Dragon Pavilion

Location: Dagon Pavilion is located in the northwest of Kaifeng.

Distinctions: Long Ting (Dragon Pavilion) was the only architecture that existed on the ruins of Song palaces. The dragon Pavilion we see now was built in Qing Dynasty.

Brief Introduction:

Kaifeng was the capital city of Northern Song Dynasty for 156 years. At that time, Kaifeng was prosperous, with majestic palaces. However, when Jin people invaded Kaifeng, most of the palaces were ruined due to fire. After that, because of the turmoil caused by war and Yellow River flood, the grand palaces no longer existed. Long Ting (Dragon Pavilion) became the only architecture that existed on the ruins of Song palaces. The dragon Pavilion we see now was built in Qing Dynasty.

Dragon Pavilion faces south, sitting on a high platform. There are 72 footsteps leading from the ground to the hall. The central part of the footsteps is carved with a pattern of clouds and dragons. The platform is rounded with stone balustrades. The hall is made of wood, in the style of Chong Yan Xie Shan which makes the hall grand. After stepping on the platform and appreciating the cultural relics exhibited there, tourists mostly overlook the scenery of the ancient city of Kaifeng by the stone balustrades.

There is a straight main street in front of Dragon Pavilion. On each side of the street, there is a lake. The east one Is called Pan Lake, while the west one is called Yang Lake. It is said that the Pan Lake used to be the residence of Chancellor Pan Mei of Song Dynasty. Pan Mei was a treacherous court official who falsely accused the faithful often.

As a result, the water in Pan Lake is turbid. The Yang Lake is said to be the residence of the great general Yang Ye who fight against the invasion of Liao people. Yang Ye is an official loyal to his sovereign who sacrifice himself to save his country. So the water in Yang Lake is quite clear. Actually, this is not scientifically based at all.

However, this sows people’s attitude towards what is good and what is bad. Now, Dragon Pavilion, Pan Lake, Yang Lake and the rockery and garden behind Dagon Pavilion are all part of Long Ting Park (Dragon Pavilion Park). South of the main street with Pan Lake and Yang Lake, there is another straight street with a lot of shops standing on both sides.

This street used to be a broad imperial street in the history. Now, this street has been transformed into Song Du Yu Jie (Imperial Street of Song Dynasty) according to what is presented on the great picture “Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival”. The street is about 400 meters long, shops standing on both sides all of Song style.

The goods sold in these shops are mainly native products or special local product, handicraft articles, calligraphic works and traditional Chinese paintings.

There are several side halls west of the footsteps leading to the Dragon Pavilion. These side halls are used to be a wax work museum which shows the history of Song Dynasty. Covering an area of 410 square meters, this is also the first theme wax work museum in China. This museum represents the great evens in politics, economy, culture, diplomacy, science and technology etc during the reign of the nine emperors in Song Dynasty with nine groups of wax statues.

All the wax statues are carefully designed according to the real history. For example, there is a group of wax statues whose theme is the reforms of Wan Anshi (1021 A.D. – 1086 A.D., a great politician in Song Dynasty). There are only three major characters. The one sitting on the throne is the sixth emperor of Song Dynasty: Emperor Shenzong whose name is Zhao Xu.

Emperor Shenzong wears a dragon robe in the color of light yellow, with red jade belt round his waist. He slightly turns his head towards left, watching one of his subjects sitting left of him and listening to him carefully. This subject is Wang Anshi who was promoted Prime Minister and supported reforms.

On the other side of the emperor seated another subject called Sima Guang who was against reforms. Now, he is keeping his head low, in meditation. The clothes of these historical figures, including the clor of the clothes, the design of the hats, the shape of the jade blets and so on, have all been textually researched.

Designers try their best to make them the same as the real history. And, in terms of the craftsmanship, the skin color of the statues, the hair, the eyes, and even the facial expressions are quite vivid.

How to Get There: People can get on Bus 1 at the railway station and get off at the Dragon Pavilion. Bus 20 can got to the Dragon Pavilion directly as well.