Dragon Pavilion Park 龙亭公园

About Dragon Pavilion Park

Dragon Pavilion Park (龙亭公园) surrounds the Dragon Pavilion (龙亭), a Qing-dynasty palace hall raised on a great platform of grey brick in central Kaifeng (开封), in the district that takes its name, Longting District (龙亭区).

The ground was once the imperial palace of the Northern Song capital, then called Bianliang (汴梁); almost none of that palace survives above ground. A Ming prince's residence, the Zhou Prince's Mansion (周王府), was built here in 1378 and lost to a Yellow River flood in 1642. In 1659 the Qing turned the site into an examination hall. An artificial hill left from the mansion's garden received a small pavilion in 1692, where provincial officials paid homage before a tablet wishing the emperor long life, and that tablet gave the place its name.

The hall has fallen and risen several times. A gale blew it down in 1845, and in 1856 it was rebuilt to its old design. In 1925 Hu Jingyi (胡景翼) repaired it and turned the grounds into Longting Park; Feng Yuxiang (冯玉祥) made the hall a Sun Yat-sen memorial in 1927. After restoration the park reopened to the public in 1953, and from 1985 gates such as the Meridian Gate (午门) were rebuilt following the layout of the Qing Wanshou Palace (万寿宫). On 15 July 1994 the rear wall of the platform collapsed and the hall leaned 25 centimetres to the north; it was taken apart and its timber frame reassembled to the old pattern by October that year, with 90 percent of the material taken from the dismantled frame.

Visitors climb 72 steps to the south-facing hall, a double-eaved hip-and-gable building listed at 26.7 metres tall on a 13-metre terrace. An avenue in front of the hall divides Panjia Lake (潘家湖) on the east from Yangjia Lake (杨家湖) on the west. South of the lakes runs Song Capital Imperial Street (宋都御街), a street of about 400 metres rebuilt with two-storey timber-and-tile buildings in Song style; digging beneath it uncovered remains of the Song imperial way. The site was among Henan's first provincial protected sites in 1963, and the main hall was added to the national list of major protected sites in 2019.

What to look for

• Dragon Pavilion main hall (龙亭大殿), a double-eaved Qing palace hall at the top of 72 steps
• The 13-metre grey-brick terrace on which the hall stands
• Panjia Lake (潘家湖) and Yangjia Lake (杨家湖), on either side of the approach avenue
• Meridian Gate (午门) and the other gates rebuilt from 1985 on the Qing Wanshou Palace layout
• Song Capital Imperial Street (宋都御街), a rebuilt Song-style street running south from the park, with the Fan Tower (樊楼)

Location & getting there

Getting to Dragon Pavilion Park

• Search for 龙亭公园 with 开封市 and 龙亭区.