Kaifeng
Kaifeng was the largest city in the world a thousand years ago. Floods buried that city metres deep, but the town on top keeps a slow, provincial charm, a great night market, an eleventh-century pagoda, and an old street of bookshops.
- Region
- Henan, North
- Best
- Apr–May, Sep–Nov
- Airports
- Via Zhengzhou (CGO)
- Stay
- 1–2 days
Overview
The Qingming Scroll, the famous painting of a Song city at festival time, shows Kaifeng in about 1100. The river that made it also destroyed it: six cities lie stacked under the present one, and the Yellow River now runs above the level of the streets, held back by dykes ten kilometres north.
What is left is low, flat and pleasant. The Iron Pagoda has stood since 1049 through every flood. Shudian Street is an old lane of bookshops and calligraphy suppliers. The night market around the Drum Tower is one of the best in the north, and the town's soup dumplings are its pride.
Kaifeng also had China's oldest Jewish community, whose descendants still live around Teaching Torah Lane. Come for a night from Zhengzhou or Luoyang; the town closes early and the morning is calm.
Getting there
Kaifeng North on the high-speed line is 20 to 30 minutes from Zhengzhou East, two and a half hours from Xi'an. Intercity trains from Zhengzhou and its airport stop at Songchenglu, closer to the old town, in about 40 minutes. Zhengzhou Xinzheng (CGO) is the airport, an hour away by that train.
Rail tip. Your passport is your ticket. Book on 12306 or Trip.com, then go straight to the gate. See Getting around. The Trip.com link earns us a small commission at no cost to you (how that works).
Stay online. Google, WhatsApp and Instagram are blocked on Chinese networks; a travel eSIM that roams gets around it. Install one before you fly — Saily takes US$5 off a first plan with the code CHINA. See Staying online. The code earns us the same amount in Saily credits, at no cost to you (how that works).
Where to stay
Book on Trip.comDrum Tower and the old town
鼓楼·老城The night market, Shudian Street and the Daxiangguo Temple within a walk.
Small hotels around the Drum Tower square and along Shudian Street. Everything in Kaifeng is close, and taxis are cheap for the rest.
Longting and the lakes
龙亭·包公湖Parks and lakes on the site of the Song palace. Quieter.
Guesthouses near Longting Park and Bao Gong Lake, a fifteen-minute walk to the night market.
Booking. Compare hotels in Kaifeng on Trip.com, filtered to its China travel essentials list: English-speaking staff, foreign cards, guest rating 8 or higher. See Where to stay. Booking through this link earns us a small commission at no cost to you (how that works).
Things to do
Gulou Night Market
鼓楼夜市Hundreds of carts around the Drum Tower from dusk. The reason to stay the night.
Iron Pagoda
铁塔A thirteen-storey pagoda of iron-brown glazed brick from 1049, still standing after every flood.
Daxiangguo Temple
大相国寺The Song imperial temple, rebuilt in the Qing, with a thousand-armed Guanyin carved from a single tree.
Shudian Street
书店街An old lane of bookshops, brush-makers and seal carvers, in business since the Song.
Millennium City Park
清明上河园The Qingming Scroll built as a theme park, with costumed shows all day. Kitsch, and the town loves it.
Longting Park and the lakes
龙亭公园A Qing pavilion on the mound of the Song palace, between two lakes. Chrysanthemums in October.
Eat
Guantang bao, soup dumplings with a thin skin and a lot of broth, at Diyilou or any of the Huang family branches. Carp with baked noodles, the town's old banquet dish. At the night market: almond tea (xingren cha) thick with sesame and rose, fried liangfen, lamb on flatbread, peanut cake, and candied sweet potato. Bring cash or a working payment app.
From travellers in Kaifeng
3 posts · 3 tips · 0 questions · 0 stories
The Drum Tower night market is the reason to stay the night
Panda · 1 month ago
Take the intercity train to Songchenglu, not the high-speed one
Panda · 1 month ago
Kaifeng's mornings are the good part — walk Shudian Street early
Panda · 1 month ago
