In the Song dynasty (960-1279), especially the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), Ningbo went from being a frontier city bordering the sea into a neighbor of the capital city Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou). In Haishu district, one of the central districts in Ningbo, unsurprisingly, historical and cultural relics abound. The towering Drum Tower, the tranquil Moon Lake, the prosperous Jiangxia Street, the elegant Tianfei (Heavenly Mother) Palace, not to mention the numerous steles, pagodas, temples, bridges and dams. The district is overflowing with Song dynasty culture.

Historically, Ningbo's Drum Tower not only served as the south gate of the inner city, but also as the center of the outer city. It was alternatively called the Qiao Tower, Wanghaijun Gate (Tower), and Fengguojun Gate (Tower).

In 1048, when the prefect of Mingzhou (present-day Ningbo) rebuilt the Fengguojun Tower, Wang Anshi (1021-1086), who was just sworn in as the magistrate of Yin county (present-day Yinzhou district in Ningbo), dedicated a piece especially for the tower's ke lou, a traditional Chinese water clock.

In the "Epigraph on the New Ke Lou", he wrote, "dealing with government affairs should be like the ke lou, neither too fast nor too slow." During his tenure in Yin county, Wang led the local people in dredging Dongqian Lake and building seawalls, and introduced a raft of reform measures, foreshadowing the New Policies that he would push throughout the entire Song territory later.

During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Song (r. 1129-1162), the Drum Tower was also called "Shrine of Fengguojun Tower". Legend has it that when Gaozong was still a prince, he was chased by the Jurchen troops while in Mingzhou. When he hid himself in the Drum Tower, five generals who had quelled the An Lushan Rebellion (755-763) appeared in the clouds and made the tower look as if no one had been there for years. After Gaozong's narrow escape, he made the tower a shrine for the five generals.

At Ningbo First Hospital, on the side of the Xianxue (literally "county academy") Street, there is an old, ancient gate, the Lingxing Gate, the only remaining structure of the Confucius Temple in Yin county. When Wang Anshi came to Yin county, there were no county academies, whereas the neighboring Cixi county had established one long ago. He turned the Confucius Temple built in the Tang dynasty (618-907) near the county government into an academy, the first official one in the county. The number of people in Yin county who obtained the jinshi title, the highest degree in China's imperial examinations, increased significantly afterwards, from a total of no more than 20 to 601 during the Southern Song period.

Another place that was at the center of life in the area was Moon Lake. Built in the Tang dynasty, the lake became the lifeline of Ningbo in the Song dynasty. At that time, dragon boats sailed on the lake with flutes and drums, the lakeside was packed with carriages and pedestrians, officials, prominent figures, merchants and the like mingled with one another. In the Southern Song, "half of the Moon Lake belongs to the Shi family". A humble family originally, the Shis made their mark through excelling at the imperial examinations. In all, the family produced "three chancellors, two dukes, five ministers and 72 jinshi", greatly influencing the political structure of the Southern Song and Ningbo's local culture.

Then there is the beautiful Tianfei Palace on the east bank of the Yongjiang River, dedicated to Mazu, the Chinese sea goddess. It is now a world heritage item along the Grand Canal (Ningbo section). In 992, a Maritime Trade Bureau was established in Mingzhou to handle foreign trade and foreign affairs. In fact, the waterfront of Jiangxia Park that we see today used to be the dock area in the Song dynasty for domestic and foreign trade. In the Southern Song dynasty, Mingzhou was at one time the only legal port for official exchanges and trade between the areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and Korea, Japan and other countries.