Anyang (安阳; Ānyáng) is a city about 120 km north of the Yellow River (黄河) in Henan Province.

Understand

Anyang is 460 km south of Beijing and is a prefecture-level city. 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. According to Bronze Age inscriptions, Anyang was the first stable capital city of China dated back to the Shang Dynasty (1554BC–1045BC) during its later period. Huge amount of oracle bones were discovered in Xiaolitun Village, located at the northwest of Anyang City. The oracle bones were primarily used for divination, and the language used is believed to be the original of Chinese characters.

Get in

By bus or train. From Beijing, about 3.5 hours, depending on which train or bus. There are five high speed trains that run between Beijing and Anyang on daily basis.

Vehicle # Time (Beijing - Anyang)

• D124 12:30PM - 4:11PM
• D132 7:30PM - 11:02PM
• D138 10:24AM - 14:05PM
• D134 08:50AM - 12:26PM
• D136 1:46PM - 5:22PM

From the Zhengzhou airport, direct buses to Anyang run at 1PM and 5PM and cost ¥70. More frequent buses and trains run from within the city of Zhengzhou.

Get around

Anyang is one of the birthplace of the culture of the Chinese nation, the brilliant culture of shells to human left history treasure, also give us foreign cultural exchanges and foreign exchanges to create good conditions. Anyang is the real state of ceremonies, as early as 3300 years ago have the experience of landmarks. In recent years, anyang in line with "let the world know anyang, let anyang towards the world" and "strengthen exchanges, pay attention to exchanges, mutual promotion and common development" principle of friendly exchanges.

See

Yinxu

• Yin Ruins (殷墟; Yīnxū) (taxi fare from downtown is about ¥10). 8AM-6:30PM (March-October), 8AM-5:30PM (in the winter). Capital of the Shang Dynasty about 1300BC. This site contains a museum, foundations of the Shang Capital, the tomb of Fuhao a Shang dynasty concubine and general. A site where many Oracle turtle shells where found. Questions were written on the turtle shells and heat applied causing cracks from which the answer to questions were deduced. An important source of early Chinese writing. A pit where chariots were buried. Takes a whole day especially if you know some Chinese characters (or even just few) or are interested in Chinese history. ¥90. 

• Shang Dynasty Royal Cemetery (taxi fare from downtown is about ¥20). Several of the Tombs have been turned into museums by a building being erected over the tomb. 

• Youli Townlet (taxi fare from downtown is about ¥20). Cultural remains from Longshan to the Western Zhou periods. The cultural layer is about 7 meters thick. It also comprises remains of the national jail with the longest history in China. It is the very place where "the Western Duke (Jichang) deduced the trigrams into hexagrams during his imprisonment in Youli". Being the leader of the Zhou clan in the end of the Shang Dynasty and with the name of Jichang, King Wen widely adhered to the policy of benevolence, which aroused the suspicious and jealousy of King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty. King Zhou put King Wen into the jail in Youli. During the 7 years of imprisonment, Jichang deducted the nine trigrams of Fuxi into the 64 hexagrams, and wrote the classic "Yi-Ching (the book of changes)". Hence, Youli became the birthplace of the "Yi-Ching", which is known as the origin of the Chinese culture. The later generations built the temple of King Wen in memory of this great man, which has become the sacred place for people to pay respects to the late sage King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty. This place was declared as a National Important Protective Unit of Historical Relics by the State Council in 1996. 

• Red-flag Canal, Linzhou. Man made canal built in the 1960s due to water supply shortage in the area. 
• National Museum of Chinese Writing. Modern museum in a spectacular gold-roofed building. Anyang is the site where the first Chinese writing was found. The museum charts the history of Chinese writing from turtle-shell oracle bones to the modern day. Exhibits are chronological and very well presented. There is plenty of English translation and it is highly informative. 

Sleep

• (one and a half block east of the train station, across the street from the UBC coffee). Small clean hotel. ¥58-108. 

• Home Inn, 87 Jiefang Rd, Beiguan District (next to the railway station, on the east side of it), ☏ +86 372-3211111. A standard chain hotel. Doubles ¥150.