While in the Zhengzhou area we also took the opportunity to visit the city of Kaifeng, about an hour to the east by train. This city of 5 million once had a serious flooding problem – it was inundated about 400 times over an 800 year period to the early 1900s. The result is that the ancient city is buried under metres of silt below the present-day city, and strict building controls so as not to disturb the historical record beneath. The welcome result for the visitor is a funky town that seems a decade behind the rest of China's cities. The buildings are more old-fashioned, and bicycles much more numerous. We spent two pleasant days here seeing the sights. Kaifeng has a fantastic night market and here we saw something we had not seen before in China – people strolling around the night market in their pyjamas! Apparently it's quite the done thing after dinner and dressing for bed to go for a stroll around the market streets before turning in for the night! To us this seemed OK, if a little weird. For dinner we enjoyed a brace of excellent dumplings in a restaurant in the town square located in a building straight out of the Qing Dynasty.
We visited the beautifully restored Guild Hall, built long ago as a lodging and meeting place by visiting merchants from other provinces. Next stop was a disused bank building that holds a significant place in Chinese government history. Liu Shaoqi was a senior member of the Party, and Mao's intended successor. Apparently he was the Party's leading theoretician, and wrote several books including the classic How to be a Good Communist. Obviously a good communist himself, he rose to be the Chairman of the People's Republic of China for about eight years. But he was purged during the Cultural Revolution and banished to Kaifeng where he was locked up in a room in a disused bank, and he died here. But Liu has since been posthumously rehabilitated, and the room where he was held and where he died is now open to the public as both a memorial and tribute to his life. We looked around the room and at the bed where he had his last sleep, and inspected his clothes and shaving equipment still neatly displayed in a case. One corner of the room is decorated with bunches of flowers.
We visited the beautifully restored Guild Hall, built long ago as a lodging and meeting place by visiting merchants from other provinces. Next stop was a disused bank building that holds a significant place in Chinese government history. Liu Shaoqi was a senior member of the Party, and Mao's intended successor. Apparently he was the Party's leading theoretician, and wrote several books including the classic How to be a Good Communist. Obviously a good communist himself, he rose to be the Chairman of the People's Republic of China for about eight years. But he was purged during the Cultural Revolution and banished to Kaifeng where he was locked up in a room in a disused bank, and he died here. But Liu has since been posthumously rehabilitated, and the room where he was held and where he died is now open to the public as both a memorial and tribute to his life. We looked around the room and at the bed where he had his last sleep, and inspected his clothes and shaving equipment still neatly displayed in a case. One corner of the room is decorated with bunches of flowers.
Then it was time for lunch, and after walking a little further on, we chanced upon a roast duck restaurant with a line of people streaming into it, always a good sign. Better still, we learned that a whole roast duck was only 42 Yuan (about AUD$6.30), or strangely that a half duck was only 20 Yuan. Hmmmm, I thought, perhaps we should order two half ducks. But we steadied ourselves and resolved that a whole duck for two would be going too far, despite the tempting arbitrage opportunity. So we ordered a half duck, some green vegetables, rice and a large bottle of Chinese beer. Everything was excellent, and after an hour we spilled back out into the sunshine with full tummies and a wallet only 34 Yuan lighter. It was at this moment that I decided I could move to Kaifeng and settle down. But that would have to wait awhile as we now had onward tickets and another train to catch in a few hours time.
