14 Days in Puyang

HSR since June 2022 on the Zhengzhou-Jinan line; the Qicheng enclosure recorded seven alliance meetings of Spring-and-Autumn lords, then a market dinner of guo liangpi.

1. puyang qicheng site
2. puyang city markets

The Xishuipo clam-shell dragon unearthed in 1987 is about 6,400 years old; the original rests in Beijing's National Museum, and the galleries lay out the dig's story clearly.

1. puyang museum

Morning in the acrobatics village 10 km northeast, ranked with Hebei's Wuqiao; evening at the downtown water-stage show - book a day ahead.

1. puyang dongbeizhuang village
2. puyang shuixiu acrobatics park

An honest county day about 25 km north - Danguai village housed the Hebei-Shandong-Henan base headquarters in 1944-45, its courtyards kept as they were.

1. puyang danguai old site

An honest county day about 40 km northeast - Nanle keeps a temple-tomb complex said to hold Cangjie, the legendary inventor of Chinese writing.

1. puyang cangjie tomb

The Huiluan stele marks the 1005 Chanyuan Treaty concluded at Chanzhou - today's Puyang; the shrine of Zilu, who fell in 480 BC in old Wei, sits a short ride south.

1. puyang huiluan stele
2. puyang zilu shrine

A slow local day between the county trips - Green Manor's lawns, Pushang park's lakeshore paths, and the night market.

1. puyang green manor
2. puyang pushang park

An honest neighbour day about 80 km north - Yinxu's oracle-bone trenches, the 3,000-year-old Shang capital, plus the National Museum of Chinese Writing; about 90 minutes by road.

1. anyang

An honest cross-province day - Heze in neighbouring Shandong, about 100 km east and two hours by bus, self-styles a peony capital; the Caozhou gardens peak in mid-April.

1. puyang heze day

An honest county day east along the Yellow River - Fanxian keeps a memorial to the painter-poet Zheng Banqiao, who served as its magistrate in the 1740s; the memorial hall tells the honest-official story.

1. puyang zhengbanqiao memorial

An honest county day to the far southeast - at Taiqian's Jiangjundu (Generals' Crossing) landing the Liu-Deng army crossed the Yellow River in June 1947; the memorial stands above the levee with the broad river beyond.

1. puyang jiangjundu memorial

A rest day in town - sleep in, loop the old streets, try huimian noodles for lunch, and let the night market do the evening.

1. puyang city markets

A second, unhurried museum pass at the dragon galleries, then the Shuixiu water-stage show as the week's finale - the summer programme runs most evenings.

1. puyang museum
2. puyang shuixiu acrobatics park

A last guo liangpi and zhuangmo breakfast, one loop of the old streets, then the HSR west toward Zhengzhou or east toward Jinan.

1. puyang city markets