Shanshangan Guild Hall

Henan

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This tiny, elaborately styled guild hall was built as a lodging and meeting place during the Qing dynasty by an association of merchants from Shanxi (山西), Shaanxi (陕西) and Gansu (甘肃) provinces. You can delve into the exhibition on historic Kaifeng and see a fascinating diorama of the old Song city – with its palace in the centre of town – and compare it with a model of modern Kaifeng. Note the ornate carvings on the roof beams.

Also look out for the scale-model re-creation of Zhang Zeduan’s famed Qingming painting.

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Nearby Henan attractions

1. Kaifeng Drum Tower

0.24 MILES

Built in 1379, Kaifeng's drum tower was originally located west of here and this site belonged to the bell tower. In the late Ming dynasty, a sickly…

2. Longting Park

0.44 MILES

Site of the former imperial palace, this park is mostly gardens and a lake, into which hardy swimmers plunge in winter. Reached by a bridge, you can climb…

3. Temple of the Chief Minister

0.46 MILES

First founded in AD 555, this frequently rebuilt temple vanished along with Kaifeng in the early 1640s, when rebels breached the Yellow River’s dykes…

4. Kāifēng Fǔ

0.67 MILES

This reconstructed site of the government offices of the Northern Song has daily theatricals commencing outside the gates – the doors are thrown open and…

5. Kaifeng City Walls

1.37 MILES

Kaifeng is ringed by a relatively intact, much-restored Qing dynasty wall, which you can climb up at various points. There's precious little to see from…

6. Iron Pagoda Park

1.6 MILES

Kaifeng's most iconic landmark is a magnificent 11th-century Iron Pagoda (55m tall) at the centre of a pleasant park. The gorgeous, glazed-brick edifice,…

7. Po Pagoda

1.91 MILES

This stumpy pagoda from 974 is the oldest Buddhist structure in Kaifeng and was originally a nine-storey hexagonal building, typical of the Northern Song…

8. Kaifeng Museum

5.71 MILES

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