The Jiahu bone flute, unearthed from the Jiahu site in Wuyang County, Luohe City, Henan Province, is the earliest seven-tone instrument in China discovered so far. Photo courtesy of Luohe Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department
You may have never been to Henan, but you may have drank Mixue Bingcheng, bought Labubu, and heard about Pangdonglai.
For a long time, Henan has given people the impression of being simple and profound. Four of the eight ancient capitals of China are here. “When you reach out and touch it, you can see the Spring and Autumn Culture; when you step on it, you can see the bricks and tiles of Qin and Han Dynasties.”
How does simplicity create "trendy brands" and lead new consumption? How can the Central Plains, a country where dynasties once competed for power, be called "China" now?
From "sincerity" to "achievement", fireworks hide the original intention
When visiting Pangdonglai, many people feel that "the service is not very good and the prices are not cheap. Why is it so popular?" The story of a pack of bean sprouts may be able to answer the question.
In order to sell bean sprouts for 1.8 yuan, Pang Donglai built a factory. The reason is that procurement found that most sources of goods have small production scales, difficult to unify standards, and even fail to pass the test.
"The central kitchen with an investment of 570 million yuan produces many livelihood foods such as bean sprouts. The profit is meager. What the company wants is that customers can eat with confidence," a staff member said. At Pangdonglai, you taste fruits and vegetables before buying them. Half-eaten watermelons and used electrical appliances can be returned if you are not satisfied. These are not temporary gimmicks, but standards that we adhere to every day.
8,000 years ago, the ancestors of Jiahu lit the fire of farming civilization. The seeds of intensive cultivation and accumulation were planted from then on.
Before Fatonglai became popular, it was well-known in the local area; before Mixue Bingcheng opened across the country, it had been working quietly in Henan for more than 10 years. There is no rush for success, but only down-to-earth "slow growth" through intensive farming. Thousands of years of farming have cultivated the steadiness and stability of Henan people and given them the down-to-earth gene.
From "dynasty" to "tide", cultural context shows new face
The great river flows for thousands of years. The land of the Central Plains is riding on the east wind of the times, breaking out of the industry with cultural renewal, and bursting with vitality and unique charm in the new era.
Wheatfield Square in the scenic area. Only pictures provided by Henan Drama Fantasy City Scenic Area
Tang Palace Night Banquet and Luo Shen Shui Fu became popular all over the Internet once they were launched. It's Henan again, which made Chinese people exclaim: "Traditional culture can still be expressed in this way, so amazing."
Only in Henan Drama City, a big drama is taking place.
"While the wheat seeds are there, people will not leave; if the land is not barren, the family will not be destroyed!"
"Why did Chinese civilization originate here? Because there is food here. Why has the civilization here continued for thousands of years? Because there is food here."
The actor bowed to caress the wheat, knelt down to protect the grain, and his old monologue was choked with sobs. The lights and shadows in the theater suddenly dimmed, and holographic technology restored the sad scene of people hoarding food and guarding their homes in the barren land during the famine years. The audience held their breath in silence. "It's so shocking. The steamed buns in my hands feel even more delicious after watching it. Wasting food is really letting down the ancestors and desecrating the original intention." Ms. Deng, a tourist from Chongqing, said with tears in her eyes.
With 21 theaters and nearly 800 minutes of non-repetitive plays, only Henan Drama Fantasy City has become a must-see for in-depth tours of Henan. In the past five years since its opening, more than 58 million people have watched the show, of which over 80% are from outside the province.
In the Yingtianmen Scenic Area, if you put on VR glasses, the prosperity of Luoyang City in the Sui and Tang Dynasties will unfold before your eyes: the Luoshui River is full of water, the Grand Canal is full of merchant ships, the Nanshi City is bustling with people, the sound of camel bells of Hu merchants interweaves with the shouts of wine shops, and you can travel back to that prosperous era that ranked first in the world in one second.
Connecting the past and present, Henan cultural tourism breaks the old model and revives a culture that has been dormant for thousands of years. The ancient city of Luoyi dances in the sky, the Song Dynasty never sleeps, the Song Dynasty is flying, and tourists in Han costumes shuttle back and forth, as if they have traveled through time and space; the archaeological blind box and XR immersive exhibition of the Henan Museum allow cultural relics to be touched and felt out of the showcase. The heavy history takes off its weight and enters public life with a light attitude.
During the 2026 Spring Festival holiday, Henan received 62.81 million domestic tourists and generated tourism revenue of 37.63 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.1% and 9.6% respectively. Innovate cultural tourism formats, revitalize millennium cultural context, and meet ancient civilizations with new trendy experiences. Henan has realized a wonderful transformation from cultural heritage to development flow.
Customs staff inspect the goods. Photo by People.com reporter Huo Yaping
From "middle" to "middle" everything is revitalized
If you have been to Henan, you must have heard Henan people say "中".
Open the map, Henan is just like the "heart" of China. Once upon a time, this was Zhongzhou, the Central Plains, "between heaven and earth". Today, it is a logistics hub that connects domestic and foreign countries and radiates to the east, middle and west.
400 boxes of Norwegian king crabs were loaded into the flight's temperature-controlled cargo hold and flown to China with -2°C sea water chill. 8.5 hours later, the flight landed in Zhengzhou. When the cargo door slowly rose, the king crab was still gently paddling its claws. The speed of "yesterday's Nordic deep sea, today's Chinese dining table" has set a new fresh transportation record.
A king crab's cross-ocean journey outlines a "global-Zhengzhou-national" trade trajectory, reflecting the surging vitality of Henan's global trading. In 2025, the annual cargo and mail throughput of Zhengzhou Airport will exceed 1 million tons. More than 70 all-cargo routes connect 32 countries and 73 cities.
"Zhong" means China Unicom's open mind to connect the world.
The "meter"-shaped high-speed railway has brought the "circle of friends" across the country closer, and the four Silk Roads "air, land and sea" have transformed Henan from an inland hinterland into an open highland. From here, batches of "Made in China" products fly to the world; fresh fruits, maternal and infant products and other global goodies are delivered to the whole country from here.
In the fertile fields of the Central Plains, wheat seedlings stand up and joint, bursting with vitality. Photo by People's Daily reporter Shang Mingzhen
"Medium" is a firm commitment to shoulder the important task of ensuring food security.
In the Central Plains in March, the green fields are thousands of miles away, and the wheat seedlings stand upright and are full of vitality. Not far away, the intelligent noodle production line is operating at full speed, and 10 tons of high-quality noodles per hour are continuously rolling off the production line and being shipped to all parts of the country.
As a major agricultural province, Henan's grain output has remained stable at more than 130 billion kilograms for nine consecutive years. With 1/16 of the country's arable land, it contributes 1/10 of the country's grain and 1/4 of its wheat. Noodles, dumplings, glutinous rice balls, hot and sour noodles, and the central plains granary continue to enrich people's tables. Henan has firmly maintained the "Chinese rice bowl", making the confidence of "having food in hand and not panic in mind" even more solid.
In the final assembly workshop of China Railway Engineering Equipment Group, the shield machine that has been accepted is waiting to go to the front line of the project. Photo by People's Daily reporter Xu Chi
"China" is Henan's responsibility as a great power.
Today, shield boring machines made in Henan are exported to more than 30 countries and regions around the world, using Chinese intelligence to demonstrate the power of "China": the world's largest diameter shaft boring machine "Qiming" leads the industry in intelligence; "Variable No. 1" surprises the industry with the world's first stepless diameter reduction technology.
In 2025, Henan's manufacturing industry will accelerate its transformation and upgrading. The added value of high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased by 16.6% year-on-year, 7.2 percentage points higher than the national rate, driving the province's GDP to grow by 5.6% year-on-year, higher than the national growth rate. Economically large provinces firmly play the leading role.
"Middle" is the surging kinetic energy of digital empowerment.
Not long ago, the core node of the national supercomputing Internet was completed and launched in Zhengzhou, and the full-stack self-developed 400G lossless high-speed network was launched. From a transportation hub to a computing power hub, Henan has taken the initiative to seize the digital development highland, shoulder the important task of dispatching national computing power, and become an important source of domestic AI innovation.
South of the river, the tide rises from the Central Plains. Here, there is a rich heritage of thousands of years of civilization, a vibrant integration of culture and tourism, and a warm texture of people's livelihood fireworks.
In heaven and earth, everything is in it. Here, the intelligent manufacturing power of great powers, the open mind of connecting the world, and the surging potential of digital empowerment are intertwined, painting a moving picture of the new era.
This is Henan.
