Du Fu Pavilion

Du Fu Pavilion is a Tang-style garden architecture built to commemorate the great Tang dynasty poet Du Fu. It stands on the Xiang River scenic belt in Changsha, gazing across the river at Orange Isle and Yuelu Mountain. In his later years, Du Fu lived in Changsha twice, renting a simple building by the Xiang River; because the house faced the river, he named it "River Pavilion," where he spent the final years of his life and wrote a large number of poems. The present pavilion was completed and opened to the public in 2005. Its main structure has four stories and stands approx. 18 m tall, with vermilion columns paired with antique lattice windows and a roof covered in dark blue-green glazed tiles, making it a highly recognizable landmark on the east bank of the Xiang River.

The pavilion houses a Du Fu memorial hall, with a statue of Du Fu standing in the center. The poet's life is depicted on the walls in the form of paintings, and works by renowned calligraphers and painters such as Zhang Daqian and Lin Sanzhi are also displayed in the hall. The exhibitions on each floor follow Du Fu's travels and poetic works in Hunan as the main thread, presenting the wandering trajectory of the Poet Sage in his later years and the poems he composed during his time in Hunan through steles, calligraphy and paintings, and multimedia means. The pavilion also features a tea room where visitors can sip tea while gazing at the scenery on both banks of the Xiang River in the distance.

After nightfall, the pavilion lights up, and the warm yellow glow reflects on the surface of the Xiang River, making it a popular night-view photo spot along the river. The pavilion also offers an immersive night tour experience, based on Du Fu's life experiences wandering in Xiaoxiang in his later years. With the help of digital light-and-shadow technology, the artistic conception of Du Fu's poems is transformed into real-life scenes. As visitors stroll through the corridors, they may unexpectedly encounter "people in the poems" dressed in ancient-style costumes, experiencing a thousand years of poetic charm among the corridors and pillars of the pavilion.