Tianchang Song Ancient City

Tianchang Song Ancient City

Tianchang Song Ancient City is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Hebei Province.

Tianchang Song Ancient City is located in Tianchang Town, Jingxing County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. With a history of over a thousand years, its existing buildings date back to the Sui Dynasty. The overall layout remains largely intact, and the 3-square-kilometer area of Tianchang Song Ancient City is designated as a provincial-level cultural heritage protection zone. The town hosts two national-level cultural heritage sites, six provincial-level, thirteen county-level, and eleven sites of recognized preservation value. Such density is historically rare and presents high potential for development and utilization.

The initial intention to develop Tianchang Song Ancient City began in 1979 during the early stages of China’s reform and opening-up. However, due to various reasons, it was not implemented for over 20 years. Meaningful development efforts truly commenced in 2000. After thorough preparation, from February 2001 to July 2002, former Vice Minister of the Central Propaganda Department and Party Group Secretary of the China Writers Association Zhai Taifeng, Director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration Zhang Wenbin, as well as leaders and experts from the Ministry of Construction and the National Historic and Cultural Cities Evaluation Committee such as Ruan Yishan and Wang Jinghui, were invited to conduct research, inspections, and evaluations of the ancient city. These activities helped to accurately define the direction for developing the tourism resources of Song Ancient City.

The development work of Tianchang Song Ancient City officially began on July 1, 2002, when the town government relocated out of the Wang Family Courtyard. The town’s Party committee and government leadership treated the protection and development as a pillar industry for the entire town, which immediately drew high-level attention from higher authorities. The county Party committee and government included this initiative in their key agenda for the first time, historically incorporating it into the documents of the San Gan Conference. The municipal Party committee and government also listed the ancient city’s development as one of the city’s hundred key projects, while the provincial government included Tianchang Town’s small-town construction among fifty pilot towns. Through the hard work of the town’s Party committee and government, significant achievements have been made in the protection and development of Song Ancient City. An investment of 7.5 million yuan completed the foundational works and road paving & greening of the ring road and parking lot; 160,000 yuan was invested to restore the Dashiqiao Bridge, replacing over 110 railings, 112 stone lions, and 218 meters of paving; 1.6 million yuan was invested to renovate attractions such as the Wang Family Courtyard, the City God Temple, and the Yufengshan Temple, while other cultural heritage sites have also been preserved.

Since the beginning of this year, the town Party committee and government, in coordination with the application for Historic and Cultural City status, have continued to prioritize the protection and development of Song Ancient City as a major project. Key leaders from the town Party committee and government have frequently visited the development site to supervise and inspect progress, convening various types of symposiums and discussions to help resolve practical issues. Meanwhile, they researched, formulated, and issued the “Implementation Opinions on Strengthening Small-Town Construction and the Tourism Development of Song Ancient City,” establishing a Small-Town Construction and Song Ancient City Tourism Development Committee with an office specifically responsible for overseeing the work. This year, despite severe financial constraints, the town government allocated 500,000 yuan to complete the planning of Tianchang Town’s urban development, flood prevention, and cultural heritage protection zones. They also completed 300 meters of stone-pitched moat revetment, restored the Dashiqiao Bridge, finished the second phase of the ancient city market, hardened the parking lot surface, and are currently undertaking the restoration of the main hall of the Confucius Temple.