Taizicheng
Taizicheng is a village in Sitaizui Township, Chongli District, Zhangjiakou city, Hebei Province, China. The name means "City of the Crown Prince." In 2017, as part of preparations to turn the area into a skiing venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics, archaeologists carried out surveys and excavations in Taizicheng. They uncovered the remains of a Jin dynasty imperial palace, probably Tai He Palace, the summer residence of Emperor Zhangzong who ruled from 1189 to 1208.
The main find was a rectangular walled settlement measuring about 400 meters by 350 meters, covering roughly 140,000 square meters. Inside were 28 buildings and a central T-shaped road. The largest building lies about 75 meters north of the south gate and has 15 rooms. Building materials included bricks, glazed and unglazed roof tiles, ridge tiles, and roof ornaments shaped like dragons, phoenixes and Kalaviṅka.
Artifacts included a black glazed vase shaped like a chicken leg, 15 white glazed porcelain bowls with dragon and fish patterns, and two gilt bronze dragon head fragments. Some bowls carried the inscription 尚食局 meaning "Bureau of Imperial Cuisine," a tag associated with Ding ware pottery. Some bricks bore marks such as 内 (inner), 宫 (palace) and 官 (official), similar to marks found at other Jin or Liao-era sites.
Based on the site's size and finds, researchers concluded it was an imperial Jin palace from the dynasty's late middle period, probably the Tai He Palace recorded in history as the summer palace where Emperor Zhangzong stayed in 1202 and 1205.
Taizicheng later served as a venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics, hosting all skiing events except alpine skiing.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:00 (CET).