Located in northern Henan, it is one of the nine national central cities in China,[6] and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province.

Since 1950, archaeological finds in a walled city in Eastern Zhengzhou have provided evidence of Shang dynasty settlements in the area around 1600 BC.

The Shang, who continually moved their capital due to frequent natural disasters, left Ao at around 13th century BC.

[28] Legend suggests that in the Western Zhou period (1111–771 BC) the site became the fief of a family named Guan.

It achieved its greatest importance under the Sui (AD 581–618), Tang (618–907), and early Song (960–1127) dynasties, when it was the terminus of the New Bian Canal, which joined the Yellow River to the northwest.

There, at a place called Heyin, a vast granary complex was established to supply the capitals at Luoyang and Chang'an to the west and the frontier armies to the north.

Zhengzhou thus became a major rail junction and a regional center for cotton, grain, peanuts, and other agricultural produce.

On 10 June 1938, Chiang Kai-shek's National Revolutionary Army opened up the dikes retaining the Yellow River at Huayuankou between Zhengzhou and Kaifeng, in an effort to stem the tide of invading Japanese; however, the ensuing 1938 Yellow River flood also killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese.

[33] Located just north of the province's centre and south of the Yellow River, Zhengzhou borders Luoyang to the west, Jiaozuo to the northwest, Xinxiang to the northeast, Kaifeng to the east, Xuchang to the southeast, and Pingdingshan to the southwest.

With the land within its administrative borders generally sloping down from west to east, Zhengzhou is situated at the transitional zone between the North China Plain to the east and the Song Mountains and Xionger Mountains to the west, which are part of the greater Qinling range.

The city centre is situated to the south of the middle reach of the Yellow River, where its valley broadens into the great plain.

[34] A section of the Yellow River passes by the northern edges of the urban area, extending 150.4 km (93.5 mi) within Zhengzhou prefecture.

[37][38] Rainfall is primarily produced by the monsoonal low during summer; in winter, when the vast Siberian High dominates due to radiative cooling from further north, the area receives little precipitation.

"The Chinese government now appears to be acknowledging missteps by local officials, as well as the possibility that severe weather events will become increasingly common.

The municipality is home to 8,626,505 inhabitants (2010 census) and 6.35 million in its built up area made of 6 urban and suburban districts, Xingyang and Xinzheng cities and now Zhongmu county largely being urbanized, making the city one of the main built-up areas of the province.

Other important architectural heritage sites in the city center include Town God Temple and Erqi Memorial Tower.

One internationally known tourist attraction is the Shaolin Monastery (少林寺), which is in Dengfeng, about 90 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of downtown Zhengzhou (1.5 hours by coach).

The tallest structure in Zhengzhou is the 388-meter height Zhongyuan Tower, located on Hanghai East Road in the south of Zhengdong New Area.

Zhengzhou is the economic center of the province and the surrounding areas such as southeastern Shanxi and southwestern Shandong.

Due to its strategic location in one of the most populous areas in the world (nearly 100 million people in Henan alone) and in China's railway, road and aviation transport networks, Zhengzhou is increasingly attracting domestic and international investment as well as migrants from other areas, transforming the city into one of the largest economic centers in China.

Others manufactured items include tractors, locomotives, cigarettes, fertilizer, processed meats, agricultural machinery, and electrical equipment.

[citation needed] The service industries of Zhengzhou include retail, wholesale, hospitality, finance, exhibition, transport and delivery, tourism, and education.

With a number of domestic and international institutions having regional offices in the city, Zhengzhou is becoming the financial center in central China.

[55] Established in 2003 by the provincial and municipal governments, it has become the financial center of Henan province and one of the most rapidly growing areas of China.

Kisho Kurokawa, a Japanese world-renowned planner and architect, was appointed to design the overall planning scheme for Zhengdong New Area.

The scheme won the "Prominent Award for City Planning Design" at the first session of Annual Meeting of the World Architects Alliance in 2002.

Zone A is located in Zhengzhou National Economic & technological Development Area and began to operate on 1 June 2004.

Riders can use cash, a physical metro card, or QR code payment available on Alipay or WeChat apps to pay for the ride.

Zhengzhou is the center of Henan expressway network that provides 1–2 hours road trip to surrounding cities of Kaifeng, Xinxiang, Xuchang, Jiaozuo and Luoyang.

5The claimed province of Taiwan no longer have any internal division announced by Ministry of Civil Affairs of PRC, due to lack of actual jurisdiction.