Yangzhou during the Song Dynasty was known for having ‘three cities in one place’, namely Song Dacheng, Baoyou City, and Song Jiacheng. Song Jiacheng is situated between Baoyou City and Song Dacheng, with a slightly elongated rectangular shape that leans slightly eastward in the south and slightly westward in the north. It has a history of nearly 800 years. Despite being affected by historical factors such as wars, the morphological features of the city are still faintly visible. Today’s Song Jiacheng Archaeological Site Park is reconstructed on the original site, allowing the Song City to emerge from the dust, revealing the ancient essence of Yangzhou.
The Song Jiacheng Site Park retains the original characteristic of being surrounded by water on all sides. The west entrance serves as the main entrance of the Song Jiacheng Site Park. Among the three city gates, the west barbican gate and the east barbican gate are equipped with city towers that stand 15 meters high. Outside the north city gate, there is a floating bridge made of oil drums covered with wooden planks, measuring 147 meters long and 6 meters wide, connecting to Ping Shantang Road. Visitors can currently enter through the floating bridge at the north city gate and the wooden walkway at the west city gate.
The city gate of Song Jiacheng, which also serves as the park’s main entrance, is guarded by ‘Song Dynasty soldiers,’ showcasing the solemnity of the city. The city towers are designed with the Song Dynasty city layout as a reference, presented in a double-barbican form, making them an attractive sight in themselves. The Song Jiacheng Site Park Exhibition Hall features dozens of ‘soldiers’ half the size of real people and over twenty generals life-sized, including Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, Wen Tianxiang, Li Tingzhi, Jiang Cai, and Liu Qi. Yue Fei’s deeds are well-known to every household, and Han Shizhong’s ‘Da Yi Great Victory’ and Liu Qi’s ‘Guazhou Zaojiao Forest Battle’ are listed as part of the ‘Thirteen War Merits of the Revival,’ with their stories being both moving and inspiring.
The park is open all year round from 08:00 to 21:00, with specific business status subject to the day’s opening conditions.
Song Jiacheng Archaeological Site Park
Yangzhou during the Song Dynasty was known for having ‘three cities in one place’, namel[...]
