154 ◾ Investment and Employment Opportunities in China
damage from time to time. For example, Kaifeng has been buried by the Yellow River’s silt seven
times due to flooding.
e Xia Dynasty, the first Chinese dynasty that existed about 5000 years ago within east
Henan, collapsed around the sixteenth century following the invasion of Shang, a neighboring
vassal state centered around today’s Shangqiu in eastern Henan. e Shang Dynasty lasted from
the sixteenth century to the eleventh century when the Zhou Dynasty of Shaanxi arrived
from the west. Zhou established its capital in Chang’an, causing the political and economic cen-
ter to move away from Henan. In 722 , when Chang’an was threatened by Xionites invasions,
the capital was moved ...