The Beautiful Land of Six Dynasties, Imperial Prefecture of Jinling: A Six-Day Tour of Nanjing
D1: Yuhuatai Scenic Area is divided into the Martyrs' Cemetery Area, Scenic Spots and Historical Sites Area, Yuhua Stone Cultural Area, Yuhua Tea Cultural Area, and Ecological Forest Area. This was the execution ground for martyrs of the New Democratic Revolution, with the death toll reaching 100,000. The eternal flame beneath the monument symbolizes that the martyrs' deaths are weightier than Mount Tai. The Martyrs' Memorial Hall displays historical materials and artifacts from the Great Revolution to the liberation of Nanjing.
Recommended rating: four stars
The Dabao'en Temple Ruins Park is mainly composed of four sub-projects: Dabao'en Temple, the Glazed Pagoda, the Ruins Park, and the Ming-Qing Street Block. The Glazed Pagoda is the iconic structure of the park; climbing it offers a distant view of Nanjing city. The core area includes the Ruins Protection Zone, the Dabao'en Temple Site Museum, and the Dabao'en Temple itself, where the sacred relics are enshrined, and national treasures such as the stone casket, iron casket, Seven-Jewel Ashoka Pagoda, gold coffin, and silver inner coffin unearthed from the underground palace are exhibited protectively. The thousand-year-old underground palace and galleries at the Dabao'en Temple site are shown.
Recommended rating: five stars
The Wang Dao & Xie An Memorial Hall is located in Wuyi Lane, a thematic museum displaying the culture and arts of the Six Dynasties and the family histories of the Wang and Xie families. The hall features buildings such as the Laiyan Hall and Jianjin Tower, showing precious cultural relics from the Six Dynasties period. During the Eastern Jin period, Wuyi Lane was a residential area for high-ranking officials. The noble families Wang and Xie, represented by figures Wang Dao and Xie An, lived here. Tang Dynasty poet Liu Yuxi once visited and wrote the timeless poem: 'Wild grasses and flowers by the Vermilion Bird Bridge, / At sunset the mouth of Wuyi Lane grows dark. / The swallows that once nested in the halls of Wang and Xie, / Now fly into the homes of common folk.'
Recommended rating: three stars
Fuzi Miao (Confucius Temple), built in the Song Dynasty, lies beside Gongyuan Street on the north bank of the Qinhuai River. Originally a place to worship Confucius, it was destroyed and rebuilt many times. It is one of China's four great Confucian temples, alongside those in Beijing, Qufu, and Jilin. The temple complex consists of the Confucian Temple in front and the Academy in the rear, symmetrically arranged from south to north, forming a central axis of Confucian culture.
Recommended rating: four stars
Jiangnan Examination Hall, located in the southeast corner of Nanjing, was one of the largest imperial examination venues in ancient China, the place where scholars in southern China were selected. It is also one of the three major ancient architectural complexes in the Fuzi Miao area. The China Imperial Examination Museum uses relics, technology, and other media to introduce the origin, transformation, and influence of the Chinese imperial examination system, and displays examination halls from ancient times.
Recommended rating: five stars
Laomendong Historical and Cultural Block is an ancient place name in the Laocheng South area of Nanjing, located south of Tongzhaoxiang near Fuzi Miao. Historically, Laocheng South was a prosperous commercial and residential district of the city. Now, traditional-style wooden buildings with horse-head walls have been reconstructed in the old manner to replicate the original appearance of Laocheng South.
Recommended rating: four stars
D2: In the Gulou District, along Yihe Road and Ninghai Road, there is a cluster of old residential buildings. These are garden villas once belonging to embassies, military and political figures, wealthy individuals, and foreigners. Over 200 buildings are still well-preserved, including notable ones like the former site of the U.S. Embassy. This area was once known as the 'Embassy District' or 'Modern Architecture Showcase.' Strolling among these century-old buildings blending Chinese and Western styles, one feels transported back to a time of transition and dreamlike elegance.
Recommended rating: four stars
Below is Nanjing Normal University.
Below is Nanjing University.
The Nanjing Drum Tower is a grand structure rarely seen in China. It has two stories: the lower part is a vaulted, beamless city-gate style, while the upper part features a double-eaved, four-sloped roof with elaborate carvings and painted beams, very spectacular. The current base dates from the Ming Dynasty, while the upper structure was rebuilt in the late Qing. In 1685, a huge stele was erected on the tower, changing the drum tower into a stele tower, but locals still call it the Drum Tower.
Recommended rating: three stars
Below is Xinjiekou.
D3: Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum is built on the mountain slope, arranged from south to north on a central axis, with the overall layout resembling an alarm bell. At the entrance square stands a tall granite archway inscribed with 'Philanthropy' in gold characters. Passing through the Philanthropy Arch and proceeding along the tomb path, you reach the mausoleum gate topped with blue glazed tiles, with 'The World is Common to All' inscribed above the gate.
Recommended rating: four stars
The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is located in the vast forest between the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and Linggu Temple. It is a classical building imitating a Qing Dynasty lama temple. Built in 1934 with funds raised by the Chinese Buddhist Association, it was specifically constructed to collect items belonging to Sun Yat-sen, also known as the Sutra Pagoda.
Recommended rating: three stars
Linggu Temple was originally built by Emperor Wu of Liang in the Southern Dynasties as 'Kaishan Jingshe' to honor the famous monk Baozhi. During the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang personally named it 'Linggu Zen Temple' and conferred it as the 'Number One Zen Forest under Heaven,' making it one of the three great Buddhist monasteries of the Ming era. Inside are the Life-releasing Pond, Vajra Hall, Heavenly King Hall, Beamless Hall (Wuliang Hall), Five Directions Hall, Pilu Hall, Guanyin Pavilion, and other halls, with Baogong Pagoda behind. In the Xuanzang Memorial Hall, a seated statue of Master Xuanzang is enshrined; in front of the statue, the memorial pagoda contains a parietal-bone relic of Xuanzang.
Recommended rating: three stars
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, located in the Zhongshan Scenic Area, is the tomb of Ming Dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma. The mausoleum is grand and magnificent, representing the achievements of early Ming architecture and stone carving, and directly influenced the design of imperial tombs in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Recommended rating: four stars
Xuanwu Lake, anciently called Sangbo and Houhu, lies at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain. It is one of the largest imperial garden lakes in China and, together with Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing and West Lake in Hangzhou, is known as one of the 'Three Great Lakes of Jiangnan.' The lake is divided into five islets, dotted with many historical sites.
Recommended rating: three stars
D4: Meiling Palace is located on Xiaohongshan Hill east of Ming Xiaoling in Nanjing. Built in 1931, it is also known as Xiaohongshan Official Residence. Because Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling often vacationed here, it is called 'Meiling Palace.' It is one of the most spectacular and elegant buildings in Nanjing. At the entrance is a Buick car given to Soong Mei-ling by the United States. The building has a basement and three floors above ground, arranged largely as the couple lived. If you look at an aerial view, the tree-lined Lingyuan Road resembles a necklace, the circular road on the hill the pendant, and Meiling Palace the emerald on the pendant—reportedly a design idea proposed by Soong Mei-ling.
Recommended rating: four stars
The Ming Xiaoling Museum is a thematic museum dedicated to Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, World Heritage site Ming Xiaoling, and Ming culture in Nanjing. The new building adopts the architectural style of Jiangnan in the Ming and Qing periods, with white walls, gray tiles, carved wooden doors, sloping roofs, horse-head walls, and lattice windows. These elements harmonize with the surrounding cultural relics like the Dajinmen and Square City and the lush natural environment, echoing the 'harmony between man and nature' concept of Ming Xiaoling from 600 years ago.
Recommended rating: four stars
Nanjing Museum is the second largest museum in China after the National Museum of China. It comprises six halls: History, Special Exhibitions, Digital, Art, Republic of China, and Intangible Cultural Heritage. The History Hall displays relics chronologically from ancient times to the Ming and Qing Dynasties; walking through it feels like traversing 5,000 years of Jiangsu's civilization. Treasures include a dinosaur skeleton from prehistoric times, gold-threaded jade suits, silver-threaded suits, and a gilded Tibetan-style pagoda.
Recommended rating: five stars
The Ming Imperial Palace, consisting of the imperial city and the palace city, was a grand complex that served as the blueprint for Beijing's Forbidden City. It served as the imperial palace during the reigns of Hongwu, Jianwen, and Yongle in the early Ming, until the Yongle Emperor moved the capital to Beijing. Afterwards, it fell into neglect; now only the foundations of stone components remain buried underground.
Recommended rating: three stars
The Memorial Hall of the Communist Party Delegation Meiyuan New Village is an open street area. From south to north, the sites include the Historical Materials Exhibition Hall of the Nanjing Negotiations between the KMT and CPC, a bronze statue, a library, and the former offices of the delegation (No. 30, No. 35, No. 17 Meiyuan New Village). The exhibition hall adopts a traditional courtyard layout, with distinctive elements like dormer windows and stone openwork screens. The display is divided into 'Meiyuan Storms' and 'Meiyuan Spirit,' presenting the history of the KMT-CPC negotiations.
Recommended rating: four stars
Below is the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.
D5: The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders is built over a mass grave. It is a thematic memorial hall that uses historical materials, architecture, sculpture, film, and other comprehensive methods to fully display the tragedy. The square features a cross-shaped marker recording the time, a 'Wailing Wall' inscribed with victims' names, a relief depicting history, a large stone statue of a mother, and the 'Mass Grave' site.
Recommended rating: four stars
The Jiangning Imperial Silk Manufacturing Museum is a modern museum built on the original site of the Jiangning Weaving Bureau. 'Jiangning Weaving' was an official institution in the Qing Dynasty that produced textiles for the imperial court and government. From the Kangxi to the Qianlong period, it gradually became the southern touring palace for the emperor, reaching an unprecedented scale. The institution existed for over 260 years, witnessing the Qing Dynasty's trajectory from prosperity to decline. The museum houses ancient dragon robes and cheongsams collected from overseas, and Tang Dynasty cloud brocade is particularly precious.
Recommended rating: five stars
The Presidential Palace in Nanjing is one of the largest and best-preserved architectural complexes from modern Chinese history, a major representative of Nanjing architecture and an important site of modern Chinese history, now converted into the China Modern History Site Museum. It features both traditional southern Chinese gardens and Western-influenced architecture from the modern era, with a history spanning over 600 years. Its origins trace back to the Guide Marquis Mansion and Han Prince Mansion of the early Ming. During the Qing, it served as the Jiangning Weaving Bureau and Liangjiang Governor's Office, and as an imperial palace when the emperors toured the south. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom made Tianjing (now Nanjing) its capital, the complex was expanded. On January 1, 1912, Dr. Sun Yat-sen was sworn in here as Provisional President, and it became the Presidential Palace, later known as the Nanjing Presidential Palace.
Recommended rating: five stars
Below is the 1912 Historical Block.
Below is the Dabao'en Temple.
D6: Below is ancient Jiming Temple.
Below is Southeast University.
The mist veils the cold water and the moon dims the sand, / Mooring at night by Qinhuai River near a tavern. Nanjing is a city full of mist and water vapor, a quality that pervades its cultural and historical sites. The gently flowing Qinhuai River has witnessed the vicissitudes of the Six Dynasties in Jinling. From the weathered Ming City Wall to the 'Number One Commercial Hub' Xinjiekou, from the Cultural Pivot at Fuzi Miao to the literary haven of Librairie Avant-Garde, the dragon crouches and tiger perches, now and then surpassing the past; the earth flips and heaven changes, evoking proud sentiments. Today, Nanjing carries its heavy history as it sets sail once more.
Recommended dishes and restaurants: Minguo Honggongguan (Laomendong shop), Nanjing Jingcai Guan (Deji Plaza shop), Meiyuan, Jiangnan Zao Chinese Restaurant, Wanguo Chun Chinese Restaurant, Jiangsu Jiujia, Xiao Chuniang Huaiyang Cai, Jiangnan Li, Fangmanting Haipai Cai, Laogulou Jiming Soup Dumplings, Su Yiming Crab Roe Soup Dumplings.
Note: The recommended ratings from low to high are: not recommended, three stars, four stars, five stars.
Travelogue Directory
1. D1: Yuhuatai – Jinling Dabao'en Temple – Qinhuai Scenic Belt (Wang Dao & Xie An Memorial Hall – Fuzi Miao – China Imperial Examination Museum – Laomendong)
2. D2: Yihe Road Mansion District – Nanjing Normal University – Nanjing University – Drum Tower Park – Xinjiekou
3. D3: Zhongshan Scenic Area (Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum – Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall – Linggu Temple – Ming Xiaoling) – Xuanwu Lake
4. D4: Zhongshan Scenic Area (Meiling Palace – Ming Xiaoling Museum) – Nanjing Museum – Ming Imperial Palace Ruins – Communist Party Delegation Meiyuan New Village Memorial Hall – Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge
5. D5: Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders – Jiangning Imperial Silk Manufacturing Museum – Presidential Palace – 1912 Historical Block – Dabao'en Temple
6. D6: Jiming Temple – Southeast University
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