Nanjing

Early history

Archaeological discovery shows that "Nanjing Man" lived in more than 500 thousand years ago. Zun, a kind of wine vessel, was found to exist in Beiyinyangying culture of Nanjing in about 5000 years ago.^[19] In the late period of Shang dynasty, Taibo of Zhou came to Jiangnan and established Wu state, and the first stop is in Nanjing area according to some historians based on discoveries in Taowu and Hushu culture.^[20] According to a legend quoted by an artist in Ming dynasty, Chen Yi, Fuchai, King of the State of Wu, founded a fort named Yecheng in today's Nanjing area in 495 BC.^[21] Later in 473 BC, the State of Yue conquered Wu and constructed the fort of Yuecheng (越城) on the outskirts of the present-day Zhonghua Gate. In 333 BC, after eliminating the State of Yue, the State of Chu built Jinling Yi (金陵邑) in the western part of present-day Nanjing.^[22] It was renamed Moling (秣陵) during reign of Qin Shi Huang. Since then, the city experienced destruction and renewal many times. The area was successively part of Kuaiji, Zhang and Danyang prefectures in Qin and Han dynasty, and part of Yangzhou region which was established as the nation's 13 supervisory and administrative regions in the 5th year of Yuanfeng in Han dynasty (106 BC). Nanjing was later the capital city of Danyang Prefecture, and had been the capital city of Yangzhou for about 400 years from late Han to early Tang.

Imperial China

A bixie sculpture at Xiao Xiu's tomb (AD 518). Stone sculpture of the southern dynasties is widely considered as the city's icon.^[23]

Yuan dynasty map of Nanjing.

Nanjing first became a state capital in AD 229, when the state of Eastern Wu founded by Sun Quan during the Three Kingdoms period relocated its capital to Jianye (建業), the city extended on the basis of Jinling Yi in AD 211.^[16] Although conquered by the Western Jin dynasty in 280, Nanjing and its neighboring areas had been well cultivated and developed into one of the commercial, cultural and political centers of China during the rule of East Wu.^[15] This city would soon play a vital role in the following centuries.

Shortly after the unification of the region, the Western Jin dynasty collapsed. First the rebellions by eight Jin princes for the throne and later rebellions and invasion from Xiongnu and other nomadic peoples that destroyed the rule of the Jin dynasty in the north. In 317, remnants of the Jin court, as well as nobles and wealthy families, fled from the north to the south and reestablished the Jin court in Nanjing, which was then called Jiankang (建康), replacing Luoyang.^[24] This marked the first time a Chinese dynastic capital moved to southern China.

During the period of North–South division, Nanjing remained the capital of the Southern dynasties for more than two and a half centuries. During this time, Nanjing was the international hub of East Asia.^[25] Based on historical documents, the city had 280,000 registered households.^[26] Assuming an average Nanjing household consisted of about 5.1 people, the city had more than 1.4 million residents.^[24]

A number of sculptural ensembles of that era, erected at the tombs of royals and other dignitaries, have survived (in various degrees of preservation) in Nanjing's northeastern and eastern suburbs, primarily in Qixia and Jiangning District.^[27] Possibly the best preserved of them is the ensemble of the Tomb of Xiao Xiu (475–518), a brother of Emperor Wu of Liang.^[28][29] The period of division ended when the Sui Dynasty reunified China and almost destroyed the entire city, turning it into a small town.

Map of Yingtian Fu under the Ming

The Śarīra pagoda in Qixia Temple. It was built in AD 601 and rebuilt in the 10th century.

The city of Nanjing was razed after the Sui dynasty took over it.^[30] It was renamed Shengzhou (昇州) in Tang dynasty and resuscitated during the late Tang.^[31] It was chosen as the capital and called Jinling (金陵) during the Southern Tang (937–976), a state that succeeded Wu state.^[32] It renamed Jiangning (江寧) in Northern Song dynasty and renamed Jiankang in Southern Song dynasty. Jiankang's textile industry burgeoned and thrived during the Song dynasty despite the constant threat of foreign invasions from the north by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty. The court of Da Chu, a short-lived puppet state established by the Jurchens, and the court of Song were once in the city.^[33][34][35] Song was eventually exterminated by the Mongol empire under the name Yuan and in the Yuan dynasty the city's status as a hub of the textile industry was further consolidated.^[36]

Zhonghua Gate is the south gate of the walled city of Nanjing. The city wall was built in the 14th century and is the longest in the world.

The first emperor of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang (the Hongwu Emperor), who overthrew the Yuan dynasty, renamed the city Yingtian, rebuilt it, and made it the dynastic capital in 1368. He constructed a 48 km (30 mi) long city wall around Yingtian, as well as a new Ming Palace complex, and government halls.^[37] It took 200,000 laborers 21 years to finish the project. The present-day City Wall of Nanjing was mainly built during that time and today it remains in good condition and has been well preserved.^[38] It is among the longest surviving city walls in China.^[39] The Jianwen Emperor ruled from 1398 to 1402.

It is believed that Nanjing was the largest city in the world from 1358 to 1425 with a population of 487,000 in 1400.^[40] In 1421, the Yongle Emperor persisted in relocating the capital to Beijing, however he had to withdraw his order before his death. His successor, the Hongxi Emperor, wished to revert the relocation of the imperial capital from Nanjing to Beijing that had happened during the Yongle reign.^[41] On 24 February 1425, he appointed Admiral Zheng He as the defender of Nanjing and ordered him to continue his command over the Ming treasure fleet for the city's defenses.^[41] Zheng He governed the city with three eunuchs for internal matters and two military noblemen for external matters, awaiting the Hongxi Emperor's return along with the military establishment from the north.^[41] The emperor died on 29 May 1425 before this could have taken place,^[41][42] so Beijing remained the de facto capital and Nanjing remained the secondary capital.^[42] The succeeding Xuande Emperor remained in Beijing, so the aforementioned Nanjing government eventually became a permanent institution.^[43] In official Ming documents of 1425 to 1441, Nanjing was designated as the capital and Beijing was designated as the temporary capital.^[44] In 1441, Emperor Yingzong ordered to not to prefix the word "provisional" (行在) on the Beijing Government seals any longer, while Nanjing's need to prefix "Nanjing" for distinguishing purposes remained. Hence, Nanjing still had itself imperial government with extremely limit power before 1644.

Besides the city wall, other famous Ming-era structures in the city included the famous Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum and Porcelain Tower, although the latter was destroyed by the Taipings in the 19th century either in order to prevent a hostile faction from using it to observe and shell the city^[45] or from superstitious fear of its geomantic properties.^[46]

A monument to the huge human cost of some of the gigantic construction projects of the early Ming dynasty is the Yangshan Quarry (located some 15–20 km (9–12 mi) east of the walled city and Ming Xiaoling mausoleum), where a gigantic stele, cut on the orders of the Yongle Emperor, lies abandoned, just as it was left 600 years ago when it was understood it was impossible to move or complete it.^[47]

Du Halde's 1736 map of "Nan-king", based on Jesuit accounts

As the center of the empire, early-Ming Nanjing had worldwide connections. It was home of the admiral Zheng He, who went to sail the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and it was visited by foreign dignitaries, such as a king from Borneo (渤泥; Bóní), who died during his visit to China in 1408. The Tomb of the King of Boni, with a spirit way and a tortoise stele, was discovered in Yuhuatai District (south of the walled city) in 1958, and has been restored.^[48]

Over two centuries after the removal of the capital to Beijing, Nanjing was destined to become the capital of a Ming emperor one more time. After the fall of Beijing to Li Zicheng's rebel forces and then to the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in the spring of 1644, the Ming prince Zhu Yousong was enthroned in Nanjing in June 1644 as the Hongguang Emperor.^[49][50] His short reign was described by later historians as the first reign of the so-called Southern Ming dynasty.^[51]

Zhu Yousong, however, fared a lot worse than his ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang three centuries earlier. Beset by factional conflicts, his regime could not offer effective resistance to Qing forces, when the Qing army, led by the Manchu prince Dodo approached Jiangnan the next spring.^[52] Days after Yangzhou fell to the Manchus in late May 1645, the Hongguang Emperor fled Nanjing, and the imperial Ming Palace was looted by local residents.^[53] On June 6, Dodo's troops approached Nanjing, and the commander of the city's garrison, Zhao the Earl of Xincheng, promptly surrendered the city to them.^[54][55] The Manchus soon ordered all male residents of the city to shave their heads in the Manchu queue way.^[56] They requisitioned a large section of the city for the bannermen's cantonment, and destroyed the former imperial Ming Palace, but otherwise the city was spared the mass murders and destruction that befell Yangzhou.^[57]

An artist's impression of the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864).

Under the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), the Nanjing area was known as Jiangning and served as the seat of government for the Viceroy of Liangjiang.^[58] It was the site of a Qing army garrison.^[59] It had been visited by the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors a number of times on their tours of the southern provinces. Nanjing was threatened to be invaded by British troops during the close of the First Opium War, which was ended by the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842. As the capital of the brief-lived rebel Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (founded by the Taiping rebels^[60] in the mid-19th century, Nanjing was known as Tianjing (天京; ""Heavenly Capital" or "Capital of Heaven"").

Both the Qing viceroy and the Taiping king resided in buildings that would later be known as the Presidential Palace. When Qing forces led by Zeng Guofan retook the city in 1864, a massive slaughter occurred in the city with over 100,000 estimated to have committed suicide or fought to the death.^[61] Since the Taiping Rebellion began, Qing forces allowed no rebels speaking its dialect to surrender.^[62] This systematic mass murder of civilians occurred in Nanjing.^[63]

• 
  Statue1 of Qianfoya Nanjing
• 
  Wenceslas Hollar - Pagoda of Paolinx
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  Nanjing Donghua Gate
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  YiFeng Gate
• 
  Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum

Modern China

The Xinhai Revolution led to the founding of the Republic of China in January 1912 with Sun Yat-sen as the first provisional president and Nanking was selected as its new capital. However, the Qing Empire controlled large regions to the north, so revolutionaries asked Yuan Shikai to replace Sun as president in exchange for the abdication of Puyi, the Last Emperor. Yuan demanded the capital be Beijing (closer to his power base).

The headquarters of the National Government of the Republic of China in Nanjing, 1927

In 1927, the Kuomintang (KMT; Nationalist Party) under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek again established Nanjing as the capital of the Republic of China, and this became internationally recognized once KMT forces took Beijing in 1928. The following decade is known as the Nanking decade.

In 1937, the Empire of Japan started a full-scale invasion of China after invading Manchuria in 1931, beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War (often considered a theater of World War II).^[64] Their troops occupied Nanjing in December and carried out the systematic and brutal Nanking Massacre (the "Rape of Nanking").^[65] Even children, the elderly, and nuns are reported to have suffered at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army.^[66] The total death toll, including estimates made by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal after the atomic bombings, was between 300,000 and 350,000.^[67] The city itself was also severely damaged during the massacre.^[65] The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall was built in 1985 to commemorate this event.

A few days before the fall of the city, the National Government of China was relocated to the southwestern city Chungking (Chongqing) and resumed Chinese resistance. In 1940, a Japanese-collaborationist government known as the "Nanjing Regime" or "Reorganized National Government of China" led by Wang Jingwei was established in Nanjing as a rival to Chiang Kai-shek's government in Chongqing.^[68] In 1946, after the Surrender of Japan, the KMT relocated its central government back to Nanjing.

On 21 April 1949, Communist forces crossed the Yangtze River. On April 23, the Communist People's Liberation Army (PLA) captured Nanjing.^[69] The KMT government retreated to Canton (Guangzhou) until October 15, Chongqing until November 25, and then Chengdu before retreating to the island of Taiwan on December 10 where Taipei was proclaimed the temporary capital of the Republic of China. By late 1949, the PLA was pursuing remnants of KMT forces southwards in southern China, and only Tibet and Hainan Island were left. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in October 1949, Nanjing was initially a province-level municipality, but it was soon merged into Jiangsu province and again became the provincial capital by replacing Zhenjiang which was transferred in 1928, and retains that status to this day.

• 
  The Signing of the Treaty of Nanking（1842）
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  Nanking（1871）
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  Former Residence of Song Ziwen in Nanjing
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  Sun Yat-sen in Nanjing
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  National Government of the R.O.C
• 
  Former Management Bureau of Jiangsu Postal Service

Climate and environment

Autumn maple leaves in Qixia Mountain Temple.

Nanjing has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) and is under the influence of the East Asian monsoon. The four seasons are distinct, with damp conditions seen throughout the year, very hot and muggy summers, cold, damp winters, and in between, spring and autumn are of reasonable length. Along with Chongqing and Wuhan, Nanjing is traditionally referred to as one of the "Three Furnacelike Cities" along the Yangtze River for the perennially high temperatures in the summertime.^[72] However, the time from mid-June to the end of July is the plum blossom blooming season in which the meiyu (rainy season of East Asia; literally "plum rain") occurs, during which the city experiences a period of mild rain as well as dampness. Typhoons are uncommon but possible in the late stages of summer and early part of autumn. The annual mean temperature is around 15.91 °C (60.6 °F), with the monthly 24-hour average temperature ranging from 2.7 °C (36.9 °F) in January to 28.1 °C (82.6 °F) in July. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from −14.0 °C (7 °F) on 6 January 1955 to 40.7 °C (105 °F) on 22 August 1959.^[73][74][75] On average precipitation falls 115 days out of the year, and the average annual rainfall is 1,090 mm (43 in). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 37 percent in March to 52 percent in August, the city receives 1,926 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Nanjing is endowed with rich natural resources, which include more than 40 kinds of minerals. Among them, iron and sulfur reserves make up 40 percent of those of Jiangsu province. Its reserves of strontium rank first in East Asia and the South East Asia region. Nanjing also possesses abundant water resources, both from the Yangtze River and groundwater. In addition, it has several natural hot springs such as Tangshan Hot Spring in Jiangning and Tangquan Hot Spring in Pukou.

Sun Yat-sen once summarized and lauded the feature of Nanjing in his book The International Development of China (建國方略):

Nanking was the old capital of China before Peking, and is situated in a fine locality which comprises high mountains, deep water and a vast level plain—a rare site to be found in any part of the world. It also lies at the center of a very rich country on both sides of the lower Yangtze. (南京為中國古都，在北京之前，而其位置乃在一美善之地區。其地有高山，有深水，有平原，此三種天工，鐘毓一處，在世界中之大都市誠難覓如此佳境也。而又恰居長江下游兩岸最豐富區域之中心...)^[76]

To be more exact, surrounded by the Yangtze River and mountains, the urban area of the city enjoys its scenic natural environment. Xuanwu Lake and Mochou Lake are located in the center of the city and are easily accessible to the public, while Purple Mountain is covered with deciduous and coniferous forests preserving various historical and cultural sites. Meanwhile, a Yangtze River deep-water channel is under construction to enable Nanjing to handle the navigation of 50,000 DWT vessels from the East China Sea.^[77]

Cityscape

Nanjing skyline, taken in 2012.

Environmental issues

Air pollution in 2013

7 December 2013 image from NASA's Terra Satellite of the Eastern China smog

See also: 2013 Eastern China smog

A dense wave of smog began in the central and east parts of China on 2 December 2013 across a distance of around 1,200 km (750 mi),^[78] including Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanghai and Zhejiang. A lack of cold air flow, combined with slow-moving air masses carrying industrial emissions, collected airborne pollutants to form a thick layer of smog over the region.^[79] The heavy smog heavily polluted central and southern Jiangsu Province, especially in and around Nanjing,^[80] with its AQI pollution Index at "severely polluted" for five straight days and "heavily polluted" for nine.^[81] On 3 December 2013, levels of PM_2.5 particulate matter average over 943 micrograms per cubic meter,^[82] falling to over 338 micrograms per cubic meter on 4 December 2013.^[83] Between 3:00 pm, 3 December and 2:00pm, 4 December local time, several expressways from Nanjing to other Jiangsu cities were closed, stranding dozens of passenger buses in Zhongyangmen bus station.^[80] From 5 to 6 December, Nanjing issued a red alert for air pollution and closed down all kindergarten through middle schools. Children's Hospital outpatient services increased by 33 percent; general incidence of bronchitis, pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infections significantly increased.^[84] The smog dissipated 12 December.^[85] Officials blamed the dense pollution on lack of wind, automobile exhaust emissions under low air pressure, and coal-powered district heating system in north China.^[86] Prevailing winds blew low-hanging air masses of factory emissions (mostly SO₂) towards China's east coast.^[87]

Administrative divisions

The sub-provincial city of Nanjing is divided into 11 districts.^[88]

Map	District	Simplified Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2013)	Area (km2)
1 2 3 4 5 Qixia Jiangning Pukou Luhe Lishui Gaochun 1. Xuanwu 2. Qinhuai 3. Jianye 4. Gulou 5. Yuhuatai
	District
	Xuanwu	玄武区	Xuánwǔ Qū	660,557	80.97
	Qinhuai	秦淮区	Qínhuái Qū	1,034,822	50.36
	Jianye	建邺区	Jiànyè Qū	446,899	82.00
	Gulou	鼓楼区	Gǔlóu Qū	1,292,291	57.62
	Yuhuatai	雨花台区	Yǔhuātái Qū	415,885	131.90
	Qixia	栖霞区	Qīxiá Qū	664,103	340.00
	Jiangning	江宁区	Jiāngníng Qū	1,178,628	1,573.00
	Pukou	浦口区	Pǔkǒu Qū	728,798	913.00
	Luhe	六合区	Lùhé Qū[89][90]	926,445	1,485.50
	Lishui	溧水区	Lìshuǐ Qū	419,523	983.00
	Gaochun	高淳区	Gāochún Qū	420,429	801.00

• Defunct districts: Baixia District and Xiaguan District

Earlier development

There was a massive cultivating in the area of Nanjing from the Three Kingdoms period to Southern dynasties. The sparse population led to land as royal rewards were granted for rules’ people. At first, the landless peasants benefited from it, then the senior officials and aristocratic families. Since large numbers of immigrants flooded into the area, reclamation was quite common in its remote parts, which promoted its agricultural development.

The craft industries, by contrast, had a faster growth. Especially the textiles section, there were about 200,000 craftsmen by the late Qing.^[95] Several dynasties established their imperial textiles bureaus in Nanjing. The Nanjing Brocade (南京云锦) is their exquisite product as the cloth for the royal garments such as dragon robes. Meanwhile, the satins from Nanjing were called “tribute satins” ("贡缎"), because they were usually paid as tribute to the monarchy. Besides, minting, papermaking, shipbuilding grew initially since the Three Kingdoms period. As Nanjing was the capital of the Ming dynasty, the industries further expanded, where both state-owned and numerous private businesses served the imperial court. Several place names in Nanjing remains witnessed them, such as Wangjinshi (网巾市, the market sells wangjin), Guyilang (估衣廊, the corridor for garments bargain), Youfangqiao (油坊桥, the bridge near an oil mill).

Moreover, the trade in Nanjing was also flourishing. The Ming dynasty drawing Prosperous Nanjing (南都繁会图卷, Nándū Fánhuì Tújuǎn) depicts a vivid market scene bustling with people and full of various sorts of shops. However, the economic developments were almost wiped out by the Taiping Rebellion’s catastrophe.

Modern times

Into the first half of the twentieth century after the establishment of ROC, Nanjing gradually shifted from being a production hub towards being a heavy consumption city, mainly because of the rapid expansion of its wealthy population after Nanjing once again regained the political spotlight of China. A number of huge department stores such as Zhongyang Shangchang sprouted up, attracting merchants from all over China to sell their products in Nanjing. In 1933, the revenue generated by the food and entertainment industry in the city exceeded the sum of the output of the manufacturing and agriculture industry. One third of the city population worked in the service industry, .

In the 1950s after PRC was established by CPC, the government invested heavily in the city to build a series of state-owned heavy industries, as part of the national plan of rapid industrialization, converting it into a heavy industry production center of east China.^[96] Overenthusiastic in building a “world-class” industrial city, the government also made many disastrous mistakes during development, such as spending hundreds of millions of yuan to mine for non-existent coal, resulting in negative economic growth in the late 1960s. From 1960s to 1980s there were Five Pillar Industries, namely, electronics, cars, petrochemical, iron and steel, and power, each with big state-owned firms. After the Reform and Opening recovering market economy, the state-owned enterprises found themselves incapable of competing with efficient multinational firms and local private firms, hence were either mired in heavy debt or forced into bankruptcy or privatization and this resulted in large numbers of layoff workers who were technically not unemployed but effectively jobless.

Today

Skyline of Nanjing's Xinjiekou district as seen from Nanjing University's Gulou campus.

The current economy of the city is basically newly developed based on the past. Service industries are dominating, accounting for about 60 percent of the GDP of the city, and financial industry, culture industry and tourism industry are top 3 of them. Industries of information technology, energy saving and environmental protection, new energy, smart power grid and intelligent equipment manufacturing have become pillar industries.^[97] Big civilian-run enterprise include Suning Commerce, Yurun, Sanpower, Fuzhong, Hiteker, 5stars, Jinpu, Tiandi, CTTQ Pharmaceutical, Nanjing Iron and Steel Company and Simcere Pharmaceutical. Big state-owned firms include Panda Electronics, Yangzi Petrochemical, Jinling Petrochemical, Nanjing Chemical, Jincheng Motors, Jinling Pharmaceutical, Chenguang and NARI. The city has also attracted foreign investment, multinational firms such as Siemens, Ericsson, Volkswagen, Iveco, A.O. Smith, and Sharp have established their lines, and a number of multinationals such as Ford, IBM, Lucent, Samsung and SAP established research center there. Many China-based leading firms such as Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo have key R & D institutes in the city. Nanjing is an industrial technology research and development hub, hosting many R & D centers and institutions, especially in areas of electronics technology, information technology, computer software, biotechnology and pharmaceutical technology and new material technology.

In recent years, Nanjing has been developing its economy, commerce, industry, as well as city construction. In 2013 the city's GDP was RMB 801 billion (3rd in Jiangsu), and GDP per capita(current price) was RMB 98,174(US$16041), a 11 percent increase from 2012. The average urban resident's disposable income was RMB 36,200, while the average rural resident's net income was RMB 14,513. The registered urban unemployment rate was 3.02 percent, lower than the national average (4.3 percent). Nanjing's Gross Domestic Product ranked 12th in 2013 in China, and its overall competence ranked 6th in mainland and 8th including Taiwan and Hong Kong in 2009.^[98]

A panoramic view of Nanjing in 2005

Industrial zones

There are a number of industrial zones in Nanjing.

• Nanjing New and High-Tech Industry Development Zone
• Nanjing Baixia Hi-Tech Industrial Zone
• Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone

Rail

Nanjing South Railway Station

Nanjing is an important railway hub in eastern China.^[100] It serves as rail junction for the Beijing-Shanghai (Jinghu) (which is itself composed of the old Jinpu and Huning Railways), Nanjing–Tongling Railway (Ningtong), Nanjing–Qidong (Ningqi), and the Nanjing-Xian (Ningxi) which encompasses the Hefei–Nanjing Railway. Nanjing is connected to the national high-speed railway network by Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway and Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu Passenger Dedicated Line, with several more high-speed rail lines under construction.

Among all 17 railway stations in Nanjing, passenger rail service is mainly provided by Nanjing Railway Station and Nanjing South Railway Station, while other stations like Nanjing West Railway Station, Zhonghuamen Railway Station and Xianlin Railway Station serve minor roles. Nanjing Railway Station was first built in 1968.^[101] On November 12, 1999, the station was burnt in a serious fire.^[102] Reconstruction of the station was finished on September 1, 2005. Nanjing South Railway Station, which is one of the 5 hub stations on Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway, has officially been claimed as the largest railway station in Asia and the second largest in the world in terms of GFA (Gross Floor Area).^[103] Construction of Nanjing South Station began on 10 January 2008.^[104] The station was opened for public service in 2011.^[105]

Road

Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, built in 1968,^[101] the first bridge over the Yangtze River to be built without foreign assistance.

As an important regional hub in the Yangtze River Delta, Nanjing is well-connected by over 60 state and provincial highways to all parts of China.

Express highways such as Hu–Ning, Ning–He, Ning–Hang enable commuters to travel to Shanghai, Hefei, Hangzhou, and other important cities quickly and conveniently. Inside the city of Nanjing, there are 230 km (140 mi) of highways, with a highway coverage density of 3.38 kilometers per hundred square kilometrs (5.44 mi/100 sq mi). The total road coverage density of the city is 112.56 kilometers per hundred square kilometers (181.15 mi/100 sq mi).^[106] The two artery roads in Nanjing are Zhongshan Road and Hanzhong. The two roads cross in the city center, Xinjiekou.

Expressways:

• G25 Changchun–Shenzhen Expressway
• G36 Nanjing–Luoyang Expressway
• G40 Shanghai–Xi'an Expressway
• G42 Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway
• G4211 Nanjing–Wuhu Expressway, a spur of G42 that extends west to Wuhu, Anhui
• S55 Nanjing–Gaochun Expressway
• S38 Yanjiang Expressway
• G2501 Nanjing Ring Expressway

National Highway (GXXX):

• China National Highway 104—motorists can either drive northwest to Beijing or south to Fuzhou, Fujian.
• China National Highway 205—motorists can either drive north to Shanhaiguan, Hebei or south to Shenzhen, Guangdong.
• China National Highway 312—motorists can either drive east to Shanghai or west to Khorgas, Xinjiang on the Kazakh border
• China National Highway 328—Nanjing is the western terminus of G328, which motorists can follow to Hai'an County in eastern Jiangsu

Public transportation

The city also boasts an efficient network of public transportation, which mainly consists of bus, taxi and metro systems. The bus network, which is currently run by three companies since 2011, provides more than 370 routes covering all parts of the city and suburban areas.^[107] At present, the Nanjing Metro system has a grand total of 377 km (234 mi) of route and 173 stations across 10 lines. They are Line 1, Line 2, Line 3, Line 4, Line 10, Line S1, Line S3, Line S7, Line S8 and Line S9. The city is planning to complete a 17-line Metro and light-rail system by 2030.^[108] The expansion of the Metro network will greatly facilitate the intracity transportation and reduce the currently heavy traffic congestion.

Air

Nanjing's airport, Lukou International Airport, serves both national and international flights. In 2013, Nanjing airport handled 15,011,792 passengers and 255,788.6 tonnes of freight.^[109] The airport currently has 85 routes to national and international destinations, which include Japan,^[110] Korea, Thailand,^[111][112] Malaysia, Singapore, United States^[113] and Germany. The airport is connected by a 29-kilometer (18 mi) highway directly to the city center, and is also linked to various intercity highways, making it accessible to the passengers from the surrounding cities. A railway Ninggao Intercity Line has been built to link the airport with Nanjing South Railway Station.^[114] Lukou Airport was opened on 28 June 1997, replacing Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport as the main airport serving Nanjing. Dajiaochang Airport is still used as a military air base.^[115]

Water

Port of Nanjing is the largest inland port in China, with annual cargo tonnage reached 191,970,000 t in 2012.^[116] The port area is 98 km (61 mi) in length and has 64 berths including 16 berths for ships with a tonnage of more than 10,000.^[117] Nanjing is also the biggest container port along the Yangtze River; in March 2004, the one million container-capacity base, Longtan Containers Port Area opened, further consolidating Nanjing as the leading port in the region. As of 2010, it operated six public ports and three industrial ports.^[118] The Yangtze River’s 12.5-meter-deep waterway enables 50,000-ton-class ocean ships directly arrive at the Nanjing Port, and the ocean ships with the capacities of 100,000 tons or above can also reach the port after load reduction in the Yangtze River’s high-tide period.^[119]

Yangtze River crossings

In the 1960s, the first Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge was completed, and served as the only bridge crossing over the Lower Yangtze in eastern China at that time. The bridge was a source of pride and an important symbol of modern China, having been built and designed by the Chinese themselves following failed surveys by other nations and the reliance on and then rejection of Soviet expertise. Begun in 1960 and opened to traffic in 1968, the bridge is a two-tiered road and rail design spanning 4,600 meters on the upper deck, with approximately 1,580 meters spanning the river itself. Since then four more bridges and two tunnels have been built. Going in the downstream direction, the Yangtze crossings in Nanjing are: Dashengguan Bridge, Line 10 Metro Tunnel, Third Bridge, Nanjing Yangtze River Tunnel, First Bridge, Second Bridge and Fourth Bridge.

Art

Some of the leading art groups of China are based in Nanjing; they include the Qianxian Dance Company, Nanjing Dance Company, Jiangsu Peking Opera Institute and Nanjing Xiaohonghua Art Company among others.

Jiangsu Province Kun Opera is one of the best theaters for Kunqu, China's oldest stage art.^[120] It is considered a conservative and traditional troupe. Nanjing also has professional opera troupes for the Yang, Yue (shaoxing), Xi and Jing (Chinese opera varieties) as well as Suzhou pingtan, spoken theater and puppet theater.

Jiangsu Art Gallery is the largest gallery in Jiangsu Province, presenting some of the best traditional and contemporary art pieces of China like the historical Master Ho-Kan;^[121] many other smaller-scale galleries, such as Red Chamber Art Garden and Jinling Stone Gallery, also have their own special exhibitions.

Festivals

An elderly man sketches plum blossoms at the festival.

Many traditional festivals and customs were observed in the old times, which included climbing the City Wall on January 16, bathing in Qing Xi on March 3, hill hiking on September 9 and others (the dates are in Chinese lunar calendar). Almost none of them, however, are still celebrated by modern Nanjingese.

Instead, Nanjing, as a popular tourist destination, hosts a series of government-organized events throughout the year. The annual International Plum Blossom Festival held in Plum Blossom Hill, the largest plum collection in China, attracts thousands of tourists both domestically and internationally. Other events include Nanjing Baima Peach Blossom and Kite Festival, Jiangxin Zhou Fruit Festival and Linggu Temple Sweet Osmanthus Festival.

Libraries

Nanjing Library, founded in 1907, houses more than 10 million volumes of printed materials and is the third largest library in China, after the National Library in Beijing and Shanghai Library. Other libraries, such as city-owned Jinling Library and various district libraries, also provide considerable amount of information to citizens. Nanjing University Library is the second largest university libraries in China after Peking University Library, and the fifth largest nationwide, especially in the number of precious collections.

Museums

Nanjing Museum

Nanjing has some of the oldest and finest museums in China. Nanjing Museum, formerly known as National Central Museum during ROC period, is the first modern museum and remains as one of the leading museums in China having 400,000 items in its permanent collection.^[122] The museum is notable for enormous collections of Ming and Qing imperial porcelain, which is among the largest in the world.^[123] Other museums include the City Museum of Nanjing in the Chaotian Palace, the Oriental Metropolitan Museum,^{[lower-alpha 6]} the China Modern History Museum in the Presidential Palace, the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, the Taiping Kingdom History Museum, Jiangning Imperial Silk Manufacturing Museum,^{[lower-alpha 7]} Nanjing Yunjin Museum, Nanjing City Wall Cultural Museum, Nanjing Customs Museum in Ganxi House,^{[lower-alpha 8]} Nanjing Astronomical History Museum, Nanjing Paleontological Museum, Nanjing Geological Museum, Nanjing Riverstones Museum, and other museums and memorials such Zheng He Memorial^{[lower-alpha 9]} Jinling Four Modern Calligraphers Memorial.^{[lower-alpha 10]}

Theater

Most of Nanjing's major theaters are multi-purpose, used as convention halls, cinemas, musical halls and theaters on different occasions. The major theaters include the People's Convention Hall and the Nanjing Arts and Culture Center. The Capital Theater well known in the past is now a museum in theater/film.

Night life

Qinhuai River

Traditionally Nanjing's nightlife was mostly centered around Nanjing Fuzimiao (Confucius Temple) area along the Qinhuai River, where night markets, restaurants and pubs thrived.^[125] Boating at night in the river was a main attraction of the city. Thus, one can see the statues of the famous teachers and educators of the past not too far from those of the courtesans who educated the young men in the other arts.

In the past 20 years, several commercial streets have been developed, hence the nightlife has become more diverse: there are shopping malls opening late in the Xinjiekou CBD and Hunan Road. The well-established "Nanjing 1912" district hosts a wide variety of recreational facilities ranging from traditional restaurants and western pubs to dance clubs. There are two major areas where bars are densely located; one is in 1912 block; the other is along Shanghai road and its neighborhood. Both are popular with international residents of the city.

Local people still very much enjoy street food, such as lamb kebabs. As elsewhere in Asia, karaoke is popular with both young and old crowds.

Food and symbolism

Many of the city's local favorite dishes are based on ducks, including Nanjing salted duck, duck blood and vermicelli soup, and duck oil pancake.^[126]

The radish is also a typical food representing people of Nanjing, which has been spread through word of mouth as an interesting fact for many years in China. According to Nanjing.GOV.cn, "There is a long history of growing radish in Nanjing especially the southern suburb. In the spring, the radish tastes very juicy and sweet. It is well-known that people in Nanjing like eating radish. And the people are even addressed as 'Nanjing big radish', which means they are unsophisticated, passionate and conservative. From health perspective, eating radish can help to offset the stodgy food that people take during the Spring Festival".^[127]

Buildings and monuments

Parks and gardens

• China Gate Castle Park
• Couple Park
• Defence Park
• Gulin Park
• Mochou Lake and Park
• Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo
• Purple Mountain Scenic Area
• Qingliangshan Park
• Taoye Ferry
• White Horse Park
• Wuchaomen Park
• Xiamafang Ruins Park
• Xu Garden
• Xuanwu Lake
• Yuhuatai Memorial Park of Revolutionary Martyrs
• Zhan Yuan Garden
• Zhongshan Botanical Garden

Other places of interest

• Tangshan Hot Spring
• Yangshan Quarry
• Jiangxin Island
• Yangtze River power line crossings, tallest transmission towers built of concrete.

Universities and colleges

National universities and colleges

Operated by Ministry of Education

• China Pharmaceutical University
• Hohai University
• Nanjing Agricultural University
• Nanjing University
• Southeast University

Operated by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

• Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Nanjing University of Science and Technology

Operated by the joint Commission of the State Forest Administration and Public Order Ministry

• Nanjing Forest Police College (南京森林警察学院)

Operated by the general sport Administration

• Nanjing Sport Institute (南京体育学院)

National military universities and colleges

• PLA Nanjing Army Command College (中国人民解放军南京陆军指挥学院)
• PLA Nanjing International Relation College (中国人民解放军南京国际关系学院)
• PLA Nanjing Political College
• PLA Naval Command College (中国人民解放军海军指挥学院)
• PLA University of Science and Technology (中国人民解放军理工大学)

Provincial universities and colleges

• Jiangsu Institute of Education
• Jinling Institute of Technology (金陵科技学院)
• Nanjing Arts Institute (南京艺术学院)
• Nanjing Audit University
• Nanjing City Vocational College (南京城市职业学院)
• Nanjing Forestry University
• Nanjing Institute of Technology
• Nanjing Medical University
• Nanjing Normal University
• Nanjing Xiaozhuang University
• Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine
• Nanjing University of Finance and Economics
• Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology
• Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications
• Nanjing University of Technology

Private universities and colleges

• Communication University of China, Nanjing (中国传媒大学南广学院)
• Hopkins-Nanjing Center
• Nanjing University Jinling College (南京大学金陵学院)
• New York Institute of Technology
• Sanjiang College

Notable high schools

• High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University
• Jinling High School
• Nanjing Foreign Language School
• Nanjing No.1 High School
• Nanjing Zhonghua High School
• Caulfield Grammar School (Nanjing Campus)
• Nanjing No.29 Senior High School

Citations

Sources

See also: Bibliography of the history of Nanjing

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• Danielson, Eric N. (2004). Nanjing and the Lower Yangzi River. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish/Times Editions. ISBN 981-232-598-0.
• Jun Fang (23 May 2014). China's Second Capital – Nanjing Under the Ming, 1368-1644. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-00845-1.
• Eigner, Julius (February 1938). "The Rise and Fall of Nanking" in National Geographic Vol. LXXIII No.2. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic.
• Farmer, Edward L. (1976). Early Ming Government: The Evolution of Dual Capitals. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
• Hobart, Alice Tisdale (1927). Within the Walls of Nanking. New York: MacMillan.
• Jiang, Zanchu (1995). Nanjing shi hua. Nanjing: Nanjing chu ban she. ISBN 7-80614-159-6.
• Lutz, Jessie Gregory (1971). China and the Christian Colleges, 1850-1950. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Ma, Chao Chun (Ma Chaojun) (1937). Nanking's Development, 1927-1937. Nanking: Municipality of Nanking.
• Michael, Franz (1972). The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents (3 vols.). Seattle: University of Washington Press.
• Mote, Frederick W. (1977). "The Transformation of Nanking, 1350–1400," in The City in Late Imperial China, ed. by G. William Skinner. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• Mote, Frederick W., and Twitchett, Denis, ed. (1988). The Cambridge History of China Vol. 7, The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
• Musgrove, Charles D. (2000). "Constructing a National Capital in Nanjing, 1927–1937," in Remaking the Chinese City, 1900–1950, ed. by Joseph W. Esherick. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
• Nanking Women's Club (1933). Sketches of Nanking. Nanking: Nanking Women's Club.
• Ouchterlony, John (1844). The Chinese War: An Account of All the Operations of the British Forces from the Commencement to the Treaty of Nanking. London: Saunders and Otley.
• Prip-Moller, Johannes (1935). "The Hall of Lin Ku Ssu (Ling Gu Si) Nanking," in Artes Monuments Vol. III. Copenhagen: Artes Monuments.
• Smalley, Martha L. (1982). Guide to the Archives of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (Record Group 11). New Haven: Yale University Divinity Library Special Collections.
• Struve, Lynn (1988). "The Southern Ming". In Frederic W. Mote; Denis Twitchett; John King Fairbank (eds.). Cambridge History of China, Volume 7, The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 641–725.CS1 maint: Extra text: editors list (link) .
• Struve, Lynn A. (1998). "Chapter 4: "The emperor really has left": Nanjing changes hands". Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclysm: China in Tigers' Jaws. Yale University Press. pp. 55–72. ISBN 0-300-07553-7.
• Teng, Ssu Yu (1944). Chang Hsi (Zhang Xi) and the Treaty of Nanking, 1842. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
• Thurston, Mrs. Lawrence (Matilda) (1955). Ginling College. New York: United Board for Christian Colleges in China.
• Till, Barry (1982). In Search of Old Nanking. Hong Kong: Hong Kong and Shanghai Joint Publishing Company.
• Tyau, T.Z. (1930). Two Years of Nationalist China. Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh.
• Uchiyama, Kiyoshi (1910). Guide to Nanking. Shanghai: China Commercial Press.
• Wakeman, Frederic, Jr. (1985), The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-04804-0 .
• Wang, Nengwei (1998). Nanjing Jiu Ying (Old Photos of Nanjing). Nanjing: People's Fine Arts Publishing House.
• Ye, Zhaoyan (1998). Lao Nanjing: Jiu Ying Qinhuai (Old Nanjing: Reflections of Scenes on the Qinhuai River). Nanjing: Zhongguo Di Er Lishi Dang An Guan (China Second National Archives).
• Yang, Xinhua; Lu, Haiming (2001). Nanjing Ming-Qing Jianzhu (Ming and Qing architecture of Nanjing). Nanjing Daxue Chubanshe (Nanjing University Press). ISBN 7-305-03669-2.