A famous ancient painting in China, the Qingming Festival by the Riverside, is a long, painted scroll with a length of 528 cm and a height of 24.8 cm, which portrays street scenes of Bianliang (Kaifeng City, Henan Province), the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). The work was done by Zhang Zeduan, a native of Shandong Province who studied painting in his early years in Bianliang. Later, Zhang became a painter for the Imperial Painting Academy of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The piece depicts the noisy streets of Bianliang during the Qingming Festival -- a festival for mourning ancestors -- at a time when the custom of going to street fairs was very popular. The painting has magnificent and complicated scenes with a rigorous structure. It can be divided into three parts: scenes of the suburbs, Bian River and city streets. There are over 550 human figures, some 60 animals, 20 wooden boats, 30 rooms and pavilions, and about 20 vehicles of various kinds in the Qingming Festival by the Riverside. Few ancient paintings contain such an abundance of rich contents. Furthermore, every figure and detailed scene is arranged rationally, creating an effect of bustle and complexity that appears to be in good order. All such elements reveal the painter's careful observation of life and his supreme painting skills. In the suburban scene, farmers work in the fields as wealthy people return from mourning their ancestors. The street is crowded with people on horseback, wheel carts and sedan chairs. But the Bian River scene is the most magnificent. The arched bridge stands like a rainbow over the river with streams of people bustling about; underneath are numerous racing boats. Certain interesting scenes are drawn in great detail. Bianliang was the political, economical and cultural center of the Northern Song Dynasty and its important role in the empire is fully depicted in the painting's city street scene. The streets are lined with government mansions, residential courtyards, workshops, teahouses and grocery shops. The depiction of the architecture, merchants and transportation in Bianliang vividly reflects the economic boom of the Northern Song.

The Qingming Festival by the Riverside is a great and rare realistic painting which provides vivid visual depiction of business, handicrafts, architecture, and transportation tools in the big metropolis of the Northern Song.