On our way back to Beijing from Zibo, Elaine and I stopped in a city few international travelers would put on a China itinerary. We found the tomb of a Southeast Asian ruler who died here six centuries ago, traces of China’s Grand Canal story, an antique market — and one very famous chicken.
After traveling from Beijing into Shandong, most international travelers would probably take the high-speed train straight back to the capital.
We didn’t.
😂
Elaine and I had been traveling through Qufu (曲阜) and Zibo (淄博), following some of the historical stories of ancient Shandong.
Then, before returning to Beijing, we stopped farther north at:
Dezhou — 德州 (Dézhōu)
At first glance, Dezhou doesn’t have the international recognition of Beijing, Xi’an or even Qufu.
But that’s exactly the sort of place where ChinaTravelBUG tends to get into trouble.
Because somebody asks:
“What’s interesting here?”
And then another historical rabbit hole opens.
🐇
This one led all the way from China…
to the Sulu Archipelago in Southeast Asia.
🕰️ Where Are We in Chinese History?
Our previous Deep China journeys in Shandong had taken us into very ancient China.
Qufu brought us to Confucius.
Linzi took us into the world of Qi and the Warring States.
Dezhou jumps us dramatically forward.
SPRING & AUTUMN
770–476 BCE
→ Confucius / Qufu
↓
WARRING STATES
475–221 BCE
→ Qi / Linzi
↓
QIN & HAN
↓
TANG / SONG / YUAN
↓
MING DYNASTY
1368–1644 ← 📍 OUR STORY IS HERE
↓
QING
1644–1912
The particular story we went looking for happened during the reign of the Yongle Emperor (永乐帝) in the early Ming dynasty.
And suddenly Dezhou connects China with a part of Southeast Asian history that many travelers would never expect to find here.
🍚 The Familiar International Ingredient: A Sultan From Sulu Is Buried in China
This is where Dezhou becomes fascinating for an international reader.
In 1417, a large delegation from the Sulu archipelago, in what is now the southern Philippines, traveled to Ming China.
Chinese historical accounts record rulers from Sulu visiting the Ming court.
On the return journey, one of them — commonly identified in English as the East King of Sulu — became ill and died in Dezhou.
He never returned home.
Instead, he was buried here.
More than 600 years later, his tomb remains in Dezhou.
So Elaine and I went looking for it.
The Tomb of the Sulu King
[INSERT DAD/ELAINE PHOTO — SULU KING’S TOMB]
The site is known in Chinese as:
苏禄王墓 — Sūlù Wáng Mù
The Tomb of the Sulu King.
For travelers accustomed to thinking of historical China as relatively inward-looking, this is a wonderful reminder that China’s relationships with the outside world have a very long history.
The early Ming period saw diplomatic missions, tribute exchanges and maritime connections linking China with societies across Asia.
The Yongle era was also the age of the famous voyages associated with Zheng He (郑和).
And here in Dezhou is a very human trace of that wider world:
a Southeast Asian ruler who traveled to China, died on the journey home, and was buried on Chinese soil.
Wait — Why Was a Southeast Asian Sultan Visiting Ming China?
🐇
Good question.
And this is exactly how the rabbit holes start. 😂
The early fifteenth century was a period of active diplomatic interaction between the Ming court and rulers across maritime Southeast Asia.
Envoys traveled.
Gifts were exchanged.
Political relationships were established.
Trade and diplomacy overlapped.
The Sulu delegation of 1417 was part of this much larger world of contact.
For a modern international traveler, this matters because it challenges an overly simple picture of Chinese history.
China was not developing in complete isolation from its neighbors.
People were moving across Asia.
Ideas moved.
Goods moved.
Diplomatic missions moved.
And sometimes those journeys left physical traces in unexpected places.
Like Dezhou.
The Family That Stayed Behind
The story becomes even more interesting after the Sulu ruler’s death.
Members of his entourage and family remained in China to care for the tomb and maintain the rites associated with it.
Over generations, descendants became part of the local community.
That gives the site another layer of significance.
This isn’t simply:
“A foreign king died here once.”
It became a story of long-term cultural contact and human connection between China and Southeast Asia.
Standing at the tomb, that six-century connection feels much more tangible than reading the words “China–Southeast Asia relations” in a textbook.
And that is precisely why we travel to historical places.
History becomes geography.
And geography becomes personal.
A Southeast Asian Parent Standing at the Tomb
[INSERT DAD PHOTO AT SULU KING’S TOMB]
For me, there was another layer to visiting this place.
I’m a Southeast Asian parent traveling China with my daughter.
And here we were, standing at the burial place of a Southeast Asian ruler who had traveled to China more than six hundred years earlier.
Different world.
Different circumstances.
Completely different journey.
But suddenly the geographical distance between China and Southeast Asia didn’t feel quite so large.
Connections across this part of Asia are not something that began with modern tourism or modern diplomacy.
People have been crossing these seas and borders for centuries.
That is one of the things Deep China keeps teaching us.
Sometimes a place that looks completely local turns out to contain an international story.
🐇 Rabbit Hole Alert: The Grand Canal
Then Dezhou gives you another historical clue.
Why was this city important enough to appear repeatedly in China’s history?
Look at the map.
Dezhou sits along the historical route of China’s:
Grand Canal — 大运河 (Dàyùnhé)
Now another enormous story opens.
The Grand Canal connected northern and southern China across an extraordinary distance.
Its different sections developed over many centuries, but during the imperial period it became crucial for moving grain and other goods toward the political capitals of northern China.
Think about the problem emperors faced.
Political power was often concentrated in the north.
But enormous amounts of agricultural and economic production came from regions farther south.
How do you move resources across an empire of this scale?
Water.
The Grand Canal became one of the great infrastructural answers.
🍚 A Western Handrail: China’s Grand Canal Is Older Than You May Think
Western travelers may naturally think of famous European canals when they hear “canal.”
But China’s Grand Canal belongs to a completely different historical scale.
Parts of the canal system originated in antiquity, while major integration took place under the Sui dynasty (581–618) and later dynasties continued expanding, modifying and relying upon it.
Today, the Grand Canal is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
And Dezhou’s location along this enormous north–south transportation system helped shape the city’s historical importance.
So once again:
location explains history.
Dezhou wasn’t randomly sitting between Shandong and Beijing.
It occupied a strategic transportation corridor.
Then Dad Found an Antique Market 😂
[INSERT PHOTOS — DEZHOU ANTIQUE MARKET]
Not every Deep China rabbit hole requires an emperor.
Sometimes Dad simply sees an antique market.
And disappears. 😝
We visited one in Dezhou.
For us, markets like this are interesting even when we’re not planning to buy anything.
Old objects.
Coins.
Porcelain.
Calligraphy.
Furniture.
Books.
Bits and pieces whose history may be difficult to establish.
A very important warning:
Don’t assume something is genuinely antique simply because it’s being sold at an antique market.
Reproductions exist.
Attributions can be wrong.
And China has laws regulating the sale and export of cultural relics.
So treat an antique market primarily as a place to browse, observe and enjoy the atmosphere unless you genuinely know what you’re doing.
Dad likes rabbit holes.
Dad does not recommend accidentally creating a customs problem. 😂
And Then There Is 德州扒鸡
Okay.
Enough history.
Time for chicken. 😂
You cannot write about Dezhou without mentioning:
德州扒鸡 — Dézhōu pájī
Dezhou braised chicken.
This is one of the city’s best-known culinary specialties and has a long-standing reputation within China.
The chicken is seasoned and slowly cooked until the meat becomes extremely tender and flavorful.
And naturally…
we ate it.
[INSERT DAD/ELAINE FOOD PHOTO — DEZHOU BRAISED CHICKEN]
This is another part of Deep China we don’t want to lose by becoming too obsessed with dynasties and archaeological sites.
History matters.
But travel should still taste good. 😂
A city isn’t only its monuments.
It’s also what people eat.
What they sell.
How the streets feel.
What Dad finds in the market.
And what Elaine has to wait for while Dad investigates something he has just spotted. 😝
Why Dezhou Worked So Well After Zibo
This is the itinerary logic we’d suggest to travelers interested in following our Shandong journey.
Rather than:
Beijing → Qufu → Beijing
or:
Beijing → Zibo → Beijing
consider building a slower journey:
Beijing → Qufu → Zibo/Linzi → Dezhou → Beijing
Each stop gives you something different.
Qufu
Confucius.
Ancient Lu.
One of the world’s most influential intellectual traditions.
↓
Zibo / Linzi
Ancient Qi.
Warring States competition.
Jixia and the world of competing ideas.
↓
Dezhou
Ming China’s international connections.
The Sulu story.
Grand Canal history.
Local food.
Everyday city life.
↓
Beijing
Return north.
Now you’ve traveled through thousands of years of Chinese history without simply jumping between famous tourist attractions.
🚄 How to Go: Zibo to Dezhou
For travelers following this route, rail is the obvious starting point.
High-speed services connect the Zibo area with Dezhou.
Depending on the service, you may be traveling toward:
Dezhou East Railway Station — 德州东站
This is the city’s principal high-speed rail station.
Exact schedules, train categories and fares change, so check the current timetable for your actual travel date using China’s official railway system or a reliable booking platform.
As a planning principle, Zibo → Dezhou is an easy rail progression northward, rather than returning south or backtracking unnecessarily.
That is one reason we like the route.
🚄 How to Go: Beijing to Dezhou
If you want to visit Dezhou independently rather than following our Shandong route, Beijing is also straightforward.
Look for high-speed trains from:
Beijing South — 北京南站
to:
Dezhou East — 德州东站
Because Dezhou sits on the major Beijing–Shanghai high-speed rail corridor, journey times can be surprisingly short.
Depending on the train, fast services can make the trip in roughly:
1–1½ hours
Some services take longer because of intermediate stops.
Ticket prices vary by train and class, so check current fares for your specific date.
For most travelers:
Second class is perfectly adequate.
🚕 Dezhou East Station → Sulu King’s Tomb
The high-speed station is not beside the historical site.
For an international traveler, the simplest onward option will generally be:
DiDi or taxi
Save the Chinese destination:
苏禄王墓
You can show this directly to the driver or paste it into your map/ride-hailing app.
Allow sufficient time for travel across the city rather than assuming that arriving at 德州东 means you’ve arrived at the attraction.
That’s a common mistake when planning Chinese high-speed rail journeys.
The train may be fast.
The station-to-attraction journey still exists. 😂
How Long Should You Stay?
If Dezhou is part of a larger Shandong journey, we’d suggest:
1 night
for most travelers.
That gives you enough time to:
- visit the Sulu King’s Tomb;
- explore some of Dezhou’s Grand Canal story;
- wander around the city;
- investigate an antique market if that’s your thing;
- and, obviously, eat 德州扒鸡.
If you are particularly interested in Grand Canal history or local culture, two nights would allow a slower experience.
But we wouldn’t add Dezhou merely to increase the number of cities on your itinerary.
Come because one of these stories interests you.
Who Should Visit Dezhou?
Dezhou is particularly interesting if:
- you’ve already visited China’s major headline destinations;
- you’re traveling through Shandong;
- you’re interested in China–Southeast Asia historical connections;
- Grand Canal history interests you;
- you enjoy cities with relatively few international tourists;
- you like discovering local food;
- or you’ve already been stung by ChinaTravelBUG and apparently now consider a 600-year-old Sulu tomb a perfectly reasonable reason to get off a train.
😂🐞
If that’s you…
welcome.
There’s probably no turning back now.
🐞 Uh-Oh. Another Rabbit Hole.
You came to Dezhou because Dad mentioned a Sultan.
Now you know:
Sulu rulers were sending missions to Ming China.
Which raises:
What did Ming China know about Southeast Asia?
🐇
Then:
What was Zheng He doing around the same period?
🐇
Then:
How did China’s maritime diplomacy work?
🐇
Then:
Why was the Grand Canal so important if China also had maritime trade?
🐇🐇🐇
Oh dear.
You were supposed to be eating chicken.
😂
This is how ChinaTravelBUG gets you.
ChinaTravelBUG’s Take
Dezhou isn’t a city we’d tell every first-time international traveler to add to a ten-day China itinerary.
That’s not what Deep China is about.
But it worked beautifully as part of our journey back toward Beijing from Zibo.
We found:
a Southeast Asian story inside a Chinese city,
a connection to one of the world’s great historic waterways,
an antique market,
and a very good chicken.
More importantly, Dezhou reminded us of something we keep discovering as we travel China:
Chinese history has never existed in isolation from the rest of Asia.
People traveled.
Rulers sent envoys.
Goods moved.
Ideas crossed borders.
Families stayed.
And sometimes those connections survive in places where an international traveler would never think to look.
That’s why Elaine and I got off the train.
And that’s why we’re glad we did.
