After the foundation of the Republic of China , in 1913 Zhengzhou changed from being a territory directly administered from the capital , ( 直隶州 '' zhílìzhōu '' ) , to Zhengzhou County ( 郑州县 ) . In 1920 the Henan Provincial Legislature proposed the set-up of a trading port in the city then in February 1923 the Jinguan Railway came to a halt during the communist led " 27 Major Strike " ( 二七大罢工 ) , which originated in Zhengzhou but was quickly resolved . In March the same year , the State Affairs Conference of the Beiyang Government officially approved the creation of a trading port at Zhengzhou and established a government commercial office to run it . By 1927 , the newly founded " Travel Magazine " ( 旅行杂志 ) published in Shanghai , was already describing Zhengzhou as a ' major northern Chinese metropolis ' . Zhengzhou was elevated to city status by warlord Feng Yuxiang in 1928 , then in 1931 , following the military confrontation between Chiang Kai-shek , Yan Xishan and Feng during the Central Plains War , Zhengzhou once more became a county . During the Second Sino-Japanese War , on June 9 , 1938 , in order to stop the westward advance of the Japanese Army along the Longhai Railway , Nationalist KMT troops blew up the dikes along the south bank of the Yellow River at Huayuankou ( 花园口 ) causing the 1938 Yellow River flood . The Nationalist Government set up an official Zhengzhou Appeasement Office ( 郑州绥靖公署 ) in January 1946 at the Luzu Temple ( 吕祖庙 ) then in October 1948 the People 's Liberation Army attacked and occupied the city , taking over the Appeasement Office and thereby taking control from the Nationalists
1938 Yellow River flood
1938 Yellow River flood
History of Zhengzhou