Nanjing

Nanjing, People's Republic of China

A willow-lined causeway curves across Xuanwu Lake toward its islands, with Purple Mountain glowing in the distance at golden hour.

Nanjing, a former imperial and republican capital on the Yangtze, pairs old city walls, lakes and Purple Mountain tombs with a busy modern core.

The place

Nanjing sits on the lower Yangtze in eastern China. It is the capital of Jiangsu province and home to about 9.3 million people. The ground is flat river plain, about 15 metres above sea level, yet the skyline is broken by Purple Mountain to the east and by lakes around which the old city grew. Two waters shaped the place: the Yangtze, which brought trade and a busy inland port, and its tributary the Qinhuai, which threads through the old southern quarter where lanterns and boat landings cluster. Nanjing is counted among China's four ancient capitals, and it served as the seat of dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments from the third century until 1949. That history is not shut away in museums. It shows in surviving stretches of city wall, in tree-lined avenues from the Republican period, in imperial tombs on the hills and in a student population that keeps cafés and bookshops busy. The modern city is large and fast. Towers fill the central business district, the subway is the easiest way to get about, and high-speed trains reach Shanghai in little over an hour. Distances between sights are real, so a day works best when planned by area: lakeside and Purple Mountain in one, the Qinhuai and Confucius Temple district in another. Summers are hot and humid, winters damp and cold, and spring and autumn are the kindest seasons. Crowds build at the mausoleum, around Confucius Temple in the evening and everywhere during national holidays.

Its story

Nanjing's past runs well back beyond the city's recorded name. Neolithic communities lived here, and a cemetery at the Beiyinyangying site, close to today's urban core, held polished stone tools, jade and agate, hinting at contact with the Lake Tai region. In the second millennium BCE the Hushu culture marked the Nanjing–Zhenjiang corridor, and at Xijie, on the south bank of the Qinhuai, archaeologists uncovered a fortified settlement ringed by ditches. The city's founding is dated to 495 BCE. From the third century onward a succession of dynasties and kingdoms ruled from here, and poets of the Tang and Song periods came to write elegies for the courts that had gone before. Under the Ming dynasty Nanjing was an imperial capital again, and the great city wall and the Jiangnan examination hall, where candidates gathered from across the region, belong to that world. In the early republican era the city became the capital of the Republic of China, which gave it Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum on Purple Mountain and the Presidential Palace. It also suffered terribly under Japanese occupation in the war years, and a memorial hall records those events; visitors who go tend to leave quietly. After 1949 Nanjing became a provincial capital, an industrial centre and a university city, and it grew into the metropolis of today.

What to see

Culture

Nanjing has long drawn writers, scholars and officials, and that shows in how the city thinks of itself. Poets gathered here in the Tang and Song periods to reflect on earlier courts, and in the Ming and Qing eras Nanjing hosted the imperial examination for the Jiangnan region, so candidates and ideas arrived from across the lower Yangtze. Today the universities keep that tradition alive, and the city has a noticeable café, gallery and bookshop scene. Performing arts are strong too, with dance companies, a Peking opera institute and the Nanjing Xiaohonghua troupe all based here. Contemporary art has a home at the Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, where exhibitions sit alongside academic research. Daily life has a river-city rhythm: older residents play cards and exercise in the parks at dawn, families stroll the lake edge at weekends, and the Qinhuai district comes alive at night. Nanjing's modern history, particularly the Republican period and the war years, is treated seriously by locals, and memorials are places of real feeling rather than simple attractions. Conversation tends to be warm once started, and a few words of Mandarin go a long way, because English is patchy outside the main hotels and tourist sites. Dress modestly and keep your voice low at Jiming Temple and the memorial sites, and do not photograph worshippers or mourners at close range without asking.

What to wear

Nanjing's traditional textile is yunjin, or cloud brocade, a heavy silk woven with gold and coloured threads that once made robes for the imperial court. It is still made by specialist weavers and seen in museum displays, scarves and formal gifts. The qipao, a close-fitting silk or cotton dress, is linked to the Republican era in the city and appears at weddings and photo shoots. Around Confucius Temple, young people often hire Hanfu-style costume for the day, which gives the lanes a theatrical look at weekends. Everyday dress is much plainer: students and office workers favour jeans, trainers, light jackets and padded coats in winter, with umbrellas ready for sudden showers. Smart casual is normal for restaurants. Visitors should dress for the climate first. Summer is hot and humid, so light, breathable cotton or linen and a hat suit best, while winter needs proper layers, since the damp cold feels sharper than the temperature suggests. Spring and autumn call for a light jacket. Comfortable, closed shoes matter because the mausoleum steps, the city wall and the park paths all involve long walking. At Buddhist temples and memorials, cover shoulders and knees and avoid loud slogans on clothing. A compact umbrella is useful in every season.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. March–April and October–November, when the air is mild and the lakes and Purple Mountain are at their best. Cherry blossom around Jiming Temple draws spring crowds. Summer is hot and humid, and winter is damp and cold.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Fly to Nanjing's airport, then take the S1 subway line to Nanjing South Railway Station (about half an hour), or an airport express bus towards the North or South Railway Station. From Shanghai, a high-speed G train from Hongqiao station takes about 75 minutes.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

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