Things to do in Kaifeng
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Kaifeng
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months, mid October to mid November, cool and dry with the Chrysanthemum Festival across the city.
Second window, mild spring with blossom and the Qingming Culture Festival around early April.
Worst months, hot and humid with the heaviest rain, flood season and punishing exposed theme parks.
Cold and dry with possible poor air, but thin crowds, low prices and Spring Festival temple fairs.
Shoulder months, warm and workable outside the July and August rain and heat peak.
What's on
- China Kaifeng Chrysanthemum Culture Festival 18 October to 18 November
The city's great festival, with hundreds of chrysanthemum varieties at Longting Park and Millennium City Park.
- Qingming Culture Festival Around the Qingming holiday, early April
Millennium City Park leans hardest into Song dynasty pageantry for the Qingming holiday crowds.
- Lantern Festival 15th day of the lunar new year, usually February
Lantern displays with Song dynasty roots, centred on the parks and the Longting lake area.
- Wansuishan Spring Festival Temple Fair Lunar New Year period, January to February
One of the Central Plains' great temple fairs, with the park's full performance roster and peak crowds.
- Lotus Season July
Lotus in bloom at Longting and the old city lakes, a local pleasure in the hardest sightseeing month.
Best things to do in Kaifeng
Millennium City Park
A full scale Song dynasty capital built from the Qingming scroll, worth a full day for its rolling live performances.
Dongjing Menghua
The huge on water night spectacle inside Millennium City Park, with hundreds of performers staging Song dynasty poems.
Iron Pagoda
A 13 storey pagoda of iron coloured glazed brick from 1049, the one great surviving Song structure in Kaifeng.
Kaifeng Fu
Judge Bao's reconstructed prefecture yamen, brought to life by costumed court sessions and a 9am opening ceremony.
Longting Park
Climb the Dragon Pavilion terrace for the best view in Kaifeng, over lakes and a palace buried under river silt.
Daxiangguo Temple
A working monastery whose Ming dynasty Guanyin, carved from one ginkgo trunk, has a thousand hands and eyes.
Kaifeng Museum
Free and superb, the museum explains Kaifeng's stacked buried cities and the Song capital the scroll depicts.
Shanxi-Shaanxi-Gansu Guild Hall
A small Qing guild hall packed with some of the finest brick, wood and stone carving in Henan.
Where to stay in Kaifeng
Longting
best hotels and park days
Home to the Pullman opposite Millennium City Park, walkable to Longting Park and quietest at night.
Gulou District
night markets and food trips
The old city centre around the Drum Tower, walkable to Gulou and Xisi markets, Kaifeng Fu and the temples.
Jinming and the west
families with cars and station convenience
Modern hotels near Songchenglu station and the museum, comfortable but dependent on taxis for the old city.
Think twice about
- Kaifeng North station outskirts
A still empty new district north of the wall, windswept and dead after dark with nothing walkable. Use the station, sleep in the old city.
- Zhengzhou as a Kaifeng base
Basing in Zhengzhou forfeits the night markets, iron flower shows and lit river to a last train deadline. Sleep at least one night in Kaifeng.
- Millennium City Park gate strip at festival peak
Tour group hotels and restaurants price for captive crowds at festival peak. Two streets away, prices and quality normalise.
Best restaurants in Kaifeng
Luhua Xuan Chinese Restaurant
Kaifeng's dining ceiling, a hotel banquet room for Yellow River carp with baked noodles and private room Henan feasts.
Di Yi Lou (Sihou Street)
The famous First House for guantang bao soup dumplings, worth one benchmark steamer despite the locals' argument.
Ma Yuxing Bucket Chicken
Bucket chicken from the Ma family shop founded in 1864, salty, fragrant and served chopped at room temperature.
Bianliang Little Song City
An indoor Song themed snack city gathering the Kaifeng canon under one roof, ideal for a first evening graze.
Huangjia Baozi
The Huang family soup dumplings that locals and reviewers counterpose to Di Yi Lou, in a plainer, cheaper room.
Gulou Night Market
The famous lantern lit market around the Drum Tower, hundreds of stalls and a feast for a hundred yuan.
Xisi Night Market
The locals' market and the best eating in Kaifeng, for four flavour stew, bucket chicken and almond tea.
Heda Night Market
The student priced market by Henan University and the Iron Pagoda, a full graze for about 25 yuan.
Outdoor things to do in Kaifeng
Wansuishan Martial Arts City
A martial arts performance park with horse battles, archery and the night iron flower show of molten iron sparks.
Bian River Cruise
A night boat ride on the lit Imperial River, passing Song style bridges between the old city lakes.
Yellow River Embankment
Stand on the levee and look down at a city living below a silt raised river, the key to Kaifeng's history.
Yue Fei Temple
Yue Fei's temple on his 1140 battlefield in Zhuxian Town, paired with living woodblock New Year print workshops.
Baogong Lake
Cycle the flat lake chain from Baogong Lake to Longting Lake, the old city's best slow morning ride.
Jinsha Lake Golf Club
The nearest championship standard golf to Kaifeng, an hour away in Zhengzhou, as Kaifeng itself has no real course.
Best hotels in Kaifeng
Pullman Kaifeng Jianye
Kaifeng's best hotel, opposite Millennium City Park, with pools, a spa and Song styled rooms at top local prices.
Sheraton Kaifeng
A full service Sheraton in the modern west with an outdoor pool and parking, best for families with a car.
DoubleTree by Hilton Kaifeng
A predictable international hotel in the west with an indoor pool, chosen on brand standards rather than location.
New Century Grand Hotel Kaifeng
The known quantity Chinese grand hotel near the old city, a sound fallback when the Pullman prices up.
Jinjiang Metropolo Hotel Kaifeng
A smart mid range base in the commercial district, a short walk from Millennium City Park and Wansuishan.
Holiday Inn Express Kaifeng City Center
The cheapest reliable sleep in the night market neighbourhood, with free breakfast and no surprises.
7 Days Premium Kaifeng Gulou Square
A basic, clean budget chain room minutes from the Drum Tower, the market and Daxiangguo Temple.
Is Kaifeng expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥220 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥480 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥1,100 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Millennium City Park: a few days ahead
- Dongjing Menghua: a few days ahead
- Kaifeng Museum: a few days ahead
- Wansuishan Martial Arts City: a few days ahead
- Jinsha Lake Golf Club: weeks ahead
- Pullman Kaifeng Jianye: weeks ahead
- Luhua Xuan Chinese Restaurant: a few days ahead
- In Chrysanthemum Festival and holiday peaks, book hotels and the Dongjing Menghua show's good seats days ahead.
- Reserve Wansuishan's horse battle and iron flower shows through the mini program as soon as you enter.
- Kaifeng Museum is free but needs a real name reservation, and it closes on Mondays.
- Buy Zhengzhou to Kaifeng trains a few days ahead on holiday eves, when services sell out.
Is Kaifeng safe?
- Obey closure signs on the Yellow River levee and stay off it in storms and high water periods.
- Do not ride a shared bike on the Zhengzhou to Kaifeng arterial road, where restrictions now apply.
- Watch for silent e-bikes on market fringes and look both ways twice, even on a green light.
- In winter, Henan air quality can be poor for days, so sensitive travellers should carry a good mask.
Kaifeng travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Do not try both big theme parks in one day, as each is a full day and the pairing exhausts both.
- Gulou is the famous market but Xisi is the better dinner, so do not eat only at Gulou.
- Peanut cake and chrysanthemum goods cost more at scenic area gates than on Zhongshan Road or in Zhuxian Town.
- Bikes are not allowed on top of the city wall, despite listings that imply a wall ride.
- Do not queue an hour for Di Yi Lou at peak when Huangjia Baozi exists.
Getting around Kaifeng: public transport and more
- The old city is compact and flat, and most cross town taxi or Didi rides cost about 10 to 20 yuan.
- There is no metro, so use taxis, ride hailing and shared bikes for the lake loop.
- High speed trains reach Kaifeng North in about 20 minutes from Zhengzhou East, and the intercity line serves Songchenglu station.
- Zhengzhou Xinzheng Airport is about 80 minutes away by road or via Zhengzhou East.
Who Kaifeng suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Kaifeng your trip
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