Zhengzhou or Chengchow [key], city (1994 est. pop. 1,323,700), capital of Henan prov., E central China. An important railroad center, the city is at the junction of the Longhai (east-west) and the Beijing-Guangzhou (north-south) railroads. The textile center of Henan prov., and a flourishing industrial city, Zhengzhou has grown enormously since 1949. In addition to textiles, manufactures include smartphones, tractors, locomotives, cigarettes, fertilizer, processed meats, agricultural machinery, and electrical equipment. An open-pit coal mine is nearby. Near the city are important archaeological sites, which indicate that Zhengzhou was the Shang capital of Ao. An agricultural institute and a medical college are in the city. Zhengzhou was formerly called Zhengxian; the name sometimes appears as Cheng-chou.
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