Pingdingshan (平顶山; Píngdǐngshān； also known as Eagle City) is a coal-mining city in Henan. Pingdingshan is a prefecture-level city in Henan Province, China. The city’s terrain slopes from west to east in a trapezoidal layout, with the vast Funiu Mountains to the west and the Huang-Huai Plain to the east. Geographically, it lies at the transitional boundary between the warm temperate and northern subtropical climate zones, characterized by cold winters, hot summers, a large annual temperature range, relatively low precipitation, and four distinct seasons.
By the end of 2024, Pingdingshan had a permanent resident population of approximately 4.9 million.
In Chinese, Pingdingshan means "mountain with a flat top". The city is named after a nearby plateau, the top of which is very flat. The reason for the nickname of the city "Eagle City" can be traced back to two thousand years ago during the "Spring and Autumn Annals". There was a small country royal named Ying who lived in Pingdingshan area. In ancient times, the word "Ying" had the same pronunciation as Eagle in Chinese, therefore people also called Pingdingshan "Eagle City". Seventy percent of the population of 4.9 million (in 2011) is either directly or indirectly affected by the mining industry.
33.7202113.29791Pingdingshan Railway Station, No. 1 Nanhuan Middle Road, Zhanhe District, ☏ +86 375 12306. Located at the intersection of Nanhuan Road and Zhongxing Road in Zhanhe District. (updated Sep 2025)
33.8185113.08072Ping DingShang West Railway Station (Pingdingshanxi Railway Station), Baofeng County, ☏ +86 375 12306. (updated Oct 2025)This is the main station, with high-speed rail being the primary route, but it is quite far from the city center. Therefore, you will need to take a taxi to the city center, which costs around ¥40 and takes approximately 30 minutes.
34.52726113.842633Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport, No. 1 Welcome Avenue, Aviation Port District, Zhengzhou, ☏ +86 371 96666. (updated Sep 2025) Since Pingdingshan City does not have an airport, you can land at Xinzheng Airport and transfer to other transportation options to reach Pingdingshan City.
The airport has several intercity bus routes that directly reach the city center of Pingdingshan. You may need to take these buses.
The airport has a high-speed rail station, and you can take the high-speed rail to Pingdingshan City in about 50 minutes. The high-speed rail ticket price is around ¥70.
33.74275113.319844Pingdingshan Long-distance Bus Station, Middle Section of Miner Road, ☏ +86 375 3925970. (updated Sep 2025)There are nearby transportation hubs such as Yingcheng Bus Station and Pingdingshan West Station. The specific address has two official expressions: "No. 13 Miner Road Middle Section" and "No. 160 Miner Road."
The most important roads in town are Guangming road (光明路), Jianshe road (建设路), Zhongxing road (中兴路) and Kuanggong road (矿工路). Together they form somewhat of a trapezoid around the northwestern part of the city and most city life can be found within the area. If you catch a bus, just imagine the bus running straight down the road which you are on. The train station is at the southern end of Zhongxing road (中兴路). There is a bus station just north of the train station on Zhongxing road and another bus station on East Kuang-gong road just east of Xinhua road (新花路).
The meter rate for normal taxis starts at ¥6.The meter is based on both distance traveled and time taken. If your phone has a SIM card and internet access, you can book a taxi using an app (such as Didi), which might even be cheaper. Because Pingdingshan is a small city, you can easily reach any part of Pingdingshan City by taxi.
G60 is a longer route in Pingdingshan City, with the first and last stations being "Pingding Shanxi Station ↔ Jianxu Intersection," spanning approximately 35 km and passing through multiple areas. The price is ¥1.
Since Pingdingshan is a small city, you can choose to ride a bike, and Pingdingshan offers many shared bikes for you to enjoy the lakeside scenery by White Turtle Lake.
Pingdingshan people seem to carry a regional pride with them, as their city is home to an ancient "Eagle" tribe which was probably one of the earliest in the country. Keep in mind as you wander the area that you are walking amongst some of the oldest landscapes within Chinese civilization. The area is mostly flood plain, except for the flat-topped hills to the northeast which lend the city its name. Take Xinhua road to its northern terminus and you'll be halfway up Pingdingshan mountain, a flat-topped butte of sorts, but usually green and comfortable on top.
33.77471112.450931Spring Temple Buddha (Central Plains Great Buddha), Zhaocun township of Lushan County (Take a bus to PingDingShang City), ☏ +86 377 7652888, toll-free: 5767999NOCC. 08:00-17:00. Huge statue of Vairocana Buddha. It is located on Mount Yao. At 128 metres (420 ft), excluding a 25-metre (82-ft) lotus throne, it is the second-tallest statue in the world. ¥120. (updated Mar 2021)
33.7894112.31222Hwamei Valley (HuaMeiGu), Lushan County Yaoshan Town Si Daohe Village (take a bus to PingDingShang City), ☏ +86 375 5784368. 07:00-18:30. Huamei Valley was named after the large number of Hwamei birds that inhabit and breed there.The Huamei Valley Scenic Area is rich in forest and water resources, with beautiful natural scenery that resembles a pastoral paradise and a landscape painting. It has great development potential and is a charming tourist destination in Central China. ¥60. (updated Oct 2025)
33.7245112.27353Yao Shan, Yingbin Road, Xizhuyuan Village, Yaoshan Town, ☏ +86 375-5791158, toll-free: +86 375-5791158. 08:00-18:00. visitors can choose to climb the mountain on foot or take a cable car to the top. ¥65. (updated Oct 2025)
White Egret Island National Urban Wetland Park33.7506113.25644White Egret Island National Urban Wetland Park (Bai LuZhou National Urban Wetland Park), Xin Hua District Xi GaoHuang street Jian She Road West Segment. 24 hours. Because it is close to the city center, it has become a relaxing and entertainment destination for most Pingdingshan people, offering beautiful scenery where you can experience the essence of nature. You can go by bike or bus. Free. (updated Oct 2025)
33.7608113.18785Bai Gui Lake National Wetland Park (white turtle Lake National Wetland Park), Xin Cheng District Qingfeng Road. 24 hours. Bai Gui Lake is Pingdingshan City's largest artificial reservoir, boasting picturesque lakeside scenery and a natural ecological environment. Camping here is also a daily activity for many locals, and cycling by the lake is also a great option. Free. (updated Oct 2025)
33.7742113.32596Ping Ding mountain (Mountain Top Park), Waidong District - 50 meters northeast of the intersection of Xinhua Road and Qingyun Road. 24 hours. Pingdingshan, as a city, is named after this mountain. As the name suggests, the summit of this mountain is flat. You can hike or hike up the mountain, offering a panoramic view of the entire city. Free. (updated Oct 2025)
xiangshan temple33.81607113.186697Xiangshan Pumen Zen Temple (Xiangshan Temple), Xin Hua District Daxiangshan Road, ☏ +86 375 2266361. Free. The temple was founded in the fourth year of Guanghe during the Eastern Han Dynasty (181) and is one of China's early Buddhist temples, revered as a holy site for Guanyin Bodhisattvas to attain enlightenment.At the start of the new year, locals flock to light the first incense stick of the year to pray for good fortune. 07:00-18:00. (updated Oct 2025)
33.62274113.344648Yexian County Yamen (Yexian County Government Office), Ye County East Street, ☏ +86 375 3436888. 09:00-18:00. Occupying an area of 16,848 m², it was founded in the second year of Ming Hongwu (1369). Here you can see ancient government offices, with prisons, kitchens, prefectural residences, and other buildings distributed from south to north on the eastern side.It is the only well-preserved Ming dynasty government office（yamen） in China. Free. (updated Oct 2025)
34.2283112.89119Fengxue Temple, No. 985 Fengxue Road, Ruzhou City, ☏ +86 375 3331165. 08:00-20:00. Fengxue Temple was founded in the first year of the Eastern Han Dynasty (circa 190 AD) and has a history of over 1800 years, making it one of China's oldest Buddhist temples.Many scenes in the movie "Shaolin Temple" were actually filmed at Fengxue Temple, not at Shaolin Temple. This is mainly due to the severe destruction of Shaolin Temple, while Fengxue Temple is relatively well-preserved. ¥30. (updated Oct 2025)
pingdingshan museum33.76552113.183610Pingdingshan Museum, The intersection of Chang'an Avenue and Huairen Road (You can take buses 29 and 909), ☏ +86 (0375)2660517. Tuesday to Sunday: Open from 09:00 to 17:00, with entry ending at 16:00.. The Pingdingshan Museum houses over 30,000 artifacts and more than 2,000 precious artifacts of grade 3 and above.Pingdingshan boasts a rich historical and cultural heritage, making it particularly worth visiting if you want to learn about China's historical and cultural heritage. Free. (updated Oct 2025)
Because Pingdingshan is not a tourist city, there are relatively few things to do, but walking around the city center is also a good option.Walk around the city, it's walkable in a day. Most locals like to visit Pingdingshan mountain or walk along the Zhanhe river (canal) which cuts through the city from west to east. There is a park lining the canal which at most times of night and day has something interesting to see. The central area of Pingdingshan is located on TiYu Road ZhongXin Road, KaiYuan Road.These three roads have many shops and dining options, making them the liveliest places on Pingdingshan, where there are also numerous entertainment options.
Eagle City Square (鹰成广场-Yincheng Guangchang) is a fairly new city square and will be one of the largest in the province. It features a large, musical fountain with a giant megatron presiding overhead. Also, some classical Chinese waterway structures, a Greek-style outdoor theater and a few hills and ponds. In the evenings you can listen to the locals perform folk songs or maybe some Henan opera. There's also a drum troupe that comes once a week or so that one would be fortunate to come across. West Jianshe Road, just past Guanming road.
Along the Zhanhe, due west, there is a new Pingdingshan city being built, which is rumored to someday have Starbucks and Pizza Hut and all that business, but as for now, it's rather a vacant skeleton of apartment buildings and the newest government plaza. This "new city" is built right alongside the BaiGuishan reservoir. Meanwhile, there's a Pizza Hut on Kaiyuanlu at the end of Shuguangjie and a Papa John's on Tiyulu north of Jianshelu.
For historical culture, the Xiangshan Buddhist Temple (香山寺) might be the best around. Interestingly enough, it's the site of the first thousand-hand Buddha sculpture, or Sakyamuni, to be created in China. The site itself is over a thousand years old, despite the structures being rebuilt periodically. There is a pagoda tower, a monastery and some nice flowers about. The site is eternally under development, as it truly is a national treasure -in religious terms - but getting there is quite easy and the crowd is almost non-existent. From Kuanggong road (矿工路) hop on the #8 bus going west toward number 11 Coal mine, and just tell the ticket girl "Xiang-shan-si", and she will charge you about three kuai and alert you when your stop arrives. Take a small motorcar to the summit of the site (¥6). The guy will know where you're going. From the bus station on Zhongxinglu, take the #16 bus and it will stop near the temple. Also, you can see the pagoda from where you get off the bus. Admission is ¥5.
In recent years, rafting has been the most popular entertainment activity on Pingdingshan. Pingdingshan offers places to spend time rafting, and many people flock there every summer. However, since it's not in Pingdingshan's urban area, you can take a bus or drive there.
Whatever you fancy. There are markets and street vendors all over the central area. Clothing can be picked up for pretty cheap prices. On the street or at hole-in-the-wall type shops, bargaining is always possible.
Jiutouya (九头崖) grocery stores are located all around town and can be easily recognized by their red and yellow signs.
There is also a couple of Dennis supermarkets: one on Kaiyuanlu at the end of Shuguangjie and one on Kuanggonglu at the end of Zhonxinglu.
The Cyber Market area is on Jianshe road, beginning just west of Zhongxing road. The building on that corner is a smaller version of the main market which is a block and a half east down Jianshe Road. Buy computers, cell phones, electronics and any other tech hardware you may be looking for.
Hair salons are almost unanimously called Little Shanghai (小上海), clothing boutiques called Little Hong Kong (小香港) and Sichuan restaurants called little Decatur - I mean, little sichuan (小四川).
Cuisine is not a reason to visit Pingdingshan. The most popular dish here is a bowl of Hui-Mian noodles, which are quite bland and quite a mouthful at the same time. However, the locals survive on it, so you won't do harm in giving it a shot. Otherwise, find a dumpling shop, or a little Sichuan restaurant (小四川) which there seem to be plenty of. There are restaurants and lots of food carts with malatang (you select a range of ingredients: meats, tofu, vegetables, mushrooms, etc. and, in the restaurants at least, are charged by weight). Lamian (handmade noodles) is also popular here. Probably the most entertaining dining experience is just another Mutton-kebab street restaurant during the warmer months. These places sell all parts of a goat barbequed on a stick with a variety of extra cold dishes like Sijidou (green beans) and xiaofanqie (baby tomatoes). Sitting outside at one of these places will guarantee friendly company within an hour. Don't expect any hot-pot, Sichuan or even Hunan restaurants to be very close to home, as the dishes are usually doused in vinegar and cut way too large.
The hot-pot restaurant chains Little Fat Sheep (of Inner Mongolia) and Qingma (of Chongqing) are both located on north Guangming road. Both are good standard hot pot places just more expensive than an authentic one.
To live cheap, there are RouJiaMo - stuffed breadrolls which are very soul-foodish, comforting and delicious. The stuffing ranges from pork and sprouts to tofu, onion and green pepper. Any one can be picked up for about ¥2 and your chances of getting a good mix are very high. You can find vendors in small stalls along streets or just selling off the street itself. These little 'sandwiches' are a good local alternative to the McDonald's and KFC locations you can find all around the city center.
Find a high school or middle school around breakfast, lunch or dinner time and you will find a cavalry of cart vendors selling some kind of Chinese burrito. They mostly have a wheat-based wrap with anything from pork sausage to egg to vegetable fillings. You can ask them to make it spicy (jia la jiao duo) as they have chili pepper on hand.
Nothing special in this category either. Many restaurants will serve you complimentary tea or just hot water.
Local people often buy a bottle of baijiu (白酒) and bring it to a restaurant for the meal, which is perfectly fine if you so desire. Such folks often end up stumbling drunkenly outside afterwards and emptying themselves liberally on the sidewalk, which also seems to be fine if you so desire.
The city shuts down relatively early by Chinese standards, as KTVs might close at around 00:30-01:00 and bars at 02:00.
The local beers are SiLing Superdry 四铃超干 (chaogan pijiu) and JiutouYa's own Oboist beer. You can also find Tsingtao all over town, however, be aware that Pingdingshan is some kind of special-alcoholic zone where beer is produced exclusively with a lower alcohol content. Your bottle of Tsingtao will clock in at a shy 3.1% alcohol (compared to the normal 4.9%) and most other beers are in the same neighborhood. This practice is even marketed with the claim that "Less alcohol = fresher flavor". Your best bet on getting tanked is to just drink BaiJiu or maybe search out the Siling Blue Bottle of beer which is a solid 4.0%.
Establishments:
The following bars are mostly the same setup. An open space with a short bar, then two levels of booths wrapped around the open space. They play Chinese pop and most people play dice-game over their beer, fruit, popcorn and cigarettes. The bartenders and servers are all nice and helpful. They sell beer and mixed drinks. Very few people speak English but you won't have a problem finding instant "best friends" at these places:
2046 Beer Club (er-ling-si-liu jiu-ba) - Laodong Road (a block south of jianshe road, second floor) - A good place to unwind after work, as it's probably the earliest opening bar (17:00-18:00) along with Pinwei bar. Probably the original expat bar in town. There was once as many as three foreigners in the place at one time! Has a stage where you can sing your favorite Chinese pop songs and quite a regular following of customers. The boss is a wild and crazy Hui minority who looks more like a hipster Mexican with his beard and baseball cap. Big, cheap (¥10) bottles of Qingdao, Snow beer and occasionally a homebrew on tap.
Pinwei jiu-ba Flavor Bar - Chaoyang rd. alongside the little canal beside the Pingdingshan Hotel on Jianshe road. An amazingly relaxing place open by a coal-mine boss which caters to a rather hidden collection of higher-ups and visiting Korean/Japanese businessmen. The prices here are just a bit more than usual (¥20 big qingdao) but the quiet and the small crowd makes it worth it. Good Mr. Huang and Lovely Ms. Jin basically run the bar every night. KTV rooms available in the basement.
Night Cat Bar (夜猫酒吧)- YouYue Road, from the small corner-Mcdonalds on Zhongxing road head east and the bar is upstairs on your right with a big sign. Cool bartender who maybe stays open latest of all the bars (02:30). Large bottle of Tsingtao (reduced alcohol) ¥15.
Brother Bar (兄弟酒吧)- Kaiyuan Road (running one block east of Zhongxing rd.) Upstairs across the street from the larger McDonalds. Nice bartenders and the boss loves a joke or two. Tsingtao ¥15.
Sister Bar (姐妹酒吧) - Despite the name and the fact that it is right next door to the Brother Bar it is of different ownership. However, you can expect the same prices, offerings and crowd. Tsingtao ¥15.
BaoBao Bar (包包酒吧) - Probably the best fun for a good value. It's bigger, cheaper and more laid back. The crowd here seems more well-off and well dressed. Try Chengdu's XueHua beer for only ¥10 per large bottle.
The next few bars are more like nightclubs with dancefloors, loud high-energy music and your occasional gogo girls in skimpy outfits:
[V] Party Disco On Zhongxing road. Biggest disco in town! Dancefloor, gogo girls, cheap mystery beer and a big, weird flat-footed crowd. You might catch a weird variety show on their stage but usually it is all DJs and dance music. Nevertheless, the staff is really friendly.
SoHo Club - The Chinese nightclub franchise found in every city with the same open gear-work decor, dancers, singers, chandeliers and high prices. Good looking men and women fill the place up around 22:00 and it empties at about 01:00. The girls behind the bar are sweet and talkative if you can manage the noise levels. One small bottle of Budweiser or Heineken ¥30. You may see a bottle of tsingtao here or there but don't ask for it because they won't sell it to you. Also, a variety of mixed drinks and novelty cocktails for prices you might as well not ask about. On north Xiuyu road (休育路) near the intersection with Kuanggong road.
Redu Bar - Upstairs from the SoHo Club. Consider it a cheaper, seedier, wackier version of SoHo. May or may not be the go-to hangout for LGBT bargoers. Have your wits and cell phone ready for mass phone number exchange or learn the phrase "wo meiyou shouji" (i don't have a cell phone). Also, be nimble on your feet as drunk goofballs seeking to spill their beer run rampant.
Yaoshan (formerly Shirenshan) - A classic Chinese mountain park. Some impressive rock formations and low-altitude peaks with stone trails up and down them. There is also an Austrian gondola to the mountain's summit for some stomach-wrenching heights.
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