Sharing the honor of being one of the traditional “Four Great Ancient Capitals of China” with Beijing, Luoyang and Xi’an, Nanjing has a wealth of historical sights and attractions to offer—primarily from its early Ming Dynasty heyday—as well as the modern conveniences and emerging cosmopolitan lifestyle of contemporary urban China.
A major university town, Nanjing is home to a large student population, including many foreign students, and the city’s youthful population fuels a lively nightlife scene. With a new subway, an easy-to-use bus system and cheap taxis, transportation within the city is easy, and it is well connected to Shanghai, Beijing and other major cities throughout China.
All told, Nanjing can be a very pleasant city, with tree-lined streets, lakes, parks and its own mountain, Zijin Shan (Purple Gold Mountain) balancing the inevitable ranks of new skyscrapers and increasingly congested streets.
History
Nanjing has a colorful and tumultuous history full of romantic characters, epic battles and several of the darker moments in China’s—and the world’s—history. Nanjing’s present location on the Yangzi River was the site of ancient cities going back to the rival Wu and Yue Kingdoms of the volatile Spring and Autumn Period and the fifth century BC. Under a variety of names, the city now known as Nanjing served as capital of the Wu and several other southern regional powers until the Sui Dynasty reunited China in 581 AD, destroying Nanjing (then known as Jiankang) in the process.
After a period of recovery, Nanjing returned to the center stage of Chinese history as capital of the southern Tang Kingdom (937-975) that formed after the collapse of the Tang Dynasty and quickly fell to the ascendant Song Dynasty. It was the first Ming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, who first made Nanjing capital of all China in 1368. He spent 21 years directing the construction of the Nanjing City Wall, much of which stands to this day. Subsequent Ming rulers returned the capital to Beijing, leaving Nanjing to thrive as a center of commerce and industry without the honor of hosting the imperial court. A very different bunch would return Nanjing to capital status: the zealous long-haired pseudo-Christian rebels of the Taiping Rebellion, who seized Nanjing in 1853, slaughtering tens of thousands and renaming it Tianjing (”Heavenly Capital”). They waged a surprisingly successful campaign against the beleaguered Qing Dynasty—who, in 1842, had signed the first of several “unequal treaties” with England in Nanjing, ceding control of Hong Kong and creating a number of treaty ports as a result of the first Opium War—conquering much of southern China before falling before the united forces of the Qing and Western forces, including the famous “Ever Victorious Army” led by Charles “Chinese” Gordon. This period is well represented by Nanjing’s excellent Taiping Kingdom History Museum.
Nanjing was proposed as the capital after the 1912 rebellion disposed of the Qing and established the Republic of China under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen. However, it wasn’t until 1927 when Chiang Kai-Shek’s Kuomintang made it their capital. The honor turned into tragedy when, in the run-up to World War II, the Japanese, after taking Shanghai and many other parts of China, brutally assaulted the Kuomintang capital, killing somewhere between 200,000 and 350,000 civilians. This dark episode, known as the “Rape of Nanking” has gained increasing attention in recent years (a major Chinese film with Hollywood funding is due out in 2007 and the recently expanded Nanjing Massacre Memorial and Museum bears witness to the tragedy) as China has sought, without much success, a formal apology from the Japanese government for the epic atrocity, and remains a major point of contention between the two nations.
After the war, the Kuomintang returned to their capital, only to fall to the People’s Liberation Army in 1949. In the 1950s, Mao Zedong’s government made Nanjing a major component of its drive to industrialize, and the city remains a major industrial center today, drawing major international investment thanks to its infrastructure and location. A major testament to the efforts of the early PRC is the Yangzi River Bridge, which was completed in 1968 by Chinese engineers and laborers after the Soviet Union withdrew its assistance following the historic split between the USSR and PRC. The bridge is a late addition to Nanjing’s wealth of historical attractions, many of which have been spared the worst vagaries of the Cultural Revolution and China’s recent economic boom times. For more on Nanjing’s history museums, see our Nanjing Museums & Galleries listings.
Climate
Known as one of the “furnaces of China,” Nanjing, situated in the Yangzi River valley, experiences hot and humid summers, with temperatures running well into the 30s Centigrade (90s F) between June and early September. Winters remain damp, making temperatures that occasionally dip below freezing feel colder. Spring and fall are the most pleasant times to visit, especially April and May and September and October, when temperatures require the occasional sweater or jacket after sunrise and in the early morning, but usually warm to perfect shirtsleeve weather by midday. June through August can be quite rainy, as it is part of the East Asia Monsoon weather system. Air quality suffers from automobiles and industry, often adding a thick haze to the humidity during days with little wind.
