Nanjing City, Jiangsu, China Travel Review – Part 1

Who doesn’t know that China is a country with an enormous geographical span? There are numerous cities and tourist attractions spread across the country. It could often be difficult to decide which Chinese cities to visit. I personally feel that if you are travelling in China then a trip to Nanjing is virtually a must. In fact, I visited Nanjing in March, 2018 – and I’m more than glad I did so. My trip to Nanjing started from Suzhou and then visited Hefei. During the return of the trip, I also stopped in Changzhou.

I’ll be writing a couple of posts about travelling in Nanjing – the former capital of China. In this post, I am going to share some general observations about the city. In the next post (Nanjing City, Jiangsu, China Travel Review – Part 2), I’ll further write about the top things to do in Nanjing.

Where is Nanjing?

Well, Nanjing is located in the eastern part of the mainland China, and in the south-western part of Jiangsu province. Geographically, the city is very close to Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, etc. Nanjing is currently serving as the administrative capital of Jiangsu province of China.

Related post – Nanjing Nightlife near Fuzimiao Confucius Temple – China Tours and Travel Attractions.

Nanjing is the former capital city

Well, Nanjing has been the capital of China for the very long period of time, that too again and again. The Ming Dynasty transferred China’s capital from Nanjing to Beijing. Subsequently, the language around Beijing (and northern China) was adopted as the common language of China, now widely known as the Mandarin Chinese.

Nanjing is a cultural city

Since Nanjing was a capital city for long years, the city hosts a good number of China’s cultural heritage sites. The historical sites (such as the Gate of China) are well preserved and protected – thanks to the efforts of the Chinese government and local authorities.

In fact, there are a variety of tourist attractions in Nanjing, such as museums, historical well-preserved monuments, art galleries, exhibitions, nightlife, dance hall, KTV, etc. No matter what your travel taste looks like, Nanjing has got something in store for you. As such, the city would never fail to amaze.

Nanjing is a big city

Chinese cities are usually huge, so is Nanjing. The tourist attractions are spread across the city and you’ll need to use a correct navigation system to find out the attractions and scenic spots. Don’t be surprised if you feel lost in the hustle and bustle of the city. I’d strongly recommend using Baidu Map.

How much time you need for Nanjing?

There are simply too many tourist attractions to see and explore in Nanjing city. Make no mistake, you need to dedicate at least 4-5 days to experience the city’s rich cultural heritage. My general suggestion would be to not rush in any Chinese city. Come to China with as much time in hand as you can have – you’d love it over here.

Nanjing railway stations

There a couple of railway stations in Nanjing, such as-

1. Nanjing Railway Station (南京站, Nánjīng zhàn)
2. Nanjing North Railway Station (南京北站, Nánjīng běi zhàn)
3. Nanjing South Railway station (南京南站, Nánjīng nán zhàn)

The Nanjing South Railway station is often the source/terminal station for the high-speed trains (高铁, Gāo tiě, speed >300km/hr). That means, if you chose a high-speed Shanghai-Nanjing train, you’d get down at the South station. In fact, there are so many direct trains running between Shanghai and Nanjing, throughout the day. A one-way journey from Nanjing to Shanghai (or vice versa) ticket fare is approximately RMB 140, and it’d take nearly 1.5 hours to get to your destination.

Nanjing hotel and accommodation

There are a good number of accommodation options available in Nanjing, such as backpacking, homestays, apartments, etc. My suggestions would be to stay in the city center area. For example, you can try to stay near Fuzimiao Xiuxian Jie (夫子庙, Fūzǐ miào).

In Chinese, Fuzimiao means Confucius Temple, and obviously there is a very famous Confucius Temple close to Fuzimiao Xiuxian Jie. Moreover, the Fuzimiao Metro station is also named after the great Chinese philosopher.

There are so many eating options and tourist attractions at a 1-2 minutes walking distance from the Fuzimiao Metro station.

Btw, staying in the city center area might be slightly expensive, but I think it’s worth it – especially if you are a single dude willing to mingle with the locals or beautiful Asian ladies. 🙂 After all, the city center would be the hot-spot of cultural activities. As such, unless you are going through some serious financial difficulties, there is absolutely no need to compromise on housing.

Nanjing subway and bus card

Nanjing subway offers a comfortable and cheapest way to explore the historical city. There are so many subway lines connecting a variety of Nanjing tourist attractions. You are recommending to buy a Nanjing Subway/bus smart card at any subway station. The card can be bought from the automatic vending machine for RMB 35, then top-up as much you want. The card payments are accepted by both Alipay and WeChat).

The same card could be used in both the buses and subways. Moreover, there are discounts available if you pay fares using the smart-card.

In general, no matter which Chinese city you go to, try to buy a city card – it’d be convenient to use. Not to mention, the card saves your time, and some amount of money as well.

Nanjing weather

I think the month of March is a great time to visit Nanjing. You’d never feel tired travelling when the temperature is around 15’C. In fact, there could be occasional rains, but that’d do more help than to damage your trip.

Moreover, it’s the spring season and the flowers are in full bloom- so the city looks very beautiful in March. Overall, I’d recommend travelling to Nanjing in March.

An Expensive city

Well, I think Nanjing is overall an expensive city as compared to Suzhou or even Hangzhou (but may be cheaper than Shanghai). The food was expensive, so was the accommodation. However, museums and public transports didn’t look expensive.

Top things to do in Nanjing

I’ll be writing a separate post about the best things to do in Nanjing city.

If you have to visit only a few places in Nanjing, then you can probably include a trip to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre (free entry) in your itinerary.

Nanjing food

Chinese food is my favorite and Nanjing didn’t disappoint me at all. Food is omnipresent in Nanjing – just walk around and if you see a long queue behind a food stall, join them. The Fuzimiao area could be a great place to explore traditional Nanjing food and desserts.

Nightlife

Nanjing seems to have a vibrant nightlife scene. You should wander around the Fujimiao area. There are some traditional evening dances organized near the Confucius temple (free). Moreover, quite a few temples are especially decorated in the night with beautiful lightings (including the Confucius temple).

You can also take a boat ride in the canal from the Wende Bridge (文德桥, Wén dé qiáo). The ticket counter is located just next to Confucius temple – RMB 80.

Nanjing dance halls

I tried to find dance halls in Nanjing but didn’t have any good experience. I located the halls using Baidu Map, but when I reached to them, I found that most of the halls were closed.

One of the Halls turned out to be a KTV center. I was asked to pay RMB 900 for 1 hour and a girl was supposed to keep me engaged for whole duration. RMB 500 for 30 minutes. I didn’t join the KTV and simply returned.

I feel that Suzhou has a bit better nightlife or dance hall scenarios as compared to Nanjing.

Related post- MeiMei Dance Hall, Suzhou.

Overall, I think that Nanjing is a must visit city in China. Most of the time you could manage daily life using English. However, in order to ensure a better travelling experience in China, you are recommended to learn basic Mandarin.

Also, if you can make payments using Alipay, use Baidu Map, and use WeChat, you are going to have a much better travelling experience in Nanjing and elsewhere in China.

That’s all in this post about travelling in Nanjing city 🙂

Do check out my other posts about the former capital city (Nanjing City, Jiangsu, China Travel Review – Part 2).

If you have any question about travelling in Nanjing, feel free to post in our forum so that others could also contribute and learn. For regular updates like us on Facebook, or follow on Twitter!

If you find the write-ups useful, don’t forget to buy me a beer!

Happy travelling in Nanjing.

Cheers!

Last updated: Saturday, May 5, 2018