Nanjing: Main Scenic Spots

..................................................................................................................................................................................... Gates of Nanjing .....................................................................................................................................................................................

Sections of the two Ming Dynasty walls that enclose Nanjing still stand today. The original gate spanned 35 miles (56 km) and was connected by 13 gates; the outer wall of rammed earth stretched 70 miles (112 km) around the first. Of the remaining city gates, Zhonghua Gate attracts the most visitors. It is located in the eastern part of the city near the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum.

..................................................................................................................................................................................... Drum Tower and the Bell Pavilion .....................................................................................................................................................................................

The Drum Tower in central Nanjing dates from 1382 A.D., when it adjoined the original city wall. The tower drums were used to signal the changing of direction for the night guards and to warn the city of impending danger. Chinese paintings, arts, and crafts are displayed on the ground floor. The Bell Pavilion (Da Zhong Ting), just to the northeast, houses a huge bell dating from 1388.

..................................................................................................................................................................................... Xuan Wu Lake .....................................................................................................................................................................................

This lake and surrounding park lie in the northern part of Nanjing just outside the city walls. (A 600-year-old gate can be seen from the park.) Causeways connect five islets, each named after a continent. There are cypresses and rock gardens, lotus flowers floating on the lake, and water buffalo grazing freely. The small Nanjing Zoo houses a Giant Panda in his very own pagoda.

..................................................................................................................................................................................... Yangtze River Bridge .....................................................................................................................................................................................

Known to the Chinese as the Changjiang Bridge, this double-decker engineering feat stretches 22,100 feet (6,736 m) across the Yangtze and takes an hour to cross by foot. Vehicles travel the four lanes of the upper span while rail traffic follows the lower. Foreign engineers said the bridge couldn't be built. Not listening, the Chinese celebrated its grand opening on December 23,1968.

..................................................................................................................................................................................... Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum .....................................................................................................................................................................................

Perhaps Nanjing's most famous landmark - the memorial to Dr. Sun Yat-sen - lies just outside the city's eastern gate (Zhongshan) on the way to the Zijin Mountains. Some 392 marble steps lead to the blue glazed-tile hall that houses the Father of the Chinese Republic.

.................................................................................................................................................................................... Zijin Observatory ....................................................................................................................................................................................

A spiraling road through the Purple and Gold Mountains (Zijin Shan) leads to China's third-largest ancient observatory (the others are in Beijing and Shanghai). The celestial instruments on display include a 3,000-year-old sundial and an armillary sphere that stands on two dragon-shaped legs. The Chinese Academy of Science operates a research center here.

.................................................................................................................................................................................... Tomb of Emperor Hong Wu ....................................................................................................................................................................................

The southern face of Zijin Mountain bears the tomb of the first Ming emperor, Hong Wu, a poor orphan who seized power in the 1300s and established his capital at Nanjing. Hong Wu came to be known in China as the Beggar King. The walkway to his unexcavated tomb passes beneath a Great Gate, over a small bridge, and onto a processional path guarded by a sereies of stone animals, wariors, and court officials, older than those lining the Sacred Way at the Ming Tombs in Beijing (and better to photograph since these are not surrounded by an iron fence). << Back to Nanjing Info