The time-honored Xiangguo Temple lies in the downtown area of Kaifeng, the Capital of Seven Dynasties, which was once the most prosperous city in the world and is a historical and cultural ancient city now.

There is an old folk saying, “The first beauty is Suzhou (a garden city in Jiangsu province in southeast of China), the second Hangzhou (the capital city of Zhejiang province in southeast of China) and the third Kaifeng”. The magnificent Grand Xiangguo Temple plays an important role in Chinese Buddhism. The Temple is said to have been the residence of Prince Wuji (also called Xin Lin Jun) in the Wei State of the Warring Period. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in the war and never rebuilt until the 2nd year of Jingyun in the Period of the Tang Dynasty (711 A.D).The Emperor Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty renamed the Temple “Xiangguo” and inscribed the name himself in 712 A.D. in order to celebrate his ascension to the throne.

The Peak period of the Xiangguo Temple was during the Tang and Song Dynasties, especially in the Northern Song Dynasty when it became the top Temple in China, in terms of its scale and magnificent constructions: it covers an area of 33 hectares including 64 Zen courtyards and other branches under its administration, housing more than one thousand monks. Its complex buildings were recorded as the most splendid ones in the world, with its abbots given titles by emperors. As the imperial Temple then, Xiangguo Temple also served as a place for imperial activities, such as, the celebrations of the emperor's birthday, blessings, or burning incense for worship, even the ceremony to sanction successful candidates for the imperial examination. As the Northern Song Dynasty came to an end, the Temple was destroyed by the Jin troops. And the flourishing Temple was doomed to bad luck in the succeeding dynasties, in spite of being repaired and renovated several times. All main buildings in the Temple today were built in the Qing Dynasty, and appear compact in the pattern of its spacious and grand halls. It is really worthy of the reputation as one of the top ancient Temples in China.

Surrounded by burning incense and colorful flags, with its elegant bell ringing, Xiangguo Temple is a key place in exchanging Buddhist culture between China and foreign countries. In the Tang Dynasty, the Japanese monk Konghai, who came to China to learn Buddhism in Chang'an (today's Xi'an), once stayed and studied in the Xiangguo Temple. After his return to Japan, he not only preached Buddhism, but also created the Japanese characters for the written words. In the Song Dynasty, Xiangguo Temple was the imperial reception center for foreign monks, and a place often visited by ambassadors from other countries. During the period of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, a group of Japanese monks worshipped there; and then built a Temple in Kyoto, which was also titled“Xiangguo Temple”, out of the respect to the Great Xiangguo Temple in China.

The ancient Temple is preserved quite well and this makes it famous in the world. On Nov. 6th, 1992, 4,000 abbots, both from home and abroad, attended the celebration activities of the opening of the Buddha figure, the welcoming and worshipping ceremony of the Buddhist sutra, and the succession ceremony of the abbot of the Xiangguo Temple. Zhao Puchu, the previous chairman of China's Buddhist Association, attended the ceremony and presented the Great Buddhist Sutra from the Emperor Qianlong Period, which includes more than 7,000 books. Moreover, a Japanese delegation of 19 monks had signed the agreement of friendly temples.

Now, the Xiangguo Temple covers an area of two hectares, with ancient relics including the Tianwang Hall, the Daxiong Hall, the Octagonal Glazed Hall, and the scripture-keeping tower. In 1993, the Sakyamuni's sari-putta (remains of the burned bones) given by the Linshan Temple, Singapore, was enshrined here. And all of the blazing Arhats in the halls are considered treasures of Buddhism. In the Octagonal Glazed Hall, there stands a large four-faced wooden statue of Kwan-yin with one thousand delicate arms. It was carved out of one gingko tree trunk, with a height of 7 meters. It took over 50 years to complete the carving. Its divine workmanship and magnificent shape are unparalleled and are culturally valuable to the world, thus the statue holds a great reputation both at home and abroad.

At the beginning of the lunar New Year, the annual Lantern Festival is held here. With the shining lanterns, fireworks, and sweet sound of songs and drums, the beautiful Temple foresees the peace and prosperity of the country and the happiness of people. Whenever there are cultural activities, people of all ages rush out to this ancient Temple where they can enjoy themselves through either appreciating beautiful lanterns or participating in various traditional performances. In October, the Temple is fragrant with chrysanthemums. After the opening of the Kaifeng chrysanthemum exhibition, the annual prayer ceremony opens with praying for the peace of the world and the health of the people. The resounding recitation prays for a good harvest, prosperity and peace for the country; the resounding bell ring blesses the prosperity of Buddhism and this ancient Temple.

Located at a southwest outskirt of Kaifeng City, Yanqing Temple plays an important role as a significant temple in the history of Taoism in China. Having undergone several destructions and reconstructions, only Yuhuang Pavilion of the temple remains at present.

Facing to the south, the pavilion is about 13m high and completely uses colorful bricks with a circular top and square body. The building has three storeys, on the top of which is an octagonal pavilion. Although its appearance assumes the frame similar to timberwork, it is very peculiar that all the girders and purlins cannot be seen.

Admission fee: RMB ￥ 10 per person
Open hours: 8:00-18:30
Traffic: No.1 and No.9 buses have a stop there

The Memorial Temple of Lord Bao, located on the west bank of Lord Bao Lake in Kaifeng, was reconstructed in memory of Bao Zeng, an upright and honest official and a political reformer in the Song Dynasty. It is the key scenic spot in the central plain developed by the National Tourism Bureau. The Memorial Temple of Lord Bao was once built in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. The reconstructed one covers an area of more than 1 hectare with a collection of magnificent buildings of the Song style.

As a high judicial official in Kaifeng during the Northern Song Dynasty, Bao Zeng, is a household-name in China. People often addressed him as Lord Bao out of the respect. In his long official career, Lord Bao insisted on strictly enforcing the law and punishing those who trampled the law, regardless of their social status or reputation. His morality is respected and has been worshipped for generations.

The temple is composed of the main exhibition area, the garden and the service section. The main buildings and scenic spots consist of the Gate Hall, the Second Gate Hall, exhibition halls, the Stele Pavilion, the Second Hall, the corridor hall and the Hundred Dragon Pavilion, along with artificial mountains, waterfalls, springs, bridges and rare stones. In the main hall is a big bronze statue of Lord Bao dressed in official uniform sitting seriously with one hand clasping the chair and the other one tightly gasped as if to jump off the chair. This statue with a height of more than 3 meters and a weight of 2.5 tons, is of historical, ideological and artistic value. The historical relics and documents which show Bao' life and merits are displayed beside this solemn statue.

In the Second Hall, the following are displayed: one of Lord Bao's poems which shows his political ambition, the family disciplines, the epigraph and the handwritings of Bao; as well as the Stele named Kaifeng Fu. In his poem to express his political ambition, Lord Bao made it clear that greediness is the root of all evils, while uprightness is the foundation of a man. Lord Bao wrote in the family disciplines that any of his descendants who committed crimes of corruption in his official career should be driven out of Bao's family and could not be buried in the Bao clan cemetery after their death. The items displayed reflected Bao's integrity and uprightness. On the Stele named Kaifeng Fu, there are 183 names of the past officials of the 148 years, from the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty. Only below the name of Lord Bao there is a deep smooth ditch, which has been formed by the touches of visitors through the ages; and it witnesses the people's respect to Bao for more than one thousand years.

In the garden, there is an artificial mountain by the lake, decorated by rushing waterfalls, rare stones, delicate sculptures and flourishing plants. In the service section, there are parking lots, shops, toilets, public telephones, tourist guides and an information desk, which offer services like guides, shopping, dinning, parking, inquiry and photography.

On the west side of Dragon Pavilion Park sits the Stele Forest of Hanyuan, covering an area of nearly 7 hectares, and with more than 3,500 steles.

The inscriptions here mainly consist of famous calligraphers' works as well as poems, paintings and seals. And it is a sound combination of the traditional art of inscriptions and gardening. According to the content and object of inscriptions, the steles are kept in different corridors, namely, the main stele corridor, modern inscription corridor, the Song Dynasty corridor, the corridor of emperors and famous ministers in Feudal China, the Inscription Corridor of Paintings, Seals corridor, Pen-calligraphy corridor, the Inscription Corridor of the Minorities' Characters, the Inscription Corridor of the mid-aged, the stele corridor of international friendship, etc. Now, the stele forest has preserved more than 2,600 inscriptions, and becomes the leading stele collection base in China along with the stele forest in Xi'an and Qufu.

As a famous scenic spot in the northern part of Kaifeng, the Dragon Pavilion actually is not a pavilion but a great hall built on a huge gray brick base of 13 meters in height. The park, centered with the Dragon Pavilion, is the largest sightseeing zone in Kaifeng City, with an area of more than 80 hectares, over half of which is covered with beautiful lakes and rivers. It is such a famous tourist resort, both at home and abroad, that almost all the tourists to Kaifeng will list it in their itineraries.

The present Dragon Pavilion is reminiscent of the pattern and style of construction of the Longevity Palace of the Qing Dynasty, which consists of the Wumen Gate, Yudai Bridge, Chaomen Gate, Dragon Pavilion, relics of the imperial arch and the east and north gates, and the Stele Pavilion; in addition to the Yangs' Lake and Pans' Lake, Spring Garden, Miniature Garden, Botanical shaping Garden, corridors and pavilions. The Great Hall of The Dragon Pavilion sits towards the south on a thirteen-meter high terrace, along with eight wing rooms on each side, forming a complex construction of halls. It also comprises the first waxwork museum in China with 63 figures, vividly sculpted. Along the imperial road are the Yangs' Lake to the west and the Pans' Lake to the east. The former named in honor of the well-known general from the Northern Song Dynasty Yang Jiye. The yang lake is always clean, while the latter named lake named for the notorious Pen Renmei, the old cunning minister, is always muddy. In short, the park is combination of the magnificence of the northern palaces; as well as the elegance of the southern gardens.

The Dragon Pavilion was once a part of the imperial palace of the Northern Song Dynasty, built on the site of a waste coal hill in the back garden of the former “Prince Zhou's Mansion”. In the 16th year (1659) of the Emperor Shunzhi Period of the Qing Dyansty, the imperial memorial hall was established; in the 31st year (1692) of the Emperor Kangxi Period, a memorial tablet of the emperor was placed in the newly built pavilion on the coal hill for both the provincial officials to greet and pay their respect on important occasions. Since emperors in ancient China were regarded as the incarnation of real dragons, the pavilion was titled as the Dragon Pavilion, and was the main building in the Longevity Palace. With fine carved fences and dragon patterns around, the Great Hall of the Dragon Pavilion is reached by a set of 50 steps, with the imperial walkway in the center, which was carved with a majestic dragon. In the center of the main hall, there was a stone dais decorated with dragon patterns, which was said to be the imperial chair of Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of the Song Dynasty. Actually, it was where the memorial tablets of the emperors were placed.

In the west wing under the steps of the main hall is the first waxworks museum in China, with an exhibition area of 410㎡. These nine groups of waxworks represent the great events in politics, economy, foreign affairs, and science and technology of the Song Dynasty. For that purpose, all the wax figures were made lifelike especially in their color, hair, eye and facial expressions; as well as their clothing.

During the renovation of those relics, the beatification of the park had been given much attention, thus lots of gardens and pavilions were built. The leading gardens are the Fangsen miniature Garden, the plum garden, and the Tongchun orchard, in which grow peach, cherry, Chinese redbud, pomegranate, cinnamon, winter sweet blossom, and many other blooming trees. Wandering in such a beautiful place, you will be relaxed by the singing birds and fragrant flowers.