Nanjing

At the southern foot of Purple Mountain, the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum unfurls as a sacred geometry of power and repose — the final resting place of the Hongwu Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming dynasty. Begun in 1381 and completed by his son in 1405, the complex follows the rigid axial dictates of imperial feng shui: a spirit way (shendao) stretching 1.8 kilometres, flanked by twelve pairs of stone guardians — lions, camels, elephants, mythical qilin — each carved from a single block with astonishing vitality. Beyond the Great Golden Gate and the Stele Pavilion bearing the Kangxi Emperor’s calligraphy, the path ascends to the Soul Tower perched atop a massive earthen tumulus. The burial chamber itself lies unexcavated beneath the mound, its secrets guarded by a cleverly engineered drainage system that has kept it dry for six centuries. The surrounding forest of ancient cypress and ginkgo turns incandescent gold each November, framing the vermilion gates in a blaze of autumn fire.

Perched majestically on the southern slopes of Purple Mountain, the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum is a stirring monument to the “Father of Modern China.” Its grand staircase of 392 stone steps ascends through a canopy of ancient pines and cypresses to a sacrificial hall crowned with a cobalt-blue glazed-tile roof — a deliberate fusion of traditional Chinese palace architecture and Western monumental scale. Inside, a marble statue of Dr. Sun sits beneath a ceiling painted with the Kuomintang’s twelve-rayed sun emblem, while the vaulted burial chamber below holds his copper coffin. The approach along the Sacred Way, flanked by stone lions and huabiao columns, frames one of Nanjing’s most solemn vistas. Beyond the mausoleum itself, the surrounding Zhongshan Scenic Area offers tranquil forest trails, the historic Linggu Temple, and the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, making a full day’s pilgrimage both reverent and restorative.

Snaking 25 kilometres along ridges and riverbanks, the Nanjing City Wall is the world’s longest surviving medieval fortification — a colossal spine of brick and stone laid by 200,000 labourers between 1366 and 1393 under the Hongwu Emperor. Each brick bears the stamp of its maker and origin prefecture, a Ming-era quality-control system still legible after six centuries. The Zhonghua Gate (Gate of China) crowns the southern flank: a triple-courtyard barbican with 27 vaulted tunnels that once housed 3,000 soldiers and their horses. Walking the ramparts between Taiping Gate and Jiming Temple reveals a city in dialogue with its past — plum blossoms trembling in spring, commuter trains threading below, the purple peaks of Purple Mountain framing the horizon. At dusk, lanterns flicker to life along the crenellations, casting golden pools on bricks worn smooth by generations of sentries’ boots.

The Nanjing Confucius Temple, or Fuzimiao, anchors one of China’s most atmospheric riverside cultural districts. Originally constructed during the Song Dynasty in 1034 CE as a place to venerate Confucius and his teachings, this temple has been rebuilt and reimagined across dynasties and wars, emerging each time as a symbol of scholarly devotion. Today, its ornate gate halls—adorned with yellow-glazed roof tiles, calligraphy tablets, and carved balustrades—stand in elegant contrast to the bustling Qinhuai River promenade that unfurls beside them. By day, visitors explore the temple’s modest but dignified halls and a small museum on Confucian history; by night, the entire district transforms into a lantern-lit wonderland, with red paper vessels drifting lazily on the river and the scent of Nanjing street delicacies—saltwater duck, soup dumplings, sticky rice cakes—drifting from nearby stalls. The surrounding streets are a microcosm of old Jiangnan culture: silk shops, antique dealers, and teahouses line narrow lanes that resist the polished homogeneity of modern Chinese cities. It’s a layered experience—part history lesson, part sensory feast, part nostalgic journey into a more poetic China.

Sprawling across 90,000 square meters in central Nanjing, the Presidential Palace (Zongtong Fu) is a palimpsest of modern Chinese history: from Qing viceroy’s residence to the Heavenly King’s Palace of the Taiping Rebellion, then the provisional government of Sun Yat-sen in 1912, and finally the Kuomintang’s executive headquarters until 1949. The compound blends classical Jiangnan gardens—rockeries, koi ponds, and a plum blossom hill—with Western-influenced government halls where Chiang Kai-shek once presided. The ‘Lin Sen Memorial Hall’ and ‘Sun Yat-sen’s Office’ are preserved down to the inkstones on the desk, while the adjacent Xuyuan Garden offers a quiet retreat where the provisional president once strolled.