Nanjing Travel Attractions

There is a large park called Purple Mountain East of the lake, Northeast of city center. It contains Ming Dynasty tombs, the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat Sen (leader of the 1911 revolution) and other impressive stuff. You could spend a day or more just exploring this.

There is also a cable car going up the hill, and if you have the right shoes, feel free to walk down from the hill. Prices are fairly acceptable, for one-ride 25 RMB, for up-and-down 45 RMB.

Nanjing Museum, right on the main street of Nanjing, offers you a lot of different culture scenes, including the sailing of Zheng He (the eunuch admiral of the Ming Dynasty who explored at least to Africa, perhaps further) and real-silk-making. It's a great place to spend either a hot or rainy day.

There is a monument to the 1937 Nanjing massacre by Japanese troops of many thousands of Chinese (around 300,000), including a partly excavated mass grave where visitors can see the skeletons. Don't go there if you're sensitive, because it can really scare you. There is no entrance fee.

One of the bridges over the Yangtze has sculptures that are a classic of socialist art. Workers and farmers have tools; military have weapons. They all have books, presumably of Mao's Thought. The bridge was built after the clinch between the Soviet Union and China in the early 60's. The Soviet Advisors told Mao that it wouldn't be possible, but the Chinese built it anyway. This was the first major project built entirely by Chinese, without foreign help. Very interesting monument, and on the other side there are completely new towns in the making (Finished around spring 2006) including direct subway-connection.

Tips

If you are staying in Nanjing for any time and want to visit a number of scenic parks then it is worth buying a Purple Mountain pass for 100RMB and/ or a city pass for 120RMB. The Purple Mountain pass can be bought at the entrance to Sun Yat Sen's Memorial (and possibly at any of the other parks on the mountain) and provides you with free entry to nine parks on the mountain. If you are going to visit more than 2 or 3 of the parks on the mountain you will save money with the pass. The city pass can be bought at the entrance to any of the big parks in the city, such as the zoo or Yuhuatai Memorial Park and provides you with free entry to 21 different locations. You need to provide a passport photo for each pass. The passes are valid for a calendar year.