China's forgotten Song Dynasty capital — the world's largest medieval city, now off the tourist trail
Kaifeng was the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127 CE) and the largest, wealthiest city in the world at its peak — a city of over a million people when London had fewer than 20,000. Zhang Zeduan's 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival' scroll depicts its canals, markets, and citizens in extraordinary detail. Today it's a relaxed, largely tourism-free city in Henan province where you can visit the Iron Pagoda (an 11th-century multi-coloured tile tower), the Iron Pagoda, and the fascinating remains of China's oldest Jewish community — Jewish merchants arrived along the Silk…
Kaifeng (ancient Bianjing) served as the imperial capital of the Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou, and Northern Song dynasties — a span of nearly 200 years when it was the undisputed centre of the most advanced civilisation on earth. The Northern Song period saw the invention of movable type printing, the magnetic compass for navigation, and paper banknotes — all in and around Kaifeng. The Jin dynasty's capture of the city in 1127 (the Jingkang Incident) ended the Song golden age; the capital moved south to Hangzhou. Subsequent dynasties never restored Kaifeng's primacy, and repeated Yellow R…