Rail And The Rise Of The Zhengzhou City (1904-1954),

The vast area along the Jing-Han railway & Long-Hai railway once was the foremost developed region in China's ancient history. For the convenient traffic conditions, the city economy here was very thriving and prosperous at one time. But with the fast development of the society and traffic means, the economy of this area had unfortunately seen a decline. Restrained by the underdeveloped traffic conditions of the inland, Zhengzhou was unable to acquire the development opportunities before the 20th century and was thrown behind by the areas with convenient traffic conditions. Thanks to the construction of the Jing-Han railway & Long-Hai railway in the early of the 20th century the traffic conditions of Zhengzhou and its nearby areas got a thorough change. And the history of the city turned to a new page.For the successiveness of cities' development, to summarize the construction experience of Zhengzhou city will provide a lot of help to make the future planning of Zhengzhou and other cities.This article could be divided into six parts:In the first part the author reviewed Lin Zexu and Hong Rengan's introduction of the railway traffic in mainland of China. And western people's origin construction plan of the railway in China was also briefed here. Moreover the history of China's first railway line was detailed in this part. And the construction of Jing-Han railway & Long-Hai railway, which intersected at Zhengzhou city, was introduced briefly.In the second part the author probed the development course of the transportation industry in Liuhegou colliery and Qinghua colliery, which inspired by the railway traffic. The development of the cotton transportation industry in Henan and the west area in large was also studied in this part.Part three mainly introduced the distribution of the time-honored-brand enterprises in Zhengzhou. And taking the cotton processing industry as an example, the author also investigated the development of the light industry in Zhengzhou and its surrounding area.Part four analyzed the influence of railway construction to the municipal structure of Zhengzhou city and reviewed the street condition of Zhengzhou in 1920's. Otherwise the street construction plans of Feng Yuxiang who once took charge of Henan province in 1920's were also introduced.The fifth part was about the reasons why the capital of Henan province was moved to from Kaifeng to Zhengzhou in 1954 and some basic issues related.