The Shang City Ruins (shangdai yizhi) are located in the eastern suburbs of Zhengzhou city. The Shang dynasty is one of the earliest recorded dynasties in Chinese history, and evidence points to the existence of an ancient city here as early as 1600B.C and 1100B.C. Most famous for mysterious pictographic, colourful bronze culture and several brutal kings, this is one of the earliest examples of early Chinese urban life.

Each Shang City would have been originally divided up into a central walled area housing large governmental buildings that was surrounded by a ring of small villages. Each individual village would specialise in a specific product so that between all the villages, a wide variety of products was covered, enabling each area to be self sufficient.

Today, this area is more of a public park and walkway. The original walls were rough and uneven and stood at about 10 meters high. A wooden frame was originally filled with earth that was pounded until it became solid. The frame was then removed and the earth was solid enough to make a wall structure. Visitors can walk around the walls, although you must descend at some areas and cross through the city.

There are two spots here where you can see the main exhibits; bronze ware excavated from royal families, stone ware, jade carving, ceramics and other daily utensils. The remains also include some original wells and tombs. The ruins can be seen at the East Gate (dong men kou), close to bus No.2 stop. Alternately, bus No.3 stops near the old city.

How to get Shang City Ruin : Take No.2 bus from the bus station, get off at the Dongmenkou Stop, then walk to the park.
Cost: RMB2