Zhanggong, Ganzhou: A Living Song Dynasty City

How does a 2,000‑year‑old city preserve its roots amid breakneck modernization? On September 1, the 2026 "Daka China - Ganzhou's Red Glory" Online International Communication Event brought a group of online influencers to Zhanggong District, Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province – and there they found the answer: the Song‑Dynasty city here has not been cordoned off as a relic to be worshipped from a distance, it is still very much alive.

Named after the Zhang and Gong rivers, which converge here to form the Gan River, Zhanggong was the first stop for the Hakka ancestors as they migrated southward. It is a veritable "Museum of the Song Dynasty" – home to China's most complete Song-dynasty brick city wall, the thousand-year-old Fushou Gutter drainage system that has kept the city flood-free for centuries, and the ancient kiln site of Qili Town, one of Jiangxi's four renowned kilns. These treasures are still part of everyday city life, not exhibits behind glass.

At the Wei Family Mansion, a Qing‑dynasty Hakka residence over 200 years old, Samar, an influencer from Algeria, said, "Standing under the patio, I could feel the breath of a family across two centuries." Wang Wen, a local content creator, added, "The Hakka place great value on family. Their history of migration taught them that only by sticking together can they stand firm – and that remains true today."

At Yugu Terrace, where the poet Xin Qiji wrote the famous lines "Below Yugu Terrace flows the Qingjiang River," Katya, an influencer from Russia, said, "I have lived in China for ten years, but this is the first time I have stood where a poem was born. To truly understand Chinese poetry, you have to be right here." Over at Bajing Terrace, Lai Hongyan, a local influencer, put it even more bluntly: "The Song dynasty bricks and today's roads are all connected – that's what Ganzhou is."

In the evening, the Jiangnan Song-Dynasty Historical and Cultural Block comes alive with lights. Street parades in traditional Hanfu, "lei cha" (pounded tea) houses, and creative cultural shops are thronged with visitors. The district receives over 16 million visits annually. Over the next five years, Zhanggong District has one clear mission: to keep its millennia-old cultural heritage living on – not enshrined as a museum piece. (By Wang Jie)