1

I was in southern Henan last July, visiting several of the places you mentioned. It was hot, but not "unbearably hot." If you want to go there and that time of year is the only time you have available, then don't let the weather deter you. (I combined it with Xi'An and Gansu.)

2

Check out the link for "July" Weather.

http://worldweather.wmo.int/001/c00552.htm

It's hot, you need to drink more water is OK

3

Hey,

I live in Zhengzhou and it's very hot for me, i do come from from England so that might be why. Temperatures will reach up to 40 degrees within the next few weeks.
Henan is very beautiful and recommend coming when ever you can. Just make sure you pack for the weather. Lots of shorts and t-shirts.
Oh and sun cream. The one thing they lack here is suncream! :)

4

Thanks a lot for your replies!!Gansu seems nice so maybe will combine if time permits!

5

#3

Henan is very beautiful and recommend coming when ever you can

Zhengzhou isn't, though. The place is a total dump! I lived there last year (Left in July - It was hot; but it wasn't TOO hot)

Nanyang is worth a visit. It has some interesting historical sites (That's my bag) and is supposed to have some nice nature reserves, too (Although I didn't visit anything like that).

Also, I find Kaifeng a bit fake but it's worth a day (Anything that gets you out of the hell-hole that is Zhengzhou for a day shouldn't be sneezed at).

Whilst Gansu is a beautiful place and Lanzhou is a nice, relaxed little city; if I were you I'd combine Louyang with Pingyao in Shanxi (Not Shaanxi). And there is a even convenient connecting, overnight train

6

Thanks manchurian!!There is really NOTHING to see in Zhengzhou??!!No nice market,no nice parks,etc.....?

7

In Henan id go Kaifeng (2 nights) - Dengfeng (1 night) - Luoyang (2-3 nights) and Anyang (1 night) maybe even try JiaoZuo for 1 or 2 nights. There is 0 to see in Zhengzhou. Its just a major city and transport hub they do have a large museum but so does everywhere. The weather in Henan in July ranges between late 20's-mid 30's. Just like summer in most parts of the world. For the previous 3 seasons the last week of July and then into August is the hottest period where it can reach 40. Last year it rained heavily every few days in Luoyang and was cloudy for a couple of weeks in July so it made the days a lot cooler but didnt affect sight seeing. It would just rain in patches, actually made things very pleasant to travel. This year, who knows? I come from Australia and have lived in Kaifeng, Luoyang and Zhengzhou. The weather was fine for me but back in OZ, summer averages out into the mid 30's so i was comfortable here. If you come from North Europe it maybe hot for you?

8

Henan Museum (In Zhengzhou) is very good and very much worth a visit. You could also take a stroll along a section of the old earth wall (They appeared to be rebuilding parts of Zhengzhou's wall last year. Perhaps they were worried about Kaifeng leaving them behind in the Chinese-Cultural-Disneyland stakes). There is the Chairman Mao statue near the centre and then the bust of Einstein on Kexue Dadao (The bust is not really very interesting. In fact, it's not interesting at all. It's just that there is bugger-all else to see in Zhengzhou). That little lot will take you no more than one day (And half of that will be travelling out to Kexue Dadao to see the uninteresting bust).

The street food is good, however, and the pollution haze has to be seen to be believed..

9

haha very true manchurianexile. Kaifeng has 2 large cultural themed parks. Kaifeng Fu - based upon a character from the song dynasty circa 1200 and they have another one called Millennium park or QingMing park. Its based upon a famous painting in China, maybe from the same era? dunno. I never went there because i think all the shows are in chinese and its not something i was interested in, it might float other peoples boat but i dont go for that stuff, im sure 99.9% of the visitors are chinese tourists in places like that. But to be honest its just like most major sites in China these days. Places now have accountants involved and its all about managing the income. I was horrified to see this year how much Shaolin near DengFeng now looks like a Disneyland compared to many years ago when i first visited there.

Kaifeng has an OK museum and does have a few good temples and pagodas to take up a day or 2 and the Old palace place was ok for a few hours. They get a lot of tourist from Israel because of an old Jewish settlement there but im pretty sure nothing remains but a few hutongs and maybe a bit of the synagogue? I also enjoyed the walks along bao gong lake at night time and a small creek that runs all the way to the old palace, id often walk along there at night times when i lived in Kaifeng, it was quiet beautiful at night time with the lake and small water way lit up with lights. By far Kaifeng has the best night markets in Henan. Ive eaten at night markets all over the province and always compared them to Kaifengs, nothing beat the drum tower night market or the bao gong night markets that Kaifeng has, just the sheer volume of food variety and stalls are massive, KM of food stalls. the taste of the local BBQ is also fantastic. I also remember Kaifeng had the least amount of air pollution compared to Luoyang and Zhengzhou but thats just because its a much smaller city and most of the local factories etc are well outside the city limits compared to Luoyang where you can see some factories just on the outskirts of town.

Luoyang is the most touristy city in Henan. It possess the location of The Longman Caves. Thats worth a day on its own. It also has the White Horse Temple and some other smaller temples worth another day. It also has a few Museums, there is one near the centre of town called the "6 horse museum"?? that has an uncovered chariot and horses. I liked Luoyang to live. It has the very modern West side and the very poor old east side of the city. The contrast is mind blowing. Pollution was bad everywhere though. Street food was good in the old part of the east side, not as good as Kaifeng though.

Zhengzhou has the Henan Museum which is good, but ive seen the Beijing Museum, the Shanghai Museum, the Shanxi Museum, and about 25 other museums in China. To me it was one of the better ones, but enough already. i only lived in Zhengzhou for a short period, i cant report much on the touristy things as i didnt do anything there, i never felt there was anything to do. They have a few good night markets, and some small temples like everywhere else. Nothing that would make you want to go there as a backpacker, only use it as a transport hub if need be. Pollution was off the scale in this city. Youd walk outside for 3 hours and come back inside feeling like you just smoked 10 cigarettes and would have a fine film of grit and god knows what all over you! horrible place to live.

JiaoZuo (not sure of spelling) is the cleanest place ive seen in Henan and is rated so by other Henan people. The city air is rather cleanish compared to most of Henan and there is little rubbish and spitting on the ground. They have a fine system in the city where undercover old ladies working for the local government will write you a ticket of 100rmb fine if they see you litter or spit in the CBD area. Works very well and the city centre is very clean, i just wish all of China would adopt this practice it would clean up China over night. The only thing Chinese people like more than spitting and littering is holding on to their money! Mt Yuntai is close to here and worth a day or 2 trip to get away from the cities.

i hope this little info helps you out on where to go

10

I hope I never have to go back to Zhengzhou except to change trains and pass on through. It has a huge train station and you can connect to almost anywhere.

11

Thanks a lot again to both of you!!Zhengzhou is off then!!!
reyre,I've located Jiaozuo on the map but no info at all,did you get there by bus or trainand from which city/town?I've never been to a cultural themed park in China except Wonders of the world in Shenzhen,how akin is it to the ones in Kaifeng?By Disneyland like,do you mean by the throngs of people or by the attractions themselves??!!THanks for the tip on Bao gong lake and night markets!!I just love those!!
Are there people dancing in parks like in many other Chinese cities/towns?

12

hey, i dont think there is a train there. Ive been there about 5 times and every time i took a local bus from kaifeng bus station. Its about 2 - 3 hrs away. comfortable large bus not one of those 20 seaters but a 40 odd seater. Off the top of my head about 30rmb one way.

Your question about the themes parks i cant answer, ive never been to one. My chinese girlfriend has been to a few and she went to both of them in Kaifeng. she liked it. She also thought i might like it but it just isnt my go. They are both based on things. Kaifeng Fu is based on a person from the song dynasty called Lord Bao. He is pretty famous in Chinese history and the other one is based on an old painting. The park is set up based upon the painting and recreates every day life from 1000 years ago, i think there is dancing, singing, water shows, rides etc. I know the QingMing park is huge and is a whole day to see it. Again its based upon something famous from chinese culture/history. i guess i could give an example of the painting in China is about as famous as the Mona Lisa in western countries. Everyone knows it. Every Chinese knows the QingMing painting.

I guess im saying its all disneyland is because the influence tourism has on things. The shaolin temple has a large entry fee, and is just swamped with tourists, and overpriced everything, food, drinks, tourist tat. It feels all set up and fake to please the crowds and has moved beyond being a Buddhist temple to more of a theme park itself now, with hourly kung fu shows. Also so much of the place has been re-built very little is the original complex. Its still good for the kung fu shows but it just irks me how its now about cashing in on the tourist dollar and is worlds apart from what it was originally all about. Still worth the trip. I went there years ago and have been there 2 times this last 3 years, the last time just last month. It was a horrible experience, maybe because i had been before 2 times and just didnt have the same feeling, or maybe it was the millions of tourists pouring in through the gates and blocking every photo i tried to take. Anyways, i was one of those tourists so i cant complain too much.

Kaifeng has its walls still intact all the way around and has parks around that, in summer you will see thousands of people everyday/everynight dancing, flying kites, singing, playing instruments, cracking whips, hoola hops, everything. I also saw a bit of this in some city squares in Luoyang, i never saw this in Zhengzhou. JiaoZuo is where tai chi comes from. The place is littered in the mornings with old folks in parks practicing tai chi. good to watch and join in!

good luck in china, you will have a blast!

13

Here's a link about the painting (Qing Ming Shang He Tu -- 清 明 上 河 图 ) at that park in Kaifeng.

http://pinkytoky.hubpages.com/hub/chinese-famous-painting-qingming-shanghe-tu

14

cheers, good read