Kaifeng

鼓楼夜市

Gulou Night Market is the most representative night market in Kaifeng. It is also one of the earliest night markets in China and the only night market open all year round in Henan Province. It was recorded as early as "Tokyo Menghualu". With the Drum Tower as the background, the night view that blends the ancient and the modern is unique, making it an iconic place to experience the "Bianjing" night market. The core highlights are snacks and everyday atmosphere: soup dumplings, fried jelly, mutton steamed buns, almond tea, baked carp noodles, peanut cakes, etc. There are also experiences such as ordering tea from the Song Dynasty and checking in with Hanfu.

清明上河园

Qingming Riverside Park is located at No. 5 Longting West Road. It is a Song Dynasty cultural theme park that has been restored 1:1 based on "Qingming Riverside Scene" by Zhang Zeduan of the Northern Song Dynasty. It is a national 5A-level scenic spot and reproduces the prosperity and royal atmosphere of Bianliang City in the Northern Song Dynasty. The core attractions are Hongqiao, Bianhe River, antique streets and alleys, as well as more than 100 Song-style performances throughout the day, such as the horse battle of "Yue Fei Gun Challenges Xiao Liang Wang", the water scene of "The Defense of Tokyo in the Song Dynasty", "The Iron Flower" and the large-scale water scene drama "The Song Dynasty - Tokyo Dream".

龙亭公园

Longting Park is located at the north end of Zhongshan Road, Longting District. It is a national AAAA-level scenic spot and a national key cultural relics protection unit built on the royal palace sites of the Later Liang, Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou, Northern Song and Jin Dynasties. The core attraction is the Longting Hall - a 13-meter platform with 72 steps. From the top, you can overlook the panoramic view of Panyang Lake and the ancient city. The Panjia Lake and Yangjia Lake in the park have beautiful scenery and are the main venue of the Kaifeng Chrysanthemum Cultural Festival. The main body of the Northern Song Dynasty palace is buried about 9 meters underground. The existing main hall is the remains of the Wanshou Palace of the Qing Dynasty.

大相国寺

Located in the west section of Ziyou Road in the city center, it was built in the sixth year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty (555). It was originally named Jianguo Temple and was renamed Daxiangguo Temple in the Tang Dynasty. In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was the largest royal temple in the capital and the national Buddhist activity center. The treasures of the temple are the Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Guanyin carved from a whole ginkgo tree in the Octagonal Glazed Hall, which is exquisitely crafted. There is also the "Xiangguo Frost Bell" weighing more than 10,000 kilograms, which is one of the eight scenic spots in Kaifeng. The Main Hall is known as the "No. 1 Hall in the Central Plains". There is also a scene in the temple where Lu Zhishen uprooted a weeping willow in "Water Margin".

书店街

Bookstore Street is located on the north side of the Drum Tower, with a total length of about 600 meters. It continues from the "Gaotou Street" in the Northern Song Dynasty to this day. It is a rare thousand-year-old street named after a bookstore in the world. It is also the core part of the national-level night-time cultural tourism consumption area. During the day, you can peruse the old buildings and handwritten store signs from the Republic of China and the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. At night, it is connected to the Gulou Night Market, where snacks, cultural creations, and intangible cultural heritage markets are bustling. Core attractions: Old buildings and shop sign art, snacks such as Zhangji Mahua, Baiji peanut cake, iced glutinous rice balls, as well as intangible cultural heritage interactions such as pot throwing and lantern riddle guessing.

铁塔

The Iron Pagoda is located in the Iron Pagoda Park at No. 210 Beimen Street, Shunhe Hui District. It was originally named Kaibaosi Pagoda. It was built in the first year of Emperor You of the Northern Song Dynasty (1049). It is the earliest, tallest and best-preserved glazed brick pagoda in the Northern Song Dynasty and is known as "the best pagoda in the world". It is not made of iron, but is made of brown glazed bricks, which makes it look like iron from a distance. The tower body is octagonal and has 13 floors, about 55.88 meters high, and is inlaid with more than 50 kinds of glazed bricks such as flying apsaras, unicorns, and bodhisattvas. After earthquakes, Yellow River floods, and anti-Japanese war bombardments, it still stands tall, which is the most faithful testimony of Kaifeng City's "repeated flooding and repeated construction".

开封市博物馆

The Kaifeng Municipal Museum is the best starting point to distinguish the stages of multiple capital establishments and understand why the remains of the Northern Song Dynasty are often buried deep underground. Archaeological artifacts, models, city maps, and different versions of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" reconstruct administration, commerce, and daily life without pretending that the modern surface is anything but its original appearance. The subsequent contents of Jewish communities, guild halls, the Yellow River and local crafts also make the urban narrative transcend a single dynasty.

繁塔

Fan Pagoda was built in the 10th century and is one of the earliest existing buildings in Kaifeng. Only the lower part of the original tower is preserved today. The outer wall is densely covered with glazed bricks with Buddha statues, forming a dense religious surface that is different from the later iron towers. The altered contours directly reveal the damage and reconstruction, rather than diminishing its value.

山陕甘会馆

Guildhalls built by merchants in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu during the Qing Dynasty combined business contacts, sacrifices, and mutual assistance with fellow villagers. Dense wood carvings, brick carvings and stone carvings turn the facades and screen walls into auspicious images, operas and records of merchants' identities. It shows that after the Song Dynasty, Kaifeng was still a commercial city connecting long-distance trade, and was not just a memorial to the former capital.

开封城墙

The main body of the existing city wall belongs to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is a layer of the city that was repeatedly buried and rebuilt after the Yellow River floods. Gates, walls and archaeological evidence illustrate how later defensive structures were superimposed on earlier capital layers. A short walk will help you understand the "city on top of the city", but it cannot be directly called the original city wall of Tokyo City in the Northern Song Dynasty.