Why are there so many people from Henan in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province?

Why are there so many people from Henan in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province?

Henan is a province with a large population, and it is also a province with a large population export. There are millions of Henanese working outside, and Henanese working outside are used to gathering together, so that we It is often said that wherever there is a "Henan Village", there is a "Henan Street". Did you know that in Shaanxi, there is a city full of Henan people, known as "Little Henan", this is Baoji City.

Baoji City is located in the western part of the Guanzhong Plain, with a permanent population of 3.781 million at the end of 2017. In the early days of liberation, more than 70% of the local residents were from Henan, and Henan accents could be heard everywhere. So why are there so many Henan people in Baoji? In fact, it is not because people from Henan went to Baoji to work. The real reason behind it makes the viewers sigh and the listeners cry.

During the Anti-Japanese War, Henan people experienced two great escapes. In June 1938, in order to prevent the Japanese invaders from advancing westward, the Kuomintang government blew up the Yellow River embankment near Huayuankou in Zhengzhou, sending tens of thousands of people into exile. Many refugees from Henan fled westward, carrying burdens with babies in front and bedrolls in the back, and poured into Baoji County, which had only a few thousand people at the time.

The second large-scale flight of Henan people to Baoji occurred from the summer of 1942 to the spring of 1943. According to estimates at the time, 3 million people from Henan left Tongguan westward, and hundreds of thousands of these people came to Baoji. After these two major immigrations, the number of Henanese in Baoji City at that time had an absolute advantage compared with the locals. From then on, Baoji began to be called "Little Henan".

Millions of refugees from Henan came to Baoji County, which had only a few thousand people at the time, built shacks, dug cave dwellings, and thrived. The river beaches and hillsides outside Baoji City are also filled with refugees from Henan. Dancing in Henan, speaking Henan dialect, drinking hot spicy soup, and singing Henan opera are the common impressions that native Baoji people have on local Henan people. Until now, the saying "Henan sheds and Henan Dan" is still circulated in Baoji City.

There are so many Henanese in Baoji that many Baoji people have to learn to speak Henan dialect to facilitate communication. Today, people from Henan can be found in all walks of life in Baoji City. A foreigner who opened a shop in Baoji said: "There are so many people from Henan here, and you can't do business if you don't speak Henan dialect!"