Tourists can enter Nanchang's Tengwang Pavilion for free by reciting the 'Preface to the Pavilion of Prince滕王阁序' within 6 minutes, scoring above 60 points. A Japanese tourist succeeded in Feb 2026. Valid for all visitors.
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Japanese Tourist Earns Free Entry by Reciting Ancient Chinese Prose—Amazes CN Netizens
"Falling rosy clouds and a lone wild duck fly together; the autumn waters and the vast sky merge into one." For many Chinese readers, this famous line from Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng (Tengwang Ge Xu) is instantly recognizable. In Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, it is also tied to something surprisingly practical: visitors who can recite the entire text are eligible to enter the Tengwang Pavilion scenic area without buying a ticket.
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That challenge has tempted many people online. Some commenters admitted they can't recite the piece themselves, even though they know how celebrated it is. Against that backdrop, a recent attempt by a young overseas visitor drew attention.
According to Jimu News, a 24-year-old Japanese tourist named Uchida Daisuke traveled to the Tengwang Pavilion scenic area and recited the full Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng in front of staff. The recitation took him five minutes. He said he had prepared on and off for about a month to make it happen, even though the policy allows a six-minute time limit for the on-site test.
The free-entry arrangement also comes with a scoring rule. Under the requirement described in the report, visitors who score above 60 points can qualify for the ticket waiver. Uchida's score was 100. He said that when staff and nearby tourists learned he was Japanese, they were surprised.
Uchida's connection to Chinese culture, however, did not begin with this single visit. He told Jimu News that he is from Nagoya and first encountered Chinese culture during high school. That early exposure gradually led him to consider studying in China. After graduating, he enrolled in a Chinese-language class in Japan and studied Mandarin formally for one year. In 2021, he was admitted to a university in Nanjing.
He also said he had actually learned about the Tengwang Pavilion recitation-for-free-entry opportunity last year and started practicing the text back then. But other commitments interrupted his plan, and it was not until February 7, 2026, that he finally made the trip to Nanchang and attempted the challenge in person.
After completing the challenge, Uchida Daisuke posted a video of his recitation on social media and received a large number of likes. Some users commented that his pronunciation sounded "more standard than many Chinese people's," while others joked that he should try another free-entry challenge—reciting "The Hard Road to Shu" (Shu Dao Nan) at Jianmen Pass.
Source: 新法制报, 极目新闻
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