Covering an area of more than 70,000 square meters, Nanjing Museum is the first large-size national comprehensive museum, proposed by Mr. Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940), who was a modern democratic revolutionary and educationist. There are two major exhibition halls in the style of the East and West at NanJing Museum, which collects 400,000 objects ranging from the Paleolithic Age to present age, including stone vessels, potteries, jades, bronzes, porcelains, paintings, calligraphies, ancient books and so on. Among these collections, 1062 are listed as first-class relics of China, and some 10 collections are considered as national treasures.
Chinese name: 南京博物院 (Nanjing BoWuyuan)
Location: No. 321, East Zhongshan Road, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province.
Opening time: 09:00-16:30.
Entrance fees: 4,000 tickets are distributed for free every day; ID card is needed).
How to get there:
- Take bus No.5, 9, 29, 36, 51 or 55, get off at the station of Zhong Shan Men (中山门, Zhongshan Gate).
- Take tourist bus No.1, 2 or 5, get off at the station of Zhongshan Gate.
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is the largest imperial tomb in Nanjing City and is also one of the largest imperial ones in China. It took about 17 years to construct this mausoleum, where Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and his Queen Ma were buried.
Chinese name:明孝陵 (Ming Xiao ling)
Location: at the foot of Wanzhu Peak of Zhong Mountain, east suburb of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province.
Opening time: 08:30-17:00.
Ticket: CNY 70.
How to get there:
- Take bus No.2, 20 or 315, get off at the station of Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.
- Take tourist bus No.3 and get off at the station of Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.
- Take subway Line 2 and get off at the station of Ming Xiaolling Mausoleum.
Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum
Covering an area of more than 80,000 square meters, Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum, which is regarded as "the greatest mausoleum in modern architectural history of China", is the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), the great forerunner of the Chinese democratic revolution. It is Dr. Sun that ended the 2000-year-old feudal monarchy system of China and started the Chinese democratic revolution.
Chinese name: 中山陵 (Zhongshan ling)
Location: on the Zhong Mountain Scenic Area(钟山风景区), at the south side of Zijin Mountain (紫金山), east suburb of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province.
Opening time: 08:30-17:00 (The Sacrificial Hall and the Burial Room are closed every Monday).
Entrance fees:
-The mausoleum itself is free to visit (including Fraternity Square, the Mausoleum Passage, the Stele Pavilion, the Sacrificial Hall and the Burial Room) and only 10,000 tickets are provided per day.
- Ticket of the Open-air Music Hall: CNY10.
How to get there:
-Take bus No.9 or tourist bus No.1, 2 or 3 and debus at the station of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum, then go to the site by tourist vehicle or on foot.
-Take subway Line 2 and get off at the station of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum, and then take a tourist vehicle to the site.
Confucius Temple ( Fuzimiao )
The temple was constructed in order to worship a man named Confucius, one of ancient great minds of China's Spring and Autumn Period (771-476 B.C.) who is remembered and revered for his social philosophy. Confucius personally espoused social virtues such as sincerity, righteousness, personal and governmental ethics, and the importance of social relationships. In time, his collected thoughts gained a following as they were inherently compatible with traditional Chinese values rooted in the concepts of filial piety, proper social hierarchy, and respect for one's ancestors. Confucius' teachings eventually culminated into a philosophical system, known as Confucianism in the West, which has since become an inseparable facet of China as well as East Asia's cultural fabric. The impressive Confucius Temple in Nanjing is but one of the many shrines that have been constructed in East Asia in dedication to the ancient sage.
Chinese name: 夫子庙 (Fuzimiao)
Location: Gongyuan Street, Nanjing.
Entrance fees: CNY 15 for Dacheng Hall and CNY 40 for access to all four of the temple's attractions.
Opening time: 08:00-21:00.
How to get there:
-Bus: You can take Public Bus No. 1, 4, 7, 15, 40, 44, 49, 62, and 304 as well as Tourism Bus No. 2 to the Fuzimiao stop at the temple.
-Subway: The closest subway station to the temple is Sanshan Street which can be reached via Subway Line 1.
