You Are Here – Kaifeng

Starbucks You Are Here – Kaifeng is a mug for one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China. It is probably the most known for being the Chinese capital and one of the major trade centers of East Asia under the Song Dynasty. The design of the mug is presented with multiple architectural examples from that era. Here are some of them:
– The Iron Pagoda is a Chinese Buddhist pagoda built-in 1049. What we see now is the second construction. The initial building was made of wood as part of Youguo Temple but was later burnt by lightning fire in 1044. So the new pagoda (current one) was built using brick and due to its color was nicknamed as “Iron Pagoda”. This pagoda is worth examining closely, as its exterior features more than fifty different varieties of glazed brick and 1,600 amazingly detailed carvings, including those of standing and sitting Buddha, standing monks, singers, and flying dancers, flowers, lions, dragons and many more.
– Daxiangguo Temple or The Great Xiangguo Gate Temple (left side of the front of the mug) – a well known Chinese Buddhist Temple built-in 555 A.D. It was once destroyed due to floods or Yellow River and then rebuilt during the reign of the Qing Dynasty.
– Stone Arch Bridge – I could not find the name, but it seems to be located in Kaifeng Pingdingshan Shaolin Monastery
– Gate Tower at Kaifeng Fu (Kaifeng Government Hall) – is another building in the form of the gate tower with two lions on both sides of the entrance (can bee seen on the back of the mug). It is indeed worth visiting if you are interested in exploring the Song Dynasty history and culture.