Walking Into the Qingming Scroll at Millennium City Park
Millennium City Park, known in Chinese as Qingming Shanghe Yuan, is a Song-dynasty theme park on the west bank of Longting Lake in Kaifeng. It opened on 28 October 1998 and takes Zhang Zeduan's handscroll "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" as its plan, with buildings that follow the Song construction manual Yingzao Fashi. Everything here is new, and the park makes no secret of it. It works as a stage set for the capital the scroll shows, with costumed street life by day and a large water show at night. If you want genuine Song fabric, the Iron Pagoda across town is the place. This park shows you what the streets around it might have looked like.
How the park is laid out
The grounds cover more than 600 mu (about 40 hectares), including roughly 120 mu of water. A Double Pavilion Bridge divides them into a south garden and a north garden. Chinese sources list eight functional areas, among them a post station, folk customs, a food street, Song culture displays, a flower-and-bird market, a capital street and shopping. The park is also a national 5A scenic area and a showcase for intangible cultural heritage, and in 2009 the China World Records Association listed it as the country's first period theme park modelled on a painting.
The south garden and the Rainbow Bridge
The south garden follows the scroll most closely. A man-made Bian River winds through it in the shape of a ruyi knot, linking the separate areas. At its centre is the Rainbow Bridge, 5 metres high, 10 metres wide and spanning 25 metres, a copy of the timber arch bridge that is the visual climax of Zhang Zeduan's painting. East of the bridge is the welcome area, with a statue of Zhang Zeduan and inn-style buildings. West of it are craft workshops and a snack street. North of it is the performance area, where acrobats, wrestlers and street acts run through the day.
The north garden
The north garden draws on the later Qing court version of the scroll and is laid out as an imperial pleasure ground around Jinglong Lake. The Linshui Hall, made of two connected halls named Xuanhe and Xuande, sits on the water. A pavilion stands in the middle of the lake reached by a single bridge, and a group of halls presents Song papermaking, brocade weaving, the compass, official kiln ware and gunpowder. This side is calmer than the south garden by day and becomes the stage for the night show.
The Dongjing Menghua night show
"The Grand Song Dynasty, Dongjing Menghua" is staged on Jinglong Lake. It had trial performances in October 2007 and premiered on 5 April 2008, directed by Mei Shuaiyuan. The show runs about seventy minutes with more than 700 performers. It uses the scroll and Meng Yuanlao's memoir of the Song capital, the Dongjing Meng Hua Lu, as starting points, with eight Song ci poems as its thread. Chinese sources describe floating walkways that reassemble during the performance and a chrysanthemum stage that opens on the water.
Seats are sold in price tiers, and travel listings for 2026 say a show ticket includes daytime entry to the park. Book ahead at weekends and in the October chrysanthemum season. The show depends on weather and season, so check whether it runs on your night.
Tickets and timing
Ticket prices and discounts follow the park's official channels, and this page does not quote yuan amounts. Under the park's usual policy a ticket allows unlimited entry within three days. A notice for the 2026 National Day holiday made tickets single-entry from 1 to 5 October and restored the three-day rule from 6 October. Show and banquet tickets have carried the same three-day benefit. Check the current rules when you buy.
Performance times change daily and are posted at the entrance and on the park's official mini program. Plan to arrive by early afternoon, see the street acts in the south garden, eat on the food street, then cross to the north garden for the evening show. A full visit runs to six hours or more.
Who should skip it
Travellers who dislike costumed theme parks may prefer to spend the time on the Kaifeng city wall, Longting and the Zhou Bridge site, all described in the Kaifeng guide. Families and anyone who knows the scroll usually enjoy it more than they expect. The park sits close to Longting Park, so you can see the hall on the old Song palace site in the morning and walk over in the afternoon.
Things to confirm before you go
- Daily performance schedule at the entrance or on the mini program.
- Whether the night show is running and which seat tier you want.
- Current entry rules, including the three-day policy.
- Holiday crowd notices during golden weeks and the chrysanthemum festival.
Frequently asked questions
Is Millennium City Park historical?
The buildings are modern, opened from 1998, built to Song construction rules and modelled on Zhang Zeduan's scroll. For original Song architecture, visit the Iron Pagoda.
How long should I spend?
Most of a day, with the evening show if you can. Half a day covers the south garden and Rainbow Bridge.
Do I need a separate ticket for the show?
Yes. Show tickets are sold separately in seat tiers and have been listed as including daytime park entry.
Can I re-enter?
The usual policy allows unlimited entry within three days of purchase, with exceptions on peak holidays.
Sources
Facts in this article were checked against the following sources, retrieved 10 October 2026.
- 清明上河园, Chinese Wikipedia
- Millennium City Park National Day 2026 ticket notice, Anhui News
- Kaifeng Bendibao ticket guide
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown in each caption.