Kaifeng Ancient City
Northern Song Kaifeng's waterways opened space for night markets and urban life beyond the ward walls.
Vendors and residents line Kaifeng’s canal beneath the Song gate, while boats carry people across the afternoon reflections.
Civic Building1
- Kaifeng Prefecture Yamen & Bao Zheng Memorial
Bao Zheng, Kou Zhun and Ouyang Xiu once governed from this foremost prefecture of the Northern Song, which keeps a treasured Song stele listing its prefects.
Tower1
- Iron Pagoda of Kaifeng (Kaibao Temple Pagoda)
Rising thirteen octagonal storeys since 1049, Kaifeng's glazed-brick Iron Pagoda is faced with flying-apsaras tiles and has withstood storms and earthquakes for nearly a millennium.
Temple1
- Daxiangguo Temple Octagonal Hall in Kaifeng
Once an imperial Northern Song temple and an international centre of Buddhist exchange, Daxiangguo Temple keeps a four-faced Thousand-Armed Guanyin carved from a single Qing ginkgo tree.
Gardens1
- Millennium City Park in Kaifeng
Recreating Zhang Zeduan's painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival in life-size scenes, the park brings Bianliang's markets, rainbow bridge and river traffic to life.
Song2
- Kaibao Temple Glazed Pagoda Built1049 CE
In 1049, Kaifeng's Kaibao Temple Pagoda was built as a thirteen-story octagonal glazed-brick tower, later nicknamed the Iron Pagoda for its color.
- Bao Zheng Governs Kaifeng1056–1058 CE
From 1056 to 1058, Bao Zheng served as acting prefect of Kaifeng, handling flooding, unlawful construction, and legal affairs.