Lord Bao Park occupies a pleasant stretch of land around a lake in the southwestern corner of the old city, built around the tomb of Bao Zheng — the Song Dynasty magistrate from Hefei who became China's enduring symbol of honest government. The park is not spectacular scenically, but it has a composed quietness that suits its subject, with willow-lined causeway bridges, pavilions over the water, and the tomb complex set back from the lake.
The Bao Gong Memorial Hall at the center of the complex holds displays on the historical Bao Zheng and his career, alongside the more numerous fictional stories that have accrued around his name over centuries of opera, fiction, and television drama. Most Chinese visitors will arrive with a head full of these stories; foreign visitors who take a moment to read the English panels will come away with a clearer picture of why this relatively minor official became such an outsized cultural figure.