Khu danh lam thắng cảnh Long Đình

Longting, commonly translated as the Dragon Pavilion, is one of Kaifeng's best-known historic sites and the visual centrepiece of the old city. Despite the name, it is not a small garden shelter but a sizable hall raised on a massive blue-brick platform some thirteen metres high, reached by a long ceremonial staircase. From the top, a wide avenue of stone pillars looks down over two lakes, Yang Family Lake and Pan Family Lake, which together with the hall form the present Longting Park. The site's visual drama and central location make it a natural starting point for most visitors' exploration of Kaifeng.

What gives Longting its weight is not the present building but the ground it stands on. The platform occupies the site of the imperial palaces of five successive dynasties: the Later Liang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou of the Five Dynasties period, followed by the Northern Song and then the Jin. For several centuries this small patch of Kaifeng was the political centre of the Chinese empire, and the hall visitors see today is essentially a memorial marker for that buried succession of palaces. The lakes themselves were once part of the palace moat system.

The hall now standing on the platform is a later reconstruction, used today for cultural exhibitions and ceremonial displays rather than as a survival of any particular dynasty. Its main role is to provide the elevated vantage point from which the layout of the old capital can be read. The view from the top, down the long central axis toward the city gates, is one of the clearest illustrations of Chinese imperial urban planning available in any Chinese city, and it helps explain why Kaifeng's modern street grid still follows the Song plan.

Longting is best visited in the morning, before the platform and staircase become crowded. It forms a natural cluster with the China Hanyuan Stele Forest, Millennium City Park, and the Song Capital Imperial City district, all within easy walking distance. Allow roughly ninety minutes for a relaxed visit, longer during the chrysanthemum festival in autumn, when the park is planted out in elaborate floral displays that draw visitors from across China.