[5] The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively.

Over 7,000 artifacts (including stone tools and animal bone fossils) have been unearthed here, representing what has been dubbed the Xiaonanhai culture.

[7][citation needed] Around 2000 BC, the legendary sage-kings Zhuanxu and Emperor Ku are said to have established their capitals in the area around modern Anyang from where they ruled their kingdoms.

[citation needed] At the beginning of the 14th century BC, King Pangeng of the Shang dynasty established his capital 2 km (1.2 mi) north of the modern city on the banks of the Huan River.

This was also the historic home of Zhou Tong, Yue's military arts tutor (though fictional sources place him in Shaanxi).

In August 1949, Anyang prefecture was detached from Henan and – along with Puyang and Xinxiang – consigned to the short lived experimental province of Pingyuan by the ruling Communist government.

The city's elevation is generally higher in the west, with the foothills of the Taihang Mountains running through the area, and lower in the east, which comprises part of the North China Plain.

[21] Major mineral reserves in Anyang include dolomite, potassium-bearing shale, nepheline syenite, quartzite, limestone, and clay.

[citation needed] Recently, Anyang has established an economic and technological development zone covering a total area of 22.8 km2 (8.8 sq mi), and issued a series of preferential policies to attract many domestic Chinese and foreign businesses.

Tianning Si (Mansion Temple) was established during the Zhou dynasty, and has recently been restored by the Protection and Research Institute of Ancient Architecture of Anyang City, and opened to the public.

The main structures within the temple compound include: the gate house, the three-room (8.4 m x 14 m) Hall of the Heavenly King with hanging-eaves over the gables rebuilt in 2002,[26] the slightly larger Precious Hall of the Great Hero (17.8 m x 11.65 m) with single-eave gabled roof originally from the Qing dynasty and rebuilt in 2001,[27] and the Wenfeng Pagoda.

The pagoda stands on a two-metre-high stone pedestal and is decorated with multi-eave pent roofs and carvings of Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

[citation needed] Located about 2 km (1.2 mi) northwest of Anyang are the ruins of the Shang dynasty capital known as Yin.