Daming Palace National Heritage Park, Shaanxi province
(大明宫旅游景区dà míng gōng lǚ yóu jǐng qū)
Address: 585 Ziqiang East Road, Xincheng district, Xi’an city, Shaanxi province
Websites: www.dmgpark.com (Cn), 2010305163.pool202-site.make.yun300.cn(En)
Opening Hours: 8:30-18:00
Ticket Price:
General admission: 60 yuan ($9.30)/person
Notes:
Half-price concessions are available for full-time university undergraduates, and primary and secondary school students.
One of the three major imperial palaces of China's Tang Dynasty (618-907), Daming Palace (Palace of Great Brightness), covers 3.5 square kilometers, which is equivalent to three Versailles Palaces, four and a half Forbidden Cities, 12 Kremlins, 13 Louvres, and 15 Buckingham Palaces. It fully demonstrates the majestic style of palatial architecture during the Tang empire.
The most magnificent of the three palaces in Chang’an (the capital of the Tang Dynasty), the Daming Palace is an outstanding representative of the art of oriental gardens and architecture. It witnessed the harmonious international relationships established during the Tang and is prized as a sacred hall on the Silk Road.
Daming Palace is the most renowned palace complex of a certain flourishing period of the Tang Dynasty, when 17 out of 21 emperors used it to handle political affairs, making it the most world-renowned venue during 7th to 9th centuries.
The ruins of Daming Palace in the Daming Palace National Heritage Park are the most well-preserved of imperial palaces in China, and consist of the ruins of Hanyuan Hall, Xuanzheng Hall and Zichen Hall, as well as the Site of Taiye Pond.
The culture of the flourishing Tang Dynasty has perfectly blended with modern fashion in the Daming Palace National Heritage Park. Its magnificent Hanyuan Hall Ruin and the dreamy Taiye Pond enable people to travel back from modern days to ancient times.