Nanjing (南京) is an attractive, ancient city in the Yangtze River Delta region, Eastern China. I love Nanjing for the warm-hearted people here; history; the vast expanses of natural areas; foodstuff packed with flavour (as a Brit, we still eat like we are rationing from prior wars); and the day-to-day life, with the sprawling network of public transportation and modern conveniences.
My Favourite Sights
Historical
Throughout history, Chinese capitals have changed as frequently as the weather. Nanjing had its turn from 1368-1421 under the Ming Dynasty, and later from 1912-1949. Nanjing City Wall, constructed under the Ming Dynasty, is 21km long. It is still possible to walk along the section as if you were in ancient times, only without the armour, weaponry, and charisma – you may also get fried by the sun in summer, so dress as the Ming peoples would have.
My favourite place in Nanjing is the Fu Zi Miao area (夫子庙地区). It reminds me of Venice, only without the smell of sewage. The area has a few sections of rivers and bridges, and beautiful structures on the riverfront. The area is crammed with food-places, shops, and bustling streets. The evening is particularly nice: beautifully lit-up.
Natural
Nanjing has many open greens and natural areas: walk around the perimeter of XuanWu Lake (surrounded by a section of Nanjing City Wall); hike around one of many trails in the gigantic Zhongshan Scenic area (where the Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum and Purple Mountain is located); or head to west Nanjing to visit the Nanjing China Green Expo Park. Beware of the wild boar .
Food
Nanjing has some truly awesome dishes and places to find food. My favourite food in China is 酸菜鱼 (Suāncài yú – picture 1), which is pickled fish with vegetables in an oily soup, garnished with chilli peppers and Sichuan peppercorns – it is tart and spicy. Although it originates in Chongqing, is easy to spot in Nanjing. Nanjing has many cafes, my favourite being ‘Avalon’, one of which stores is open in the south-west of Zhongshan Scenic Area (picture 2). Nanjing has many large night-markets, my favourite is in 孝陵卫 (Xiào líng wèi – picture 3), where you can buy many snacks, sweet things, and whole dishes (picture 4). Nanjing’s food is not only fantastic, it is also reasonably priced, and it is possible to eat-out everyday (back home in London, you’d have to sell off some prized family possessions in order to get a takeout meal). A Nanjing speciality is anything duck-related – salted duck, duck blood and vermicelli soup, roast duck, and so on. In fact, if you are a duck flying over Nanjing, you will likely have a bad time.
People
The people in Nanjing are phenomenally welcoming, generous, and curious. Mostly ‘standard’ Mandarin is spoken, although some speak a local dialect, 南京话. It is effortless to make new friends, and practise Mandarin. It is amazing how little Mandarin is needed to make great connections and have a laugh – it is really appreciated; of course, some locals also want to practise their English.
As well as making friends out and about, there is a free app called ‘Tandem’ that can be downloaded to find language exchanges.
Transport
Needless to say, based on the picture to the left, motorcycles/e-bikes are the most common form of transport. However, Nanjing boasts a vast network of metro lines, high-speed rail, public bicycles, buses, and even cable cars up Purple Mountain.
Taxis (Didi) is also widespread and affordable.
The metro is the best - cheap, clean, modern, and many stations.
Nanjing has high-speed rail connections to many cities around China.
Nearby
Nanjing is situated brilliantly for visiting other cities in China. Nearby is Suzhou (苏州), famous for its canals and historic sights; Shanghai (上海), which is about 1.5 hours via bullet-train, and multiple mountains. The famous ‘Yellow Mountain’ (黄山) is ‘near’ in the grand scale of China (although that’s equivalent to a third of the length of my home country), and accessible by coach from Nanjing South Railway Station (南京南站). Due to the high-speeds and expanses of high-speed rail in China, even far away cities such as Beijing, is only 3 hours15 from Nanjing.
