Kaifeng Travel Guide

Kaifeng, covering an area of 6,444 square kilometers (2,488 square miles), is located along the southern bank of the Yellow River. It is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, formerly known as Bianliang, Bianjing, Daliang, or simply Liang. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the west, Xinxiang to the northwest, Shangqiu to the east, Zhoukou to the southeast, Xuchang to the southwest, and the province of Shandong to the northeast.

Kaifeng has a history lasting more than 2,700 years as the capital of seven dynasties. It was successively settled and chosen as the capital from 364 BC to 1233 AD, the state of Wei during the Warring States Period (475 BC - 331 BC), the Liang, Han and Zhou Dynasties of the Five Dynasties (907 - 960), the Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127) and the Jin Dynasty (1115 - 1234).

It was 168 years that Kaifeng acted as the capital city of the Northern Song Dynasty. During the long period, the city witnessed and went through the reign of nine emperors. At that time, Kaifeng was composed of outer city, inner city and imperial city with the population reaching up to 1,500,000. Whatever in politics, economy and culture, it was ranked the best-developed in the whole country. The huge scroll painting Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival drawn by the renowned painter Zhang Zeduan was the vivid recurrence of the heyday of Kaifeng. The development of science and technology, the prosperity of economy and the aggregation of excellent man are all factors to help create the most profound Song culture. The upright and selfless man Bao Gong, the brave and loyal Yang family, Great man Wang Anshi, devoted to reforming the country, and national hero Yue Fei all left their everlasting fame in history. 

The long and rich history bestows this ancient city with deep culture and high value of exploration. Though this ancient city was damaged by the repeated Yellow River floods through many years, many of the places of interest have survived. In totality, there are 187 scenic spots in the city, among which six are under national key protection, 28 are under the key protection of provincial level. The 'Iron' Pagoda, Pota Pagoda, Dragon Pavilion, Xiangguo Monastery, King Yu's Terrace and Yanqing Taoist Temple are all suggestive of Song culture are just quite a small part of it. No wonder that the old saying went like this 'Kaifeng was unsurpassed anywhere in splendor and prosperity'. 

Kaifeng is also known for having the oldest extant Jewish community in China, the Kaifeng Jews. Nowadays, it is still for a favorable place for the inbound travel of Jewish people. 

The city also offers a wide range of food specialties such as steaming pie and Chinese dumpling. Particularly famous is the five-spice bread, which, like pita, can be opened and filled. In the evening, the streets turn into the busy food market, with lots of restaurants open for business. It is often the case that people from Zhengzhou come to spend the night with their families. 

The excellent location makes Kaifeng easily accessed from different directions. The expressway of Kaifeng and Zhengzhou eases the driving and saves the time greatly. Now, only one hour is needed from Kaifeng to Zhengzhou International airport. The construction of the highway from Kaifeng and Luoyang shortens the driving time to three hours. In the recent years, the city transportation and environment have been improved by widening and reconstructing the main paths, which facilitate the tourism to the great extent.

 What to see: Kaifeng Fu