THE SIGN HUNTERS

CHINA: Hangzhou Explorations, 9: Songcheng

Written by Laszlo, 14 November 2022

This new instalment in the Hangzhou Explorations series is exploring Songcheng (宋城), also known as Song Dynasty Town, which is the largest theme park in Hangzhou, featuring the cultural characteristics of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD). It is also the first theme park built in Zhejiang Province. The park is operated by the Songcheng Group (宋城集团 / Worldland) who has other theme parks across China, including a couple of more sites (such as Hangzhou Paradise, Crazy Appleland, and Langlanglang Water Park) here in Hangzhou City. The Songcheng Group is one of the Global Top Ten Theme Park Operators. The main business area of the group is cultural performance productions, tourist destinations, entertainment, and theme hotels. As of writing this article, the Songcheng Company has 74 theatres of various types with 175,000 seats in total. (See more information at their official website here.)

The Hangzhou Songcheng Performance Park officially opened on the 18th May 1996. It is located in Xihu District (西湖区) between the West Lake Scenic Area and Qiantang River. Its layout and architectural style are based on a precious ancient painting known as "Along the River during the Qingming Festival", which was made by famous painter Zhang Zeduan (张择端), displaying the urban landscape and people's living condition of that dynasty. The theme park is divided into themed areas.

The main area revolves around performances, which includes the "Romance of the Song Dynasty" as a main attraction and another ten themed shows. The Romance Show (also known as The Show of Songcheng) is the best known production in the theme park. It is a large panoramic show, based on the historical stories and ancient myths of Hangzhou city, featuring dancing, acrobatics, and a lot of visuals. The show is performed around 2,000 times a year. The Romance Show is not only a performance, but also a symbol of Hangzhou, representing the city's history and culture.

Songcheng has many featured events, such as reproducing area of "Along the River during the Qingming Festival", two distinguishing haunted houses, and a mysterious street. Using advanced technology, they are all very realistic and mysterious. Songcheng covers some cultural and folk activities, such as traditional workshops, custom shows and Buddhist temples.

We visited Songcheng in November 2022 with a group of school children. The photos below are broken into three categories: 1) photos taken in inside the theme park, 2) photos taken during the Romance Show, and 3) photos taken around “The Periphery”.