Tourists to the Northeast city of Shenyang looking to absorb some of the history of the place tend to head for Mukden (or Fèngtiān) Palace 奉天宫 (these days perhaps better known as Shenyang Imperial Palace or Chényáng gùgōng)❋.

Although Shenyang’s fame resides with the only other Chinese imperial palace outside of Beijing, the old city of Shenhe has other attractions in the neighbourhood worthy of a diversion away from the palace and Shenyang Street. I have already touched on Marshal Zhang Mansion (and museum) and Chaoyang Jie (the subject of separate blog pieces).

But if you want to explore other places in Shenhe District (Shênhé Qū) celebrating Chinese history and culture, you could start just across the road from Gù Gōng. I happened upon this fairly new monument site to China’s past set in a wide plaza running from Shenyang Jie to Shengjian Lú. The monument, typically Chinese in design, comprises a busy ‘canvas’ of numerous bronze relief sculptures crammed together and mounted on to two long walls which face each other. The monument’s subject matter represents various threads drawn from China’s long and turbulent history of empire and war (no thematic shortage of martial figures on horseback with weapons) .

While you are in the immediate vicinity, if you exit the monument-laden square at the western end you’ll end up in Shengjing Road. This is another street of interest worth a saunter down it. It contains a good mix of new and older architecture.

Another interesting digression can be had by following Shenyang Jie south for several blocks. There are are some splendid examples of modern buildings borrowing from the traditional styles of Chinese architecture. Eventually you will arrive at a rather magnificent Chinese arch at a major intersection in the road. A pagoda-style structure – dwarfed by comparison – sits atop the massively proportioned arch (this human-made icon is best viewed at night when luminously lit up)$.

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❋ in the same way as tourists seeking the Shenyang ultimate shopping experience make a beeline for Middle Road (Zhōng Jiē) and its very long commercial pedestrian plaza

$ no less a triple-tunnelled arch – with a dominant central tunnel bookended by two smaller, subordinate tunnels