In Jinling's Most Beautiful Season, Step into a 'Noble Estate' at the Eastern Foot of Purple Mountain and Embark on a Luxurious Journey

The ancient bright city intoxicates the azure sky, white clouds tread early on the autumn wind. Once again in the cycle of seasons, it's Jinling at its most enchanting time. Each year at this season, Nanjing truly becomes 'Jinling', the whole city clad in golden armor.

Purple Mountain in the east of Nanjing is the symbol of the city. The cultural landscape dotted with historical sites and the natural scenery of gilded foliage all over the mountain make this mountain truly live up to its name of 'Purple Mountain' every autumn. From the 'golden necklace' of Meiling Palace to the colorful forests embracing the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and Music Terrace, it's enough to make one sigh: 'The long Jinling dream lingers in that bay.'

And at the foot of Niushou Mountain in the southwest of the ancient city, the brand-new Jinling Town lets people travel through history, dreaming back to the Six Dynasties, feeling a different charm of Jinling, becoming another fashionable reason to visit Nanjing.

However, if amidst such beautiful scenery, one can find an excellent hotel to stay, it might add a touch of brilliance to Nanjing's golden autumn journey. Without leaving Purple Mountain, at its eastern foot, there is such a resort—Suning Zhongshan International Golf Hotel.

This is not my first stay at this hotel, and because it is one of my favorites in the city of Jinling, I am willing to entrust my most beautiful moments to it. Moreover, this time it has fresh new ways to play.

This hotel, steeped in a long history, can trace its origins to the 'Jiaochang' (suburban golf course) built in 1929 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China. In 2006, Nanjing Suning Sofitel Zhongshan Golf Hotel opened, turning a new page in Nanjing's golf hotel industry. From April 2019, it underwent a landmark renovation and upgrade lasting nearly two years. On December 26, 2020, Suning Real Estate Group brought the luxury and legendary service of Zhongshan Golf Hotel to Jinling. As an elegant luxury self-managed brand under Suning Group, the hotel boasts a unique encircling golf course and a private, classical manor-style landscape.

In the nearly two years since its opening, the hotel's quality has been highly recognized and its reputation has been rising, yet all this has not stopped the hotel's pace of development. This year, it timely launched the 'Zhongshan Funland Nature Camp', an outdoor camp providing one-stop service.

The camp is embraced by the golf course, featuring differently styled tents named after constellations, camping items, and the trendy Glamping Van. It also comes with various barbecue tools and ingredients, solving the need of those guests who 'want to camp but fear the trouble' in one fell swoop. Since its launch, it has become an instant hit, with tents hard to come by.

Right next to the camp is Nanjing Zhongshan International Golf Course, a 27-hole standard course including an 18-hole night-lit course, laid out according to Zhongshan's terrain. From the floor-to-ceiling windows of the hotel lobby bar, looking across the landscape pool, one can catch a glimpse of its greens, making many guests eager to play.

Since you are at a golf hotel, how can you not experience golf? The hotel specially provides golf experience vouchers for in-house guests, allowing them to try the joy of swinging a club here.

Although it is a driving range, it is equipped with brand-new automatic ball feeders. Practice sessions are charged per hour, and with the automatic feeder, it greatly improves the efficiency of your swings, making it very suitable for beginners! I practiced for one hour here with great satisfaction and a small sense of achievement.

Even if you don't play golf, the hotel's other recreational facilities allow guests who live long in the city to get moving and discover more of the true meaning of healthy living during the vacation. The hotel's indoor heated swimming pool, with its beautiful glass dome, lets sunlight stream in as if bathing in nature, and the supporting facilities are quite complete.

The hotel's gym provides efficient workout plans for fitness enthusiasts through quick and focused training programs, equipped with advanced Life Fitness equipment, open 24/7, convenient and effective.

The hotel also fully considers the needs of families with children. The huge kids' activity center is well-equipped, and little ones can stay here for the better part of a day—even an adult like me would love to join in and play!

All these wonderful things stem from this luxurious resort manor nestled at the foot of Purple Mountain, in the treasured land of Zhongshan. Now, let's start from the beginning to know it and fall in love with it.

The two-year renovation was led by the renowned design firm CCD, using natural understatement to highlight the essence of luxury. Strolling through the elegant manor, passing under the neatly trimmed trees on both sides, you see the understated luxury of European-style architecture, a calm and composed atmosphere—you are entering a manor of a prosperous era.

Here, there is a distinctive arrival experience. At the hotel entrance, a heavy bronze gate reflects the elegance of a manor. The concierge gracefully opens the car door for guests, and pushes the unique custom-made 'S' handle, ushering in a service experience of noble privilege.

Starting from the welcome lobby, the spatial aesthetics tailored for the hotel by CCD gradually unfold. The handcrafted crystal chandelier custom-made in the Czech Republic and the towering black bookcases on both sides outline a profound charm full of aristocratic sense. The black wood grain materials, golden ceilings, and custom stone mosaics on the floor perfectly combine European intricacy with modern luxurious materials. The overall space uses black and gold tones, recreating the grandeur of Nanjing as the imperial capital of Jinling.

Hidden behind the welcome lobby is the hotel's lobby lounge, where there is both European elegance interpreted with modern techniques and a warm, cozy homely feel. The classic furniture arrangement, Art Deco-style fabrics, and the perfect interplay of flowers and crystal chandeliers make this space even more charming.

But the most wonderful thing here is the view of the lush green golf course outside the panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, cleverly reflected by the landscape pool, creating a magical interplay of light and shadow at different times of the day.

The 262 guest rooms are named 'Muyue,' 'Yanlan,' 'Jingxi,' 'Jiyun,' etc., all drawn from ancient poetry, with corresponding terms echoing the room views: 'Yue' (mountain) for mountain view, 'Jing' (scenery) referring to golf, and so on, exuding a calligraphic charm.

Guest rooms start from 51 square meters, with extremely generous space, adopting a design style that merges oriental classical aesthetics with European elegance. The unique room layout feels refreshing and distinctive.

Upon opening the door, you are greeted by a sitting couch and a clever umbrella storage box, bringing a homely comfort to every guest. The unique island-style foyer also enhances the privacy of the room.

On both sides of the foyer are an open wash space and a wardrobe. The independent dressing table and the square bathtub directly opposite become unique highlights of this guest room.

The color scheme of the room continues the black wood grain and gold details from the lobby, overall dignified, elegant, and gracefully composed, as if a replica of a grand residence from the Republican era.

The room incorporates white lacquered panels and warm-toned linen furniture, with touches of orange accents, creating a comfortable and tranquil homey feeling. Especially when the sun sets, the sunlight pouring into the room fills it with an intoxicating sense of serenity.

Details such as the Kallista bath series (a White House-favored brand under Kohler), a well-stocked complimentary minibar, a golf-themed turndown gift, and Hermès toiletries in the room type I stayed in all greatly enhance the stay experience.

If I were to recommend one room type, the Jiyun Terrace Room would definitely be the first choice. Open the balcony door and step onto the terrace—the entire golf course comes into full view, a feast of interwoven lush greenery!

If the guest rooms, with their blend of East and West styles and comfortable luxury, provide spiritual satisfaction, then the hotel's four restaurants satisfy the physical pleasures of guests from different dimensions, truly achieving ease for both body and mind.

The Lanting Buffet Restaurant next to the lobby welcomes guests with four towering blue screens, designed with the concept of Nanjing's ancient streets where time and space intersect. Seats by the window also offer a view of the golf course on one side.

Besides providing buffet breakfast, the buffet feast served here every evening has become a benchmark for quality hotel buffets in Nanjing, packed every day.

Chefs at the open cooking stations prepare various Chinese and Western delicacies on the spot using high-quality ingredients, from large dishes like freshly grilled oysters, foie gras, and tomahawk steak, to staples and desserts such as claypot rice, durian pizza, and ice jelly, among others. The Chinese hot dishes mainly feature Jiangsu-Zhejiang cuisine, authentic and delicious. Moreover, delicacies like Peking duck slices and cheese pasta are delivered tableside. All kinds of seafood, juices, beverages, desserts, and fruits are also freely available, making one regret having such a small appetite.

The exquisite Huaiyang cuisine restaurant Zijin Pavilion embodies the beauty of order in traditional China, calm and majestic. It uses delicate screen partitions to create a sense of layering and ritual. In terms of color, it extracts the hue of Nanjing’s green glazed tiles and uses royal blue as an accent, creating a refined new taste with a strong oriental charm. Meanwhile, Chinese red is used in the furniture, and the corridor walls are adorned with a series of continuous copper art decorations, blending East and West and offering a collision of European flair.

The restaurant has seven private dining rooms with different decorative styles. The most opulent 'Jinling' room, in addition to directly facing the courtyard’s natural scenery, features walls decorated with 'cloisonné' accents, adding an artistic touch to the ambience, allowing diners to savor the 'Chinese dining' culture that takes aesthetics to the extreme.

The restaurant specializes in creative Huaiyang cuisine, preparing seasonal fresh ingredients using Huaiyang techniques and integrating trendy new flavors, allowing people to find novelty within the classics, making each visit a fresh experience. The signature crab roe braised fish brain is a labor-intensive dish rarely found elsewhere. Fish brain is an ingredient that easily produces a fishy smell and is often rejected, but this dish is fragrant and enticing, each spoonful satisfying, showcasing excellent culinary skills. The golden crispy roast pork is also a must-order dish. With an arch-like golden crispy skin coated with a light dusting of powdered sugar, it transforms a dish that might otherwise be greasy into a crisp texture and rich meaty aroma on the tip of the tongue—one piece is not enough!

Other recommended dishes include slow-cooked beef with truffle powder, brocade pouch crab delight, and more—none of them will disappoint.

In the Milano Western Restaurant, walk through a corridor where time and space converge, and feel the collision of Italian style. Here, a rugged, nostalgic Italian atmosphere pervades; the arch design is inspired by the natural arch—a collapsed limestone cave on the eastern coast of Capri. The menu encompasses a variety of Western classics, among which the must-try is the special Italian pizza, baked to perfection with a rich, fragrant aroma.

A must-mention is the renowned Japanese restaurant Kurogi, famous as 'the hardest-to-book restaurant in Tokyo' and listed among the 'Top Ten Luxury Restaurants in Shanghai' as the 'premier Japanese cuisine restaurant.' This is its second overseas branch after Kurogi Shanghai. The restaurant is tucked within the classical manor, featuring a Japanese garden design—zen-like, elegant, and tranquil. The stone paths and landscaped tile walls in the courtyard offer poetry and comfort, with intentional empty spaces to cultivate the spirit, embodying the designer's imagination of this space.

In this most beautiful golden autumn season, with 'Jinling's elegance, a crouching tiger and coiling dragon at the foot of Purple Mountain,' such a 'resort manor' that seamlessly blends into the most beautiful Jinling—what reason do you have to refuse? Set off now! It deserves a few days for you to truly experience it!

—— End ——