Ancient City Wall
Surrounded by spectacular mountains and the Yangtze River, a magnificent man-made wall encircles the entire city of Nanjing, the current capital of the Jiangsu Province.
Designed by the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Emperor Zhu Yuan Zhang, the wall was erected to protect the city, just as a mother does with her child, holding it close in her arms. At the time, Nanjing served as the capital of China which lasted for six dynasties. Today it is still one of the Four Great Capitals in China’s history.
This huge city wall project was constructed over a 21 year period (1366-1387); taking 200,000 laborers to move 7 million cubic meters of earth and place thousands of stone and brick. The ancient wall stands 33.7 kilometers long and has varying heights between 14-21 meters.
The Ancient City Wall or Ming City Wall still stands today as one of the longest surviving city walls in the world; a testimony to Chinese architecture, science, and technology. It is the pride of Nanjing’s people.
Best Time to Visit
The best time to visit the Ancient City Wall is the Lantern Festival (fifteen of the first month of the lunar year). At that time, sections like the tourism office and cultural relic bureau will organize a series of activities to celebrate the Festival of Nanjing Ancient City Wall.
Zhonghua Gate
Climb up a platform, visitors will have an impressive view over the Qinhuai River to the south and buzzing downtown to the north. Visitors can rent a bike and ride atop the wall to Dongshui Guan.
Dongshui Guan
Dongshui Guan, or the East Water Checkpoint, is a Ming watergate 2.7 kilometers to the northeast. It takes a 10 minutes bike ride along the wall from Zhonghua Gate to Dongshui Guan. In recent years, the gate and its surrounding area have been redeveloped into a 41,500-square-meter public park.
- How to Get There: Travel line buses 2, 4 or Buses: No.2, 16, 26, 33, 49, 88, 101, 102
- Ticket Price: RMB 15
- Opening Hours: 09:00 - 17:00