Leaving Campus and Discover Zhengdong--the new, rich district Zhengzhou

As promised, let’s continue our tour by leaving the comfortable school campus gates and see what of China awaits us. 

Immediately as you leave, you will see…

A pile of rubble. 

The entire Zhengdong New District is very new and under massive amounts of construction.  Many days we question whether the air is blanketed by fog or construction dust.

But there are almost skyscrapers next to these leveled plots.  I don’t know if it’s inhabited or not. The exterior of the building is done, but the entry way isn’t finished. 

There are many buildings like this where the sign is up but nobody is home?  What if I actually needed a travel service?  Should I climb over the sandbags and ask about trips to Malta?

Realistically, though, the area is very impressive.   This is the aerial from within the ring of sky scrapers.  You can see the performing arts center in the middle, next to Ruyi lake.

The district is a circle with the performing arts center and lake in the middle and surrounded by a ring of office buildings (mostly with bank names on them).

At some point, there might actually be shopping centers around here, between the inner and outer ring.  But, everything is under construction so while there may be a lot of pretty pictures of what things WILL look like, nothing is there yet

The school is located on SE corner of the outer ring of the district. 

Head a block towards the inner ring and you’ll see great tourist destinations that seem very atypical for China.

Here is the Performing Arts Center from across the lake.  And, because a friend requested that I actually prove I’m here and put myself in a photo, I stuck my smirk in the frame.

The district also has the Zhengzhou convention center and this building, which is supposedly going to rival the Dubai Tower?

One great aspect of the District are its tranquil parks by the lake…

…and the environmental approach taken towards tourism.  Here is the Wetland Park that purifies all the water coming in and out of the district by using natural means of purification, such as a plunge aeration pool, bio-ponds with vegetation that removes toxins from water, and gravel beds for further purification.  It’s part of being environmental.  Like I wrote, atypical for China (but a positive direction)

And that’s the Zhengdong New District.  It’s a mix of tourist attractions and large business.  Mass market commercial real estate is under construction, but the area looks incredibly promising (expensive, yes, but promising).

 

Thanks for joining along and until next time.  Our next tour will illustrate the China we all have seen in the movies—utter chaos that somehow functions.

Later Days,
Rick