Zhumadian (postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to the northwest, Luohe to the north, Zhoukou to the northeast, and the province of Anhui to the east. As of the 2020 Chinese census, its total population was 7,008,427 inhabitants whom 1,466,913 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Yicheng District and Suiping County now conurbated. It was once the center of the Cai state during the Eastern Zhou era. The state leaves its name in several of the subdivisions including Shangcai County and Xincai County.

Administrative divisions

The prefecture-level city of Zhumadian administers 1 district and 9 counties.

Geography

Zhumadian is situated at 32° 18'−33° 35' N latitude, and 113° 10'−115° 12' E longitude, with a maximum east–west width of 191.5 km, and at most 137.5 km long from south to north. The area of the prefecture is 15083 km2, occupying 8.9% of the total provincial area. Neighbouring prefectures are: The terrain is dominated by mountains, hills, hillocks, and plains.

Climate

Zhumadian has a four-season, monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), with cold, somewhat damp, winters, and hot, humid summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 1.5 °C in January to 27.3 °C in July, while the annual mean is 15.15 °C. More than 60% of the annual precipitation of 990 mm occurs from June to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 39% in March to 46% in four months, the city receives 1,927 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Agriculture

Mainly wheat, maize, peanut, sesame, green beans and tobacco are grown.

Culture

Zhumadian has a rich cultural history and the birthplace of many great people in ancient times. There is an old site of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai who are the characters in the Butterfly Lovers, a famous Chinese story. Zhumadian is the location of Mount Chaya, a major geological site of interest and tourist attraction. People from Henan have been negatively stereotyped, with Zhumadian being singled out as the supposed base of scamming. This may have originated from the aftermath of the 1975 Banqiao Dam collapse, when locals affected by the disaster eventually become the first large batch of migrant workers to go to Guangdong. Most of these workers had little education and lived together in impoverished communities, leading to a negative perception of Zhumadian people. A popular quote going around was:

Dams

Zhumadian has 62 different dams including Banqiao Dam within its territory. The failure of the Banqiao and Shimantan Dams in 1975, which caused more than 150,000 casualties and made more than 10 million people homeless, is considered the biggest catastrophe of its kind.

Transportation

One of the Chinese main highways, China National Highway 107, runs through Zhumadian. Zhumadian also has its own transportation system. The old Golden Decade-built Zhumadian Aerodrome primarily served military operations from 1931 until late-2018, when it was converted for commercial passenger airliner use as well.