Explore the region
About First City Under Heaven
Its walls and gates compress the old capital's plan, while an internal commercial street and a garden area reinterpret familiar urban and imperial scenes. The Yuanmingyuan-themed section includes reconstructions of features such as the Great Fountain and maze. Visit for the designed historical setting, keeping clear that these are modern recreations rather than surviving gates or gardens transferred from Beijing.
First City Under Heaven broke ground on 18 October 1992, at a total investment of about 2 billion yuan (20亿元人民币), and opened to the public on 28 April 1998. It occupies the Anping town economic development zone of Xianghe county in Langfang, with a total area of 1,333,000 square meters and a built-up area of 380,000 square meters, arranged around one center, five scenic areas and 88 groups of scenery.
The complex is divided into an inner and outer city. Its outer wall is 5 kilometers long, built to the layout of Ming-and-Qing Beijing at reduced length but at the original 1:1 scale in cross-section; along the inner city's central axis runs a commercial street with branches of the old Beijing establishments Tongrentang and Quanjude. To the east lies a 156,000-square-meter Yuanmingyuan-themed area, where eight scenes destroyed when the original Yuanmingyuan was burned by British and French forces in 1860, including Zhengda Guangming, Jiuzhou Qingyan and the Great Fountain (大水法), have been rebuilt to their original appearance.
Each morning at nine o'clock the complex stages an 'opening of the city' ceremony, in which the gate tower announces the opening and staff dressed as the emperor, ministers, eunuchs and palace maids parade out of the gate, re-enacting scenes of the imperial era.
What to look for
- The reconstructed city gates and walls based on old Beijing.
- The Yuanmingyuan-themed garden with fountain and maze recreations.
- The internal old-Beijing-style commercial street.
Location & getting there
Getting to First City Under Heaven
Use 天下第一城 in the Anping economic-development area of Xianghe County, Langfang.
- Confirm current visitor access separately from hotel or conference access, and use the entrance assigned to your visit.
Combine your visit
Suggested order within this visit:
-
City-gate approach
See the reconstructed capital-wall concept.
-
Old-Beijing-style street
Follow the urban theme inside the complex.
-
Yuanmingyuan-themed garden
Compare the recreated garden scenes with the city architecture.
This sequence is an editorial suggestion based on the features described in the sources. Access to individual buildings or areas should be checked locally; no travel time or shared admission is implied.
Find First City Under Heaven
天下第一城 · 廊坊市
The pin marks the area, not the entrance.
More places nearby
Approximate straight-line distances between map pins, not travel distances.
Eastern Qing tombs 清东陵
83 km awayThe Eastern Qing Tombs spread across a mountain-backed landscape near Zunhua. The spirit road, ceremonial halls and burial mounds form a sequence intended for imperial ritual, with different compounds repeating and elaborating…
View guide →Hetou Old Street 河头老街
102 km awayHetou Old Street is a modern visitor district along the Tangjin Canal in Fengnan, built around the place once known as the canal's head. That location connects it to Tangshan's coal-transport history, while today's experience…
View guide →South Lake Park (Tangshan) 唐山南湖
108 km awayTangshan South Lake occupies former mining-subsidence land that was reshaped into a large urban water-and-garden landscape. It later hosted the 2016 horticultural exposition. The park is divided among named lakes rather than one…
View guide →Sources & visit information
The linked encyclopedia sources support background and place descriptions. Current opening hours, ticket prices, booking rules and transport schedules have not been independently verified for this guide. Confirm them with the venue or operator before travelling.
Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 86491073.
Background paragraphs translated and condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "天下第一城", Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 86491073.