From the historian's notes

Hangzhou, 1275

China · East Asia · September 1275 · autumn

What it was medium

perhaps the largest city in the world, around a million peoplean old prefectural city; the Southern Song capital since 1138

That year

• The Mongol advance: after the Song defeat at Dingjiazhou in March, Bayan's armies take city after city on the way to the capital 1275 highthe end of the dynasty, coming slowly
• Jia Sidao, who ran the government for years, is dismissed and exiled, and killed on the road 1275 highthe court looking for someone to blame
• The city surrenders without a fight the following February February 1276 highthe capital handed over intact

Who held it high

the Southern Song dynastythe child Emperor Gong, with the Grand Empress Dowager Xie as regentMongol armies under Bayan are advancing down the Yangtze; the Song army was routed in the spring, and the chief minister Jia Sidao has fallen

Its name high

Lin'an (臨安), 'temporary peace', the capital's official name; Hangzhou is the prefectureWritten in Chinese

The date, there high

the 1st year of DeyouChinese era namesDrum towers and night watches; monks beat wooden boards at dawn to announce the weather.

Money medium

paper notes (huizi) and copper cashstrings of cashstreet food for a few cash; the paper notes buy less each month

Weather medium

September: warm and humid, early autumn; the season of the great tidal bore on the Qiantang

Things

Objectspaper money, losing value fast; copper cash on strings; celadon bowls; printed booksFoodnoodles and dumplings; fish from the lake; rice wine; tea in the teahousesClothsilk; hemp for the poorGetting aboutboats on canals and the lake; sedan chairs; on footIn the airtea; frying food from a thousand stalls; the lake

What she'd hear

The Wu dialect of the city, and the northern speech of the court that came south a century and a half ago.

Where she could stand

• West Lake — pleasure boats, causeways and willows, the city's playground
• the Imperial Way — the main avenue, lined with shops, teahouses and restaurants
• the Qiantang embankment — the river wall where crowds wait for the tidal bore
• the palace on Phoenix Hill — the imperial palace above the city

Researched for this card · confidence high