Things to do in Nánjīng
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Sìchuān Jiǔjiā
This is a terrific place to sample local dishes and rub shoulders with locals. Cheap, local dining is on the 1st floor: there's yánshuǐ yā (盐水鸭; Nánjīng pressed duck; Y10), dàndànmiàn (担担面; spicy noodles; Y3.50), chā shāo (叉烧; pork slices; Y10), tèsè tāngpā (煎饺; special soup dumplings; Y5) and jiānjiǎo (煎饺; fried dumplings; Y4.50), Suāncàiyú (酸菜鱼; fish-and-cabbage soup; Y28) and other Sìchuān dishes are on the smarter, much pricier 2nd floor. There's no English sign, so look for the bright-red building and the sign with dancing chilli peppers. Order and pay at the counter, and watch the chefs bustle around the kitchen.
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Míng Xiàolíng Tomb
On the southern slope of Zǐjīn Mountain is the 14th-century Míng Xiàolíng of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the only Ming emperor to be buried outside of Běijīng.The first section of the 618m avenue leading up to the mausoleum takes you along the 'spirit path', lined with stone statues of lions, camels, elephants and horses. There's also a mythical animal called a xiè zhì – which has a mane and a single horn on its head – and a qílín, which has a scaly body, a cow's tail, deer's hooves and one horn. These stone animals drive away evil spirits and guard the tomb.
As you enter the first courtyard, a paved pathway leads to a pavilion housing several stelae. The next ga…
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Sun Yatsen Mausoleum
Dr Sun is recognised by the communists and Kuomintang alike as the father of modern China. He died in Běijīng in 1925, leaving behind an unstable Chinese republic. He had wished to be buried in Nánjīng, no doubt with greater simplicity than the Ming-style tomb his successors built for him. Despite this, less than a year after his death, construction of this mausoleum began.
The tomb itself lies at the top of an enormous stone stairway – a breathless 392 steps. At the start of the path stands a dignified stone gateway built of Fújiàn marble, with a roof of blue-glazed tiles. The blue and white of the mausoleum symbolise the white sun on the blue background of the Kuomin…
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Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum
Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping, had a palace built in Nánjīng, but the building was completely destroyed when Nánjīng was taken in 1864.
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum (no English sign) was originally a garden complex, built in the Ming dynasty, which housed some of the Taiping officials before their downfall. There are displays of maps showing the progress of the Taiping army from Guǎngdōng, Hong Xiuquan's seals, Taiping coins, weapons and texts that describe the Taiping laws on agrarian reform, social law and cultural policy. Daily opera performances (Y70) are held in the evening.
Bus Y2 goes to the museum from the Ming Palace Ruins or Taiping …
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Nánjīng Museum
Just east of Zhōngshān Gate, the Nánjīng Museum displays artefacts from Neolithic times right through to the communist period…when it's not under renovation. The main building was constructed in 1933 in the style of a Ming temple with yellow-glazed tiles, red-lacquered gates and columns. While this building is being tinkered with, a small collection has moved to the Art Gallery (艺术陈列馆; Yīshùchénlièguǎn) building next door.
The limited offerings include a haphazardly arranged collection of porcelain, textiles, bronze ware, earthen ware and folk art. Some of the 500-plus-year-old porcelain, with striking colours, looks startlingly contemporary, while a l…
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Ming Palace Ruins
Wǔcháomén Park, in which the Ming Palace Ruins are scattered, is a peaceful but maudlin place. Built by Hongwu, the imperial palace is said to have been a magnificent structure after which the Imperial Palace in Běijīng was modelled. Anyone familiar with the layout of the Forbidden City will see similarities in the arrangement.
You can clamber into the ruined Meridian Gate (Wǔ Mén). It's not as magnificent as its namesake portal in the Forbidden City, but it, too, once had huge walls jutting out at right angles from the main structure, along with watchtowers. Today, the park is filled with locals practicing ballroom dancing (not quite what the emperor had in mind) to …
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Fūzǐ Temple
The Confucian Fūzǐ Temple, in the south of the city in a pedestrian zone, was a centre of Confucian study for more than 1500 years. This temple has been damaged and rebuilt repeatedly; what you see here today are newly restored, late-Qing-dynasty structures or wholly new buildings reconstructed in traditional style.
Across from the temple complex to the east is the Imperial Examinations History Museum. This is a recent reconstruction of the building where scholars once spent months – or years – in tiny cells studying Confucian classics in preparation for civil service examinations.
Today the area surrounding Fūzǐ Temple has become Nánjīng's main amusement quarter and …
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Memorial Hall of the Nánjīng Massacre
Hands down the best 'sight', if it can be called such, in Nánjīng. The unsettling exhibits at the Memorial Hall of the Nánjīng Massacre document the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers against the civilian population during the occupation of Nánjīng in 1937. They include pictures of actual executions – many taken by Japanese army photographers – and a gruesome viewing hall built over a mass grave of massacre victims. Detailed captions are in English, Japanese and Chinese, but the photographs, skeletons and displays tell their own haunting stories without words. At times it feels a little overwhelming but visitors might begin to understand that the massacre is deeply…
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Yangzi River Bridge
Opened on 23 December 1968, the Yangzi River Bridge is one of the longest bridges in China – a double-decker with a 4500m-long road on top and a train line below. Wonderful socialist realist sculptures can be seen on the approaches. Odds are that you'll probably cross the bridge if you take a train from the north. Probably the easiest way to get up on the bridge is to go through the Bridge Park. Catch bus 67 from Jiangsu Lu, northwest of the Drum Tower (鼓楼; Gǔlóu), to its terminus opposite the park.
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Zijin Observatory
Zijin Observatory. Situated near the top of Zijin Mountain, this observatory houses a remarkable collection of bronze Ming and Qing astronomical instruments once used by Jesuit missionaries. The mountain dominates the eastern fringes of Nánjīng and is a heavily forested area of parks and the site of most of Nánjīng's historical attractions. It's also one of the coolest places to escape from the steamy summers. A half-hour ride on a cable car carries you to the top of the 448m hill for a panoramic, if somewhat hazy, view of Nánjīng, or you can walk up the stone path that runs beneath the cable cars.
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Jiangsu Kunju Theatre
Excellent kūnjù or kūnqǔ opera performances are held here. This type of opera is a regional form of classical Chinese opera that developed in the Sūzhōu-Hángzhōu-Nánjīng triangle. It's similar to (but slower than) Beijing opera and is performed with colourful and elaborate costumes. The theatre is next to the eastern entrance of the Heaven Dynasty Palace. Take bus 4 from the Xinjiekou roundabout and get off two stops to the west.
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Presidential Palace
After the Taiping took over Nánjīng, they built the Mansion of the Heavenly King (Tiānwáng Fǔ) on the foundations of a former Ming-dynasty palace. This magnificent palace did not survive the fall of the Taiping, but there is a reconstruction and a classical Ming garden, now known as the Presidential Palace. Other buildings on the site were used briefly as presidential offices by Sun Yatsen's government in 1912 and by the Kuomintang from 1927 to 1949. Bus Y1 travels here.
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Jīmíng Temple
Close to the Ming walls and Xuánwǔ Lake (Xuánwǔ Hú) is the Buddhist Jīmíng Temple, which was first built in AD 527 during the Three Kingdoms period. It's been rebuilt many times since, but has retained the same name (which literally translates as 'rooster crowing') since 1387. This temple is the most active temple in Nánjīng and is packed with worshippers during the Lunar New Year. The seven-story tall Yàoshīfótǎ Pagoda (药师佛塔) offers views over Xuánwǔ Lake. Walk up to the rear of the temple and out onto the city wall. Tufts of grass poke out from between the stones and you can embark on a lengthy and fabulous jaunt east along the overgrown ramparts.…
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Heaven Dynasty Palace
Heaven Dynasty Palace, off Mochou Lu, was originally established in the Ming dynasty as a school for educating aristocratic children in court etiquette. Most of today's buildings, including the centrepiece of the palace, a Confucian temple, date from 1866 when the whole complex was rebuilt. Today the buildings are used for a range of endeavours, including an artisans' market. To reach the palace, take bus 4 from the Xinjiekou roundabout and get off two stops to the west.
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Nánjīng Treaty History Museum
Nánjīng Treaty History Museum houses a small collection of photographs, maps and newspaper clippings (no English captions) related to the Nánjīng Treaties. It's all rather yawn-worthy and probably only of interest to those keen on Chinese history. The museum is in Jinghai Temple (Jìnghǎi Sì) near the west train station, off Rehe Lu. To get there catch bus 16 from Zhongshan Lu.
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Zhonghua Gate
Zhonghua Gate. Some of the original 13 Ming city gates remain, including the Zhonghua Gate in the south and the Centre Gate (Zhōngyāng Mén) in the north. The city gates were heavily fortified; Zhonghua Gate has four rows of gates, making it almost impregnable, and could house a garrison of 3000 soldiers in vaults in the front gate building. Today some of these vaults are used as souvenir shops.
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Monument to the Crossing of the Yangzi River
Monument to the Crossing of the Yangzi River . In the northwest of the city on Zhongshan Beilu, this monument, erected in April 1979, commemorates the crossing of the river on 23 April 1949 and the capture of Nánjīng from the Kuomintang by the communist army. The characters on the monument are in the calligraphy of Deng Xiaoping. To get there catch bus 31 from Taiping Lu.
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Great Nánjīng Eatery
This old-style teahouse is a popular place to try yummy local snacks, such as yāxiě fěnsī tāng (鸭血粉丝汤; duck-blood soup with rice noodles) or dòufu nǎo (豆腐脑; salty custardlike tofu). There's no English sign, so look for the two large stone lions out the front and the wooden bridge (!) just behind the huge red double doors.
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Great Bell Pavilion
The Greta Bell Pavilion houses an enormous bell, cast in 1388 and originally situated in a pavilion on the western side of the Drum Tower. The present tower dates from 1889 and is a small two-storey pavilion with a pointed roof and upturned eaves. A garden and teahouse surround the tower and remain open late into the evening.
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Martyrs' Cemetery
This cemetery is in the south of the city. Once the Kuomintang's execution grounds, the communists turned it into a garden dedicated to revolutionaries who had lost their lives here. Along with a large monument, there's an English-captioned museum with a history of the period before 1949 and biographies of revolutionaries.
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Gold and Silver
This is one of many small restaurants around Nánjīng University that cook up inexpensive home-style Chinese dishes. There's an extensive English menu and the owner is very friendly. On the walls are hundreds of pictures of foreigners who've frequented the place over the years.
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Home Sweet Home
This modest café near the intersection of Guangzhou Lu and Shanghai Lu is a far cry from the ubiquitous coffee house chains sprouting up around the city. Choose from a wide range of coffees, pastries and sandwiches - the ice-mint coffee and brownies are a good afternoon pick-me-up.
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Drum Tower
Built in 1382, the tower lies roughly in the centre of Nánjīng, on a grassy roundabout. Drums were usually beaten to give directions for the change of the night watches and, in rare instances, to warn the populace of impending danger. Only one large drum remains today.
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Imperial Examinations History Museum
Imperial Examinations History Museum. This is a recent reconstruction of the building where scholars once spent months - or years - in tiny cells studying Confucian classics in preparation for civil service examinations. Catch bus 1 from Xinjiekou and get off at the last stop.
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Popular Bookmall
Popular Bookmall has English and Chinese maps in its travel section on the third floor. You'll also find versions of local maps at newspaper kiosks and street hawkers around Nánjīng. (Some of the upscale hotels give out free English-language maps of the city.)
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