China Han City 汉城

About China Han City

The complex is modern construction rather than a surviving historic site. It was planned and designed by Tsinghua University and built by private developers, with a core area of 1,800 mu and some 800,000 square metres of planned building, combining Han-style architecture with classical garden landscape. The central element is the Han Palace, which the plan for the core area sets at 110,000 square metres of floor area and describes as a complete Han capital reconstructed from archaeological findings and historical texts, with a court hall area, an inner palace, an imperial garden and an outer city. Bao'en Temple, recorded as having been founded by Liu Xiu when he returned home, was rebuilt here on 150 mu with 27,000 square metres of buildings, among them a gate hall, a Heavenly Kings hall, a five-storey pagoda, a main hall and a scripture library.

The theme is grounded in local history: the Book of the Later Han gives Liu Xiu's birthplace as Caiyang in Nanyang, which historians identify with present-day Zaoyang, making the city the only recorded native place in Hubei of a dynastic founder. A 200-mu citizens' cultural plaza at the complex carries four cultural buildings – a film and television centre, the Guangwu Grand Theatre, a museum and a City Impression Hall – arranged around a bronze statue of Liu Xiu, with four large sculpture groups set from west to east and named for episodes in his life. The 5,200-square-metre museum building is devoted to Han-dynasty artefacts and to the development of Han culture, language and script.

What to look for

• The Han Palace, a reconstruction of a Han capital with court hall area, inner palace, imperial garden and outer city, planned at 110,000 square metres
• The bronze statue of Liu Xiu on the citizens' cultural plaza, with the four sculpture groups depicting episodes from his life
• Bao'en Temple, rebuilt with a gate hall, Heavenly Kings hall, five-storey pagoda, main hall and scripture library
• The 5,200-square-metre museum building, which covers Han-dynasty artefacts and the development of Han language and script

Location & getting there

Getting to China Han City

Confirm the specific ticket, show date or activity booking. Transfers, queues and the finish time matter when arranging your return.

• Search for 汉城 with 襄阳市 and 枣阳市.