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The Ming Tombs are in Purple Mountain, east of the lake. Here the first Ming Dynasty emperor and his consorts are buried; the site has also mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the 1911 revolution, and the tomb of Sun Quan from the Three Kingdoms period. The Purple Mountain Observatory, and the surrounding scenic area are - also popular among visitors.
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Monument to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, with multimedia museum commemorating the death of 300 000 Chinese by Japanese hands.
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Presidential Palace.
Leisure, entertainment and nightlife
Since Nanjing is the birthplace of the oldest Chinese opera art, some of the most prominent art and opera ensembles are based here.
The annual International Plum Blossom Festival, the largest plum collection in China, attracts thousands of tourists both domestically and internationally.
Nanjing's nightlife, traditionally concentrated mostly around Fu Zi Miao area along the Qinhuai River, where boating at night and visiting night market have been main attractions of the city, is now extended to “Nanjing 1912" district, with both traditional Chinese and western dance clubs, as well as to the new shopping malls (also opened late at night) in Hunan Road and Xinjiekou CBD.
Hotels
To find an accomodation in quickly developing Nanjing is easy: there are several five star hotels, and hundreds of three stars, comfy hotels.
Getting here and getting around
Flight to Shanghai, then a two-hours travel by train or bus. Nanjing Airport has many domestic connections, as well as some international.
In Nanjing, one can make use of combined metro and bus ticket or take a cab.
Currency: Chinese renminbi (also known as Yuan) (CNY).
Time zone: UTC (GMT)+8.
Driving: on the right side of the road.
Electricity: 220-240V/50Hz.
History
Nanjing was founded in 495 BC and became the cradle of Wu culture. First time it became a capital in 229, afterwards, under name of Jiankang remained the capital of Southern China during the North-South Division period, until Sui Dynasty reunified China and destroyed almost the entire city, turning it into a small town.
The first emperor of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang, rebuilt the city, added to it the longest city wall ever, and in 1368 made it the capital of China. Presumably, for over 60 years Nanjing held the record of being the largest city in the world, with nearly half a million of inhabitants in 1400.
Nanjing was the capital of the Taiping Kingdom in the mid-19th century; and 1911 it became capital of the new Republic of China. Shortly afterwards, also Kuomintang government chose the city for its capital.
