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Capital · Historic city · Cultural centre · Jiangsu

Nanjing

南京 (Nánjīng)

Southern capital of six dynasties, the Ming and the Republic

Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu, on the south bank of the lower Yangtze, and one of China's historic capitals: seat of the Six Dynasties, first capital of the Ming, capital of the Taiping and of the Republic of China. It keeps the longest surviving Ming city wall, the mausoleums of the Ming founder and of Sun Yat-sen, and the memorial to the victims of the 1937 massacre.

ProvinceJiangsu

Key facts

Province
Jiangsu (capital)
Administrative level
Sub-provincial city
Area
about 6,587 km²[1]
Resident population
9.31 million(as of 2020 census)[2]
Capital of the Ming
1368–1421
UNESCO Creative City
Literature (2019)[3]

Overview

Nanjing lies where the Yangtze turns north-east towards the sea, ringed by the Purple Mountain and low hills — a site that ancient geomancers described as “a coiling dragon and a crouching tiger”. That position made it the natural capital of every regime that ruled southern China, and it has been a capital for more than four centuries in all.

Today it is a sub-provincial city and one of China's leading centres of higher education, with Nanjing University and Southeast University among some fifty institutions. Its history is visible everywhere: in the Ming wall, the Republican-era government buildings and plane-tree avenues, and the memorials of 1937. It joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Literature in 2019.

Names and nicknames

  • 金陵 (Jīnlíng)

    The oldest literary name, from a Chu settlement of the fourth century BCE; still used for the city's culture and in the “Twelve Beauties of Jinling” of Dream of the Red Chamber.

  • 建康 (Jiànkāng)

    Name of the capital under the Eastern Jin and the Southern Dynasties.

  • 六朝古都 (Liù Cháo gǔdū)

    “ancient capital of Six Dynasties”

    Eastern Wu, Eastern Jin, Song, Qi, Liang and Chen all ruled from the city between 229 and 589.

  • 石头城 (Shítou Chéng)

    “Stone City”

    After the fortress built by Sun Quan on the cliffs of Qingliang Hill.

History

Sun Quan made the city capital of Eastern Wu in 229, and for three and a half centuries it was the centre of Chinese civilisation in the south while nomadic dynasties ruled the north. Destroyed by the Sui in 589, it revived under the Southern Tang in the tenth century. Zhu Yuanzhang made it the capital of the Ming in 1368 and built its colossal walls; after the Yongle Emperor moved to Beijing it remained the southern capital. It was sacked twice in the nineteenth century, in the Taiping war, and was the capital of the Republic of China. The Japanese army's capture in December 1937 was followed by the Nanjing Massacre.

  1. 229

    Capital of Eastern Wu

    Sun Quan moved his court to Jianye, beginning the city's history as a capital.

  2. 317–589

    Eastern Jin and the Southern Dynasties

    As Jiankang, the city was the largest in the world by some estimates and the centre of Buddhism, calligraphy (Wang Xizhi) and literature in the south.

  3. 937–975

    Southern Tang capital

    Li Yu, the last ruler and one of the great ci poets, lost his kingdom to the Song in 975.

  4. 1366–1393

    Ming city wall built

    Zhu Yuanzhang's wall ran for about 35 km, following the hills and lakes; around 25 km survive, the longest city wall remaining in China.

  5. 1405–1433

    Zheng He's fleets

    The treasure ships of the Ming voyages to the Indian Ocean were built in the Longjiang shipyards on the Yangtze at Nanjing.

  6. 1842

    Treaty of Nanjing

    Ended the First Opium War, ceded Hong Kong Island and opened five ports to British trade.

  7. 1853–1864

    Taiping Heavenly Capital

    Hong Xiuquan ruled from Nanjing until the city fell to Qing forces; the Porcelain Tower of Bao'en Temple was destroyed in the fighting.

  8. 1 January 1912

    Republic of China proclaimed

    Sun Yat-sen was inaugurated as provisional president in the former Viceroy's residence, now the Presidential Palace.

  9. 1929

    Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum completed

    Sun's remains were brought from Beijing to the mausoleum on the Purple Mountain.

  10. December 1937

    Nanjing Massacre

    Weeks of killing, rape and looting followed the Japanese capture of the city; since 2014, 13 December has been China's national memorial day for the victims.

  11. 1968

    Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge

    The first road-and-rail bridge across the lower Yangtze to be designed and built entirely by Chinese engineers.

Landmarks

  1. Historic site

    Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum

    明孝陵 (Míng Xiàolíng)

    Tomb of the Hongwu Emperor on the Purple Mountain, approached by a sacred way lined with stone animals; part of a World Heritage site.

  2. Historic site

    Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum

    中山陵 (Zhōngshān Líng)

    Granite stairway and memorial hall on the Purple Mountain's southern slope, designed by Lü Yanzhi.

  3. Historic site

    Ming city wall and Zhonghua Gate

    中华门 (Zhōnghuá Mén)

    The main southern gate, a fortress of three courtyards and vaulted chambers for troops; long sections of the wall can be walked.

  4. Museum

    Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre

    侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆 (Qīnhuá Rìjūn Nánjīng Dàtúshā Yùnàn Tóngbāo Jìniànguǎn)

    Memorial and museum at Jiangdongmen built over a site of mass graves.

  5. Museum

    Nanjing Museum

    南京博物院 (Nánjīng Bówùyuàn)

    One of China's major museums, founded in 1933, with a Republican-era main hall.

  6. Historic site

    Presidential Palace

    总统府 (Zǒngtǒng Fǔ)

    Ming prince's mansion, Qing viceroy's office, Taiping palace and seat of the Republican government.

  7. Street or quarter

    Confucius Temple and Qinhuai River

    夫子庙 (Fūzǐ Miào)

    The temple and the Jiangnan Examination Hall beside the Qinhuai, historically the entertainment quarter of the city.

  8. Temple or shrine

    Jiming Temple

    鸡鸣寺 (Jīmíng Sì)

    Buddhist temple on the site of a Liang-dynasty monastery, above Xuanwu Lake and the city wall.

  9. Temple or shrine

    Porcelain Tower and Grand Bao'en Temple

    大报恩寺 (Dà Bào'ēn Sì)

    Site museum of the Ming temple whose glazed pagoda was once described by European travellers as a wonder of the world.

Neighbourhoods

  • Xinjiekou

    新街口 (Xīnjiēkǒu)

    The commercial centre, laid out around a roundabout in the Republican city plan.

  • Yihe Road

    颐和路 (Yíhé Lù)

    Quarter of Republican-era villas and embassies under plane trees.

  • Laomendong

    老门东 (Lǎo Méndōng)

    Restored lanes of traditional houses inside the southern wall.

  • Hexi

    河西 (Héxī)

    New business district by the Yangtze, built for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.

Food

  • Salted duck

    盐水鸭 (yánshuǐ yā)

    Brined and poached duck served cold, the city's signature.

  • Duck blood and vermicelli soup

    鸭血粉丝汤 (yāxuè fěnsī tāng)

    Everyday soup of glass noodles, duck blood, liver and gizzard.

  • Nanjing xiaolongbao

    小笼包 (xiǎolóngbāo)

    Small soup dumplings, slightly smaller and thinner-skinned than Shanghai's.

  • Sweet taro soup

    糖芋苗 (táng yùmiáo)

    Small taros in syrup with osmanthus.

Culture

Nanjing combines the manner of a university city with the gravity of a former capital. The Qinhuai quarter was for centuries the setting of literature about scholars and courtesans, and the Jiangnan Examination Hall, the largest in the empire, tested tens of thousands of candidates at a time. The city is the home of Yunjin brocade and of Jinling Scriptural Press, and in 2019 became a UNESCO City of Literature. The plane trees planted along Republican avenues are part of its identity.

朱雀桥边野草花，乌衣巷口夕阳斜。

Zhūquè qiáo biān yěcǎo huā, Wūyī xiàng kǒu xīyáng xié.

“Wild flowers bloom by the Zhuque Bridge; at the mouth of Black Robe Lane the evening sun slants low.”

— Liu Yuxi, “Black Robe Lane” (乌衣巷), Tang dynasty, 9th century

Getting around

  • The Nanjing Metro covers the main city and reaches Lukou airport and the satellite districts.
  • Nanjing South is the main high-speed station on the Beijing–Shanghai line; Nanjing Station, by Xuanwu Lake, serves other routes.
  • Lukou International Airport lies south of the city.

Day trips

  • Qixia Mountain

    栖霞山 (Qīxiá Shān)

    Temple founded in the fifth century with a Southern Dynasties cave-carving cliff, known for its autumn maples.

  • Niushou Mountain

    牛首山 (Niúshǒu Shān)

    Buddhist mountain south of the city with a modern palace built to house a relic of the Buddha's skull bone.

  • Gaochun old street

    高淳老街 (Gāochún Lǎojiē)

    Ming and Qing shop street in the lake country at the southern tip of the municipality.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

  1. Nanjing Municipal People's Government — Nanjing Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
  2. Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
  3. Creative Cities Network — UNESCO (retrieved 27 September 2026)
  4. Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
  5. Nanjing — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)

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