Wonders of Stacked Cities at Xinzheng Gate Site Expected to be Represented in Kaifeng, Henan

As a capital of eight dynasties of ancient China, Kaifeng lies in the south bank of the Yellow River. Due to inundations of the Yellow River between the Warring States Period and the Qing Dynasty, six ancient cities in Kaifeng were buried deep underground and stacked vertically.

To represent historical wonders of stacked cities, Kaifeng launched the project of Xinzheng Gate Site in 2012. PhaseⅡarcheological excavations of the project are under way, and remains of city sites of the Song Dynasty and folk courtyards of the Qing Dynasty have been discovered.

Xinzheng Gate Site is the best-preserved among gates of outer cities at the capital site of the Northern Song Dynasty. Its plane is a rectangle which is 160 meters long from south to north and 100 meters wide from east to west. Gates of the city and the small town outside the city gate are made of bricks, while the main part of the walls of the small town outside the city gate consists of packed earth.