Shi Chang (200m north of the Er Qi pagoda)

Mid-range magic: Henan Shifu Henanese cuisine is on offer for those who care to sample traditional provincial fare. Guotie dou fu, a delicious tofu dish served fi sh-and-chips style and dusted with Chinese fi ve-spice, is highly recommended. 25 Ren Min Road, tel (0)371 6622-2108

Gourmet: Zhengzhou Yue Xiu Jiu Jia ( is gourmet Cantonese establishment offers what the southern Chinese do best: delicately cooked seafood. Highlights include Australian lobster in cream sauce or perfectly steamed perch served in a light soy sauce. Jin Shui Road East Section (just a few hundred metres opposite the Crowne Plaza), tel (0)371 6592-7999

AFTER DARK

Cocktail hour: Target Pub As a haunt of the few foreigners who reside in Zhengzhou, the Target Pub is a laid-back travellers’ pub fi lled with photographs and memorabilia from China and around the world. South section of Jing Liu Road, tel (0)1380 386-7056

Live entertainment: White Horse Bar ( e (only) place to take in live English music six nights a week (excluding Sunday) or watch the latest football matches live. For a smashing good time, the White Horse Bar is the place to hang out with your croonies. Second fl oor, Crowne Plaza Hotel, 115 Jin Shui Lu, tel (0)371 6595-0055

Late night: Enjoy Nightclub Very popular amongst the young Chinese party-going set, Enjoy is a good place to get down to the latest hip-hop, R&B or house tracks. Boogie your night away at Enjoy, where you are meant to enjoy yourself!
Bai Sheng Gou Wu Plaza, 72 East Tai Kang Road, tel (0)371 6603-6666

HOT SPOTS

Guang Cai Shi Chang: A shop-till-you-drop affair for young urban Chinese men and women, here’s where you’ll fi nd imports of the latest Korean and Japanese styles in a street-market setting. A wander around the hundreds of stalls will defi nitely drum up some gems.

De Hua Street: A pedestrian shopping street running south from the Memorial to the February 7 Strike (known locally as the Er Qi Pagoda). Offers the most cosmopolitan shopping available in town set in the heart of the city.

City Walls: Hints of Zhengzhou’s former glory as a capital of China can be seen strolling on and around the city’s earthern walls. Nowadays, the space is a public park used by the city’s older residents – great for people-watching any day of the week.

INSIDER TIPS

Henan Provincial Museum: In terms of neolithic archaeological sites, Henan province is by far the richest out of any province in China – it is said that Chinese civilisation originated here, on the banks of the Yellow River. For an understanding of this vast history about the Chinese, a trip to the excellent Henan Provincial Museum is absolutely necessary. Many of the exhibits are captioned with English. Opening hours 8.30am-6pm summer; 9am-5pm winter. 8 Nong Ye Road, tel (0)371 6351-1237/250

BODY & SOUL

Liang Zi Foot Massage: If a kung fu training holiday at the Shaolin Temple and their regimen of intensive martial arts sounds a little too punishing than purifying, then head to the Liang Zi Foot Massage for an aL ernoon of rejuvenation. Here, the skilled practitioners apply refl exology, an ancient Chinese art of using pressure points on the feet to relieve bodily stresses. Give your feet a needful, blissful treat aL er all that walking. 2 Jin Shui Lu, tel (0)371 6599-4444

DAY TRIPPING

Longmen Grottoes at Luoyang: Buddhism took root during China’s Silk Road heydays, and during this time, emperors, merchants and land owners would commission grand cave carvings. At Longmen, hundreds of such caves dot the hills on both banks of the Yi River, and are among some of the most exquisite carvings in China.

IN THE KNOW

Watch your bags: For the traveller, Henan’s historical and cultural wealth is defi nitely the main attraction. Unfortunately, the progress of development in China means that the cities and sites have lost an edge of their former greatness, so check out or bring a history primer of Henan if possible. Like many of the sites in China, particularly Henan, their history is sometimes much more impressive than what stands on the sites today.

Compiled by Mikey Leung