Welcome to Nanjing

Where is Nanjing?	Nanjing Local History	Nanjing Attractions
Nanjing Shopping	Nanjing Restaurants	Nanjing Bars and Clubs

Where is Nanjing?

Nanjing is situated at the east of China, on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River; it is 300 kilometres away from Shanghai, 1200 kilometres from Beijing, 1400 kilometres from Chongqing and it is part of Jiangsu Province. Its n eighbouring Areas are Zhejiang, Anhui, Shandong Provinces and Shanghai Municipality.

It is 6,516 sq km and the population is about 6.4 million. Nanjing belongs to the north subtropical monsoonal climate zone, four seasons clearly demarcated, cold winters and hot summers; with frost-free period of 237 days.

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Nanjing Local History

Nanjing is a famous ancient Chinese capital whose pre-eminence lasted for 10 dynasties. Consequently, it is one of the most historic cities in the world. It is also known as "Jinling", "Tianjing" and "Stone City". It was named Nanjing in the Ming dynasty and, just for good measure, it is also called "Ning" for short.

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Nanjing Attractions

Museums & places to visit

•  Ming City Walls: This city enjoyed great prosperity during the Ming Dynasty and has many remains dating back to this time, the greatest of which is probably this impressive 33km long structure. A section of this 14th century wall is open to walk along. Amazing to think that each brick of the wall is stamped with its place of origin, the building overseer's and the brickmakers names.

•  Chaotian Gong: Originally built as a place of learning for noblity, Heaven Dynasty Palace also houses a Confucius Temple and is currently used for a variety of purposes, one of which being Chinese opera performances.

•  Zhong Lou: A bell tower built in 1889 that houses – yes, you guessed it a bell, caste in 1338! The adjacent tearoom and garden are open in the evening for a pleasant breath of fresh air and a cup of tea.

Parks & Gardens:

•  Zhongshanling Yinyue Tai: Drift away on the lawn under the trees, while listening to the classical music at this open air music hall.

•  Zhiwu Yuan: the sprawling local botanical gardens with an amazing collection of over 3000 species, including uniquely Chinese medicinal plants and bonzai exhibitions.

•  Ming Xialing Fengjingqu: West of Zhongshan Ling is this peaceful park with a swimming lake, perfect for a dip on a hot afternoon after a picnic.

•  Xu Yuan: Changjiang Lu. Also known as the Balmy Garden, this park was the site of the royal residence during the Ming Dynasty. A classical Ming Garden is now situated in the grounds.

Festivals:

•  The Boat Festival takes place between April 4-6 in Qintong Town. This is a festival with a local flavour, besides boat races, farmers perform operas and lion and dragon dances on boats gathered together from surrounding towns and townships.

•  The Suzhou Silk Tourist Festival takes place between September 20-25 in Suzhou, which is known as the “Silk Capital”, being one of the most important silk producing areas in China. During the festival, silk garments exhibitions, trade talks and various recreational performances centred on silk are arranged.

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Nanjing Shopping

Gold Eagle International Shopping Centre: This centre is a huge mall and has all manner of goods on sale.

Central Mall: This is an enterprise with a long history and is a centre for shopping, sightseeing, catering, amusement and leisure. In addition to general merchandise, it handles production means, advertising, amusement and processing. It also has the business right to import and export goods.

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Nanjing Restaurants

Wanqing Lou: Fuzi Miao. Enjoy a set menu of dim sum, real value for money.

Sichuan Jiujia: Zhongshan Donglu. Local specialities with the pressed, salted duck a must, you have to have duck at least once when in China.

Lao Zhengxing: Gongyuan Jie. Pop in for a traditional meal in this vibe restaurant. Situated close to the Temple of Confucius, this would be a good place to refuel after a spot of sightseeing.

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Nanjing Bars & Clubs

Grouse Pub: Off Shanghai Lu. Popular with foreigners and always busy, situated opposite to the foreign student university residency- very convenient to all concerned…

Casablanca Disco: Xuanwu Hotel. If you want to loosen up your limbs after a cramped day tour this could be the place to do it.

City Hunter: Beijing Xi Lu - huge premises and decidedly Western in ambience, enjoy a drink and game of darts with the locals here.

Archers Direct for China Holidays, China Tours, China Cruises, China River Cruises & China Escorted Touring Holidays.

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