Songcheng · Hangzhou · Zhejiang, China
For sixty minutes, a vast stage of moving platforms, water and light retells Hangzhou's own legends — from the misty founding of the city to the White Snake of West Lake — in one of the most-watched live shows in China, at the Songcheng park.
From US$72 Per person — the final price in your currency is shown before you pay.
Showtimes are chosen at booking and popular slots fill on busy days, especially in China's peak holiday periods when Hangzhou is at its most crowded. Booking ahead holds your seat for the performance you want, and free cancellation keeps your plans flexible.
Why see the show
The Romance of the Song Dynasty is built around Hangzhou itself — the founding myths of the region, the Southern Song court that made this its capital, and the West Lake folktales, above all the Legend of the White Snake, that every Chinese visitor already knows. It's a show with a strong sense of place, telling the stories of the ground it stands on rather than a floating pageant of 'ancient China'.
What people remember is the machinery: a stage that splits, rises and floods, walls of falling water, sudden rain over the audience, performers flying above the seats, and projected landscapes that turn the whole theatre into a moving scroll painting. It's Songcheng's flagship production and one of the most-watched live shows in the country, and the technical spectacle is a large part of why.
The Song dynasty is remembered for restraint and refinement — ink landscapes, celadon porcelain, poetry and tea — rather than the gold-and-swagger of the Tang. The show leans into that mood in its quieter passages, so it swings between delicate, painterly scenes and the big set-piece spectacle, which is what keeps a sixty-minute show from feeling like one long crescendo.
The scenes, scroll by scroll
The show unrolls like a handscroll painting — a sequence of scenes moving through Hangzhou's history and legends. You don't need to know the stories in advance; each is told in movement and spectacle. This is the broad shape.
Opening
It opens far back, in the misty prehistory of the region around Hangzhou — the Liangzhu culture of the Yangtze delta — establishing the land and its people before the dynasties, in a hushed, painterly register that sets the tone.
The court
The show moves to the Song court that made Hangzhou — then called Lin'an — its capital, evoking the refinement, commerce and culture of a city that was among the largest and richest in the world of its day.
The hero
A darker, martial passage draws on the story of Yue Fei, the Southern Song general whose loyalty and tragic end are among the most enduring tales tied to Hangzhou — a swing into drama and scale after the courtly refinement.
The legend
The best-loved scene retells the Legend of the White Snake — the spirit who takes human form and loves a mortal by West Lake, the flooding of the temple, the Leifeng Pagoda — the folktale most bound to Hangzhou, and the show's emotional heart.
Finale
The show builds to a full-scale finale where the stagecraft comes out in force — water, projected scenery, flying performers and effects reaching into the audience — the big, bright spectacle that sends the theatre out on a high.
Songcheng, the recreated Song town
The show is the centrepiece of the Songcheng park, so a visit is a half-day at a theme park as much as an evening at a theatre — worth understanding before you book.
Songcheng — 'Song City' — is a large theme park on the edge of Hangzhou, built as a recreated Song-dynasty town, with streets, performers, smaller shows and attractions leading up to the main Romance of the Song Dynasty performance in its grand theatre. The show is the headline, but the ticket is really for the whole park.
The GetYourGuide ticket includes park entrance and a reserved seat at the show, with the showtime chosen when you book. Plan to arrive during the day to explore the park — the street theatre, the smaller performances and the recreated town — and time your day around your chosen performance rather than turning up only for the hour on stage.
As with many attractions in China, real-name registration is required, so bring the passport you booked under for admission to the park. It's worth checking the current entry requirements on the listing before you go, and arriving with time in hand for entry on busy days.
Songcheng sits on the western side of Hangzhou, not far from West Lake, and is reachable by metro, taxi or ride-hailing from the city centre. Many visitors combine it with West Lake, since the two are close and share the same Southern Song story — the lake by day, the show and park to round out the visit.
The show and its setting, in pictures
Hangzhou, West Lake and the world the Romance of the Song Dynasty draws on.
Ticket options & what's included
| Option | What it includes | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Park entrance + show | Songcheng park admission and a reserved show seat | The standard ticket; pick your showtime when booking |
| Seating tier upgrade | A seat in a higher zone of the theatre | The stage is huge — a mid-tier seat still sees it all |
| With transfer | The above plus hotel pickup in Hangzhou | Useful if you're staying away from the western side |
| With West Lake or a city tour | Booked as a separate GetYourGuide experience | West Lake shares the show's Southern Song story |
Ways to see the show
Each option below is booked through GetYourGuide, with live availability and the final price in your own currency shown before you pay.
Planning the visit
Because the ticket is really park-plus-show, the best visits build a half-day around it: arrive during the day, wander the recreated Song town and its street performances, and let the Romance of the Song Dynasty show be the centrepiece. Turning up only for the hour on stage skips most of what you've paid for.
You choose the performance slot when you book, and popular times fill on busy days. Check the current schedule for your date and pick a slot that leaves you time to explore the park beforehand — and, if you're pairing it with West Lake, one that fits the rest of your Hangzhou day.
Real-name registration is standard in China, so carry the passport you used to book for park entry. It's worth confirming the current entry rules on the listing before you travel, and allowing extra time for admission during Chinese public holidays, when Hangzhou is exceptionally busy.
Songcheng is close to West Lake, and the two tell the same Southern Song story — the lake, its causeways and the Leifeng Pagoda by day, the show's dramatised legends to round it off. Doing both on the western side of the city makes an efficient, coherent day.
GetYourGuide listings offer free cancellation up to 24 hours before and, on many options, reserve-now-pay-later, so you can hold a day and showtime now without paying today and still adjust as your Hangzhou plans settle.
Planning a Romance of the Song Dynasty visit
Romance of the Song Dynasty — questions
It's a large-scale live show — around 60 minutes of song, dance, acrobatics and elaborate moving stagecraft — staged at the Songcheng park in Hangzhou. It dramatises the legends of Hangzhou and the Song dynasty, from the misty prehistory of the region to the Southern Song court and the West Lake folktale of the White Snake. It's Songcheng's flagship production and one of the most-watched live shows in China.
The GetYourGuide ticket bundles entrance to the Songcheng park with a reserved seat at the show, and you choose your showtime when booking. Songcheng is a large theme park built as a recreated Song-dynasty town, with streets, performers and smaller shows, so it's best treated as a half-day out with the main show as its centrepiece — not just an hour in a theatre.
Yes — real-name registration is standard for attractions in China, so bring the passport you booked under for admission to the park. It's worth checking the current entry requirements on the listing before you visit, and arriving with time in hand on busy days.
Not really. The show is told through music, dance and large-scale spectacle rather than dialogue, so the stories — the founding of the city, the general Yue Fei, the White Snake of West Lake — come across in movement and staging whether or not you follow any Chinese.
The Songcheng park is on the western side of Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province, not far from West Lake, and is reachable by metro, taxi or ride-hailing from the city centre. Many visitors combine it with West Lake, since the two are close and share the same Southern Song history.
Yes — the natural pairing is West Lake, Hangzhou's famous scenic lake, whose causeways, temples and the Leifeng Pagoda tie directly to the legends the show dramatises. A city tour or a visit to the tea villages nearby also pairs well. Each is bookable as its own GetYourGuide experience, with the live price shown before you pay.