Planning and Design of Quingming Shanghe Park in Kaifeng

Covering an area of about 39 ha, Qingming Shanghe Park is located in the northwest of Kaifeng, formerly the capital of seven dynasties in China. It is intended to serve as a tourist attraction based on a painting 〃Qingming Festival at Riverside〃 by Zhang Zeduan of the Northern song Dynasty, which vividly illustrates a real life on the both sides of the Bian River as well as in the urban area, Kaifeng, in early Spring. The park is a collection of varied buildings such as shops, restaurants, tea-houses, theaters, and hotels in the North song style, with an introduction of the history of Kaifeng, this paper examines design philosophy and methodology of the park, and discusses the creative design of the first stage development known as known as The South Area of the park. Marked by the Rainbow Bridge and the City Gate, the South Area is divided into three parts, the rural, suburban, and urban parts which are organized according to the spatial order showed in the painting. The South Area proves to be very successful because of its amazing sense of history and interesting folk performance. Furthermore, the preliminary 9planning of the second stage development known as The North Area is presented with references to culture, history and customs. The North Area is proposed to include the Old Sports & Games Garden, the Exhibition Garden, and the Hot Spring Garden with an appearance of the imperial gardens in the Northern Song, integrated with participation of old sports and games, display of old science & technology achievements, and enjoyment of hot spring bath.