Commerce flourished under the Northern Song, prompting significant financial innovations. By the time of Emperor Huizong, early forms of money notes and banking services could already be found in Kaifeng. Exchange bill issued by merchants of the Sichuan area called jiaozi was invented in early Song. In 1107, the jiaozi was renamed and restructured as qianyin, issued by the Song government. Qianyin, evolving across the Song dynasty, became the first note. The Song government's didangshuo, a banking institution, offered deposits with interest rates to government organizations and provided loans to merchants, strategically placing branches in Kaifeng's bustling areas to stimulate economic growth.

Citizen of the Song Dynasty were known for their refined tastes in enjoyment and attention to health, as exemplified in the painting by a clinic and pharmacy called Dr. Zhao’s Clinic. What does Dr. Zhao specialise in? Check out the advertisements outside his clinic! They read, “Fragrant pills alleviating pains caused by drunkenness” and “Imperial doctor’s prescriptions for upset stomach”. This is all too common in a prosperous metropolis like Kaifeng, where lives were good and sometimes people were over indulged. But worry not! A quick visit to Dr. Zhao’s Clinic is all you need!

According to Dongjing Menghua Lu (The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendour), a memoir describing the life in Kaifeng during the Northern Song dynasty, Kaifeng is a gourmet capital. At the time, the concept of restaurants or dining establishments hadn't been introduced yet elsewhere in the world. Feasts and banquets were usually held by having chefs come to one's home, or provided at some entertainment venues. Northern Song dynasty led the world by establishing the concept of "restaurants", there were 72 grand restaurants in the city and the most splendid ones would have looked like the “Sunyang Restaurant” depicted by Zhang Zeduan. They would be multi-storeyed, with decorated archways known as Kuanmen (Welcoming Gate) and well-lit by lamps and candles for diners, truly a happy time to spend the evening out!

Apart from business and entertainment, the educational and cultural achievements of the Northern Song dynasty were also unparalleled at the time. Students flocked to Kaifeng to study, hoping to succeed in civil examination, so they could join the Song bureaucracy. Wang's Hostel was a place where students could enjoy food and lodging for a fee, it was similar to a "Bed and Breakfast" nowadays. On the second floor of the hostel, a student is shown hard at work, with some notes pinned on the wall, most probably honing his poetry skills, an essential subject in the educational syllabus of the time!

The famous painter, Zhang Zeduan, was a master of realistic Jiehua painting.
The architecture he painted was so precise, his renderings can be seen in the Northern Song manual of architecture Yingzhao Fashi (Treatise on Architectural Methods or State Building Standards). His depiction of the brackets and roofs of the tower seen here is an exemplary example of his art. Underneath the gate you can see a convoy of camels leisurely traversing from the north and ships sailing from the south into Bianjing, a prosperous city of the time that was well-suited for conducting business.

Underneath the gate we can see a line of camels leisurely traversing through. The presence of such a camel caravan, traditionally from the northern steppes, suggests that Kaifeng was a prosperous, peaceful and welcoming city for people from everywhere. The fact that caravans can be seen laden with goods and enjoying their way home at peace, is also a testimony to the order and security of Kaifeng.

The great poet of the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai, wrote in one of his most renowned poems that wine should come in jars numbering ten thousand so that all could enjoy wine to their fullest. Naming a winery “Ten Thousand,” quoting the wine-loving poet, is most apt. But what if the allusion escapes the minds of some fellow wine lovers? Then made it clear! Let a flag saying “new wine” fly proudly on the Welcome Gate, and writes “Divine Nectars” next to the shop’s sign, this should be crystal clear to all wine lovers in town!

The Bian River flows across Kaifeng from west to east, bringing goods and traffic to the capital. According to Dongjing Menghua Lu (The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendour), 13 bridges were built during the Song over the Bian River. Among them, the Rainbow Bridge, the “pillarless bridge constructed by giant wood frames, which is decorated with crimson paint and looked as if an arching rainbow” was the grandest of them all. This “crimson rainbow” across the Bian River is not only beautiful but a very practical one. It is a bustling scene depicted on the bridge: some doing business, some curiously watching lives go on, while civil officials in sedan and martial officials on horses are hurrying to their business.

Another masterstroke by our master in the Jiehua tradition can be seen in Zhang Zeduan’s depiction of the many giant ships next to the pier! These are not common ferries or cargo ships, but ships chartered specially for carrying grains in Northern Song. The government used this system of shipping and storing grains from the Jiangnan region to keep Kaifeng well-fed and free from the worry of rocketing price of grain.