YuanLao Meng 
Dreamlike Recording of East Capital 

East Capital is buried more than eight meters deep under current Kaifeng city in Henan Province of China based on archaeological evidence. As the biggest capital in the world around 1120 AD with about 1.5 million people, the book described the capital from various angles about its location, rivers, people, Emperor, royal palace, custom, festivals, honor of guards and garrison armies etc. It was one of the best books telling about the capital. It is very interesting for us to know if one opens a shop in nearby place, he only comes to your place for two to three times as your customer, then you dare to let him take liquor away from your shop with silverware costing about several hundred taels of silver as one tael of silver could buy sixty kilo rice at the moment. Everyone in his profession had to wear a uniform representing his career, even a beggar had to follow the rule. Of course if one pays attention to what you read in the book, you will know there are so many restaurants and brothels in the capital, and other many interesting things… It was translated by Liu Bin and Liu Jirong.

O autorze

Yuan Lao Meng , Song Dynasty， He was a man of letters in Kaifeng Prefecture (Kaifeng, Henan Province) in the Northern Song Dynasty.