Central Nanjing

Ancient capital of six dynasties, with the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, the Confucius Temple and Qinhuai River, plane-tree avenues and duck blood vermicelli soup, a city with a Republican-era air.

Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu Province, on the south bank of the lower Yangtze, with Zhongshan (Purple Mountain) to the east and the Yangtze to the west. It was the capital of Eastern Wu, Eastern Jin, the Song, Qi, Liang and Chen dynasties, the Southern Tang, the early Ming, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Republic of China, and is known as the "ancient capital of six dynasties and metropolis of ten dynasties." The city covers 6,587 square kilometers; its main urban districts include Xuanwu, Qinhuai, Gulou and Jianye, and the old city enclosed by the Ming City Wall is still the heart of sightseeing. It has a subtropical monsoon climate with four distinct seasons: plum blossoms on Plum Blossom Hill and cherry blossoms at Jiming Temple in March, hydrangeas and the flower seas of Xuanwu Lake in April, and from late October to November the golden ginkgo and French plane trees on the Ming Xiaoling Stone Elephant Road and the red leaves of Qixia Mountain, the best season; July–August is the "furnace," sweltering and humid; December–February is cold and damp with occasional snow, when Ming Xiaoling in snow has its own charm. The main areas to explore fall into four: first, the Zhongshan scenic area (the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Ming Xiaoling, Linggu Temple, Meiling Palace), which takes most of a day; second, the old town's south (the Confucius Temple, Qinhuai River, Laomendong, the Zhonghua Gate Citadel, the Grand Bao'en Temple site), best from dusk into the night; third, the Republican-era route in the central and northern old town (the Presidential Palace, the Yihe Road mansions district, Jiming Temple, Xuanwu Lake, the Nanjing Museum, the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders); fourth, outside the city: Qixia Mountain, Niushou Mountain and the Tangshan hot springs. Getting there: Lukou International Airport (about 40 minutes to Nanjing South on Metro Line S1), Nanjing South is the high-speed rail hub (1 hour to Shanghai, 3.5 hours to Beijing), and Nanjing Station is near Xuanwu Lake. More than 12 metro lines reach most sights, and there are sightseeing buses inside the Zhongshan scenic area. We suggest 3 days: Day 1, the Zhongshan scenic area; Day 2, the Presidential Palace–Yihe Road–Jiming Temple–Xuanwu Lake–Nanjing Museum; Day 3, the Confucius Temple–Laomendong–Zhonghua Gate in the south of the old town, then a Qinhuai River painted-boat ride in the evening. Notes: the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, the Nanjing Museum, the Massacre Memorial Hall and others require advance real-name reservations (free); most museums close on Mondays; local foods include salted duck, duck blood vermicelli soup, soup dumplings and sweet osmanthus taro, and value is best around Laomendong and the Kexiang market.

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Itineraries