Vacation in Nanjing China with Asian Vacations, Inc.

Ming Xiao Ling (Xiao Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty)
Ming Xiao Ling is the Mausoleum of Emperor Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The construction started began in the year 1373 and was completed in 1413 taking 38 years to complete the project. Dismounting Archway is the first construction you will see in the Mausoleum. On the archway, several characters were carved to demand both civil officials and military officers must dismount their horses and sedan chairs on upon seeing this archway. North to of the Dismounting Archway is the main entrance of the mausoleum. Now Presently, there are only three arched gates made of brick and stone existing that exist. Passing through the boulevard, you can see the Tablet Pavilion which composes composed of four walls, for which it is called as Sifang Cheng (square town). Inside the Tablet Pavilion is the Tablet praising the supernatural exploits and holy quality of Emperor Tai Zu. The Tablet itself is 8.87 m high with 2,700 characters carved on it. The approach to the tomb is a road known as the Sacred Way. This way is lined with gigantic stone statues: 12 pairs of 6 kinds of animals such as lions, elephants, horses and mythical animals. With four to a group, two are in the a sitting position and two are in the a standing position. There are eight stone general and official statues of four pairs as well. Passing the main entrance, you will see another Tablet Hall, where stands Zhilong Tang Sung Tablet on which Kangxi's calligraphy was carved. It reads "Reign the country as prosperously as the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) and Sung Dynasty (960-1279 AD)". Kangxi, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD) wrote these words when he did during his third southern inspection tour. Sacrificial Hall is just 56 m away from the Tablet Hall. Here, sacrificial ceremonies used to be held, and Memorial Tablets were erected to commemorate Emperor Tai Zu and his wife Queen Ma. The present three-room building was built during the reign of Emperor Tong Zhi of the Qing Dynasty.

The Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat sen
Dr. Sun Yat-sen, forefather of the Chinese revolutions, led the Chinese people against the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was is remembered as a national hero who brought China from a feudal, semi-colonial society in to a republican one. He devoted more than 40 years of his life to the cause of the liberation of the Chinese people. In his last years, his policy of uniting the Soviet Communists and the Chinese Communists proved his dedication to the sake of the country, not just simply for personal consideration. Because of which he had winning won world-wide praise and support. He was greatly respected by Chinese people of different parties and nationalities and was honored as "Father of the Country" by the Nationalist Party. The site where he is buried has become a famous tourist attraction in terms of historical significance and natural beauty. The mausoleum has been one of the key sites under national protection since the early 1960s. Dr. Sun Yat-sen died in Beijing in 1925, and was buried in 1929 in Nanjing at the southern foot of Mao Mountain, the second highest peak of the Zijin Mountain. The Mausoleum leans against blue Mountains and opens to the a flat area. The designing of the mausoleum attracted many architects and after extensive and intensive studies of all the designs, the present one was selected. The construction of the mausoleum finished was completed in 1929 and it covers an area of 80,000 sq.m. The coffin chamber stands at an elevation of 164.7 m above sea level and 73 m above the entrance archway with a totally of 292 stone steps from the memorial archway leading to the coffin chamber. The designer, Lv Yanzhi, put the main constructions such as the Memorial Arch, Tablet Pavilion, Sacrificing Hall and Coffin Chamber on the central axis and shaped the whole mausoleum as like a bell which symbolized symbolizing the spirit of Dr. Sun who contributed himself to wake up the Chinese people against oppression and aggressions. Across the square is a big stone arch with two characters "Universal Fraternity", which was the philosophy Dr. Sun promoted. Passing through the arch, there is the tomb passage with a length of 375 m in length and a width of 40 m wide. The main entrance of the mausoleum is a three arched gate, on which Sun Yat-sen's calligraphy is carved. It reads reading "the whole world as one community". Behind the gate is a Tablet Pavilion. A tablet with "Burial Site of Prime Minister Dr. Sun by the Nationalist Party of China" stands inside the pavilion. The tablet is 9 m in height and 5 m in width. Going Looking upward, you can see the Sacrificing Hall. On the lintel of the three arched gates, is engraved "Nationalism, Democracy and the People's livelihood" which stands for the quintessence of Dr. Sun's spirit. Above the hall is a dome-shaped roof, and in the middle of the hall is the stone-sculpture statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen in a sitting position. Relief carvings are found around the hall on the walls. The content of the relief is about Dr. Sun's biographical experiences. The last part is the coffin chamber, which is 18 m in diameter and 11 m in height. In the middle is a white marble coffin on which a marble likeness is lying on the its back sculpted by a well known Japanese sculptor. The coffin was located in the coffin pit, which is 1.6 m below the marble floor. As soon as the person who calls to pay respects enters the coffin chamber, he will lean towards the Dr. Sun's statue spontaneously. This kind of architectural lay-out is the first one of its kind in China. Beside the Mausoleum there are other memorial constructions, such as Cuanghua Pavilion, an octagonal stone pavilion, Musical Platform built in 1932, Yangzi Pavilion and so on. After your visit of this mausoleum, you will have learned a lot about the Chinese modern history in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, a drastic transitional period in Chinese history.

Confucius Temple (Fuzimiao)
As we know, Confusius Temples are found in many cities and towns in China, of course Nanjing is of no exception. However, the Confucius Temple in Nanjing is so special that you have to must go there to see it because it has been the center of culture, commerce and life for the citizens of the city since its founding in the early 11th Century in the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 AD). The Temple lies on the north bank of Qinhuai River, which was built in the early 11th Century and had been destroyed many times in throughout history. In 1034 (the Sung Dynasty), it was enlarged into 3 architectural complexes and has been the commercial and cultural center ever since. In front of the temple, an 110 m long stone and brick screen wall had been built on the southern bank to form a semi-circle around the river. It is the longest screen wall in China. There are also Lingxing Gate, Dacheng Gate, Dacheng Hall, Kuixing Tower and Juxing Pavilion within the temple. In 1985, the government of Nanjing City rebuilt the street by the river in the style of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD) and turned the Imperial Academy into a commercial and entertainment place with tea houses, restaurants, movie theatres, opera theatres, peddler markets and many other kinds of recreational facilities.

The Qinhuai River
When you visit the Confucius Temple, you are actually very close to the Qinhuai River, or to be exact, already within the river scenery. The city of Nanjing has been known as "Qinhuai of ten li (5km) long and capitals of six dynasties." The Qinhuai River runs through Nanjing and divided the city into the Inner River and the Outer River. Since ancient times, the river has fostered numerous beautiful sights and sounds, poems and stories in southern China. It was well known for its picturesque scenery in ancient times with houses and halls on both sides of the river, green windows and red doors reflected in the moonlit rippled water. one on top of the other. The sounds of water lapping gently against boats and oars formed a kind of light music. The scenery was especially magnificent on grand occasions with boats lighted by beautiful lanterns winding their ways like a floating, flaming dragon. Fortunately, these ancient charming sights and charms have been brought alive after years of restoration on purpose by the municipality of Nanjing. Today, on top of what you can enjoy in ancient times, you can enjoy even more here, and you are sure to be intoxicated intoxicating by the sights and sounds. The river is lined with tea houses, restaurants, brothels and stores; crowded with boats, bright lanterns in the evenings, music and laughter. Now it has become the most unique cultural area with distinctive local characteristics which combine combining commerce, tourism and folklore. Major sights are the Confucius Temple, Tribute Courtyard, East and West Markets, and Folklore Museum, to name a few.

Linggu Temple
The temple used to be a large one and covered covering an area of over 500 mu but was unfortunately damaged during the war in the reign of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD). The present temple is one part of the original temple and is the only temple that survived among more than 70 temples built in the Southern Dynasty in Mountain Zhong. Wuliang Hall lies within the Linggu Temple. It was constructed in 1831, and is 22 m high and 53.8 m wide. Since the Buddha of Infinite Life was offered here to be worshiped, the temple was named Wuliang meaning "infinite". The hall enjoyed great popularity due to its special architectural techniques. It is the biggest largest and oldest no-trussing hall in China. It was built by piling up bricks without a single pillar or beam from the bottom to the top. Since "no-trussing hall" has the same pronunciation in Chinese with the "infinite hall", the hall can also be called Wuliang hall meaning "no-trussing hall". In November 1928, the government of Nationalist Party decided to replace the Linggu Temple with the cemetery for sacrificed soldiers. More than 33,000 soldiers' names were carved on the hall. Three-superb Tablet: There is a painting of Monk Baozhi, painted by Wu Daozi, a famous painter in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), a poem written by Libai, an outstanding poet in the Tang Dynasty, and calligraphy written by Yan Zhenqing, a well-known calligrapher. For As the painting, poem and calligraphy are all rated as superb works of art, the tablet was honored as "Three-superb Tablet". The present Tablet is a duplicate by Monk Fa Shou in the Qing Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Qian Long. The Linggu Pagoda is in the back of the Linggu Temple, built in 1929, and originally named as memorial pagoda for sacrificed soldiers in the national revolution. It was reinforced with concrete, it stands over 60 m high. A spiral staircase will leads you to the top story of the pagoda.

Yuhuatai Cemetery for Revolutionary Martyrs
Yuhuatai means a platform with yuhua (yu means rain, hua means flower, tai means platform) pebbles. It is a mound 60 m high and 2km wide, lying 1km away from the Zhonghua (center) Gate. Legends says that there was once an accomplished monk in the Liang Dynasty who expounded the texts of Buddhism here. He explained the scripture so well that the heavenly god was moved and flowers began to rain down. The flowers rained here later on became this kind of Yuhua pebbles only found on this mound and thus the mound was called Yuhuatai. But from 1927 to 1949, more than 100,000 patriotic personages were killed here by Guomindang. So after the founding of the Peoples Republic of China (1949 to date), it was turned into one of the largest cemeteries for Revolutionary Martyrs. At present, museums and memorial halls have been built here for to commemorate these people. There is also an exhibition hall for displaying all many kinds of collected beautiful yuhua pebbles.

Zhan Yuan Garden
It This is a classic Chinese landscaped garden with a history of spanning more than over 600 years. It used to be a western garden for Xuda, Zhongshan (central mountain) King in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The garden was built for him as a reward because he was one of the key figures in founding the Ming Dynasty. During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Eastern King Yang Xiuqing lived here. But the garden was damaged after the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In 1960, it was restored and renovated by the government, retaining the main characteristics of the original garden. In May 1958, a museum dedicated to Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was built here.

Xi Yuan Garden
Xi Yuan (Western Garden), lies to the west of the remains of Tian Wang (Heavenly King) Palace of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It was built during the reign of Emperor Dao Guang of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD). The Garden is fascinating for its delicate designs. For example, The Untied Boat is one of the most attractive spots here in the garden.. The stone boat is 2.7 m wide and 15.4 m long in an artificial oblong pool. On the boat, two characters, "untied boat" were engraved. Both sides of the boat are connected with by banks by winding bridges.

Xuanwu (black dragon) Lake:
The Xuanwu Lake is in the northeast portion of Nanjing City near the railway station. The lake covers an area of 444 ha with a coastline of 15km in circumferences. According to the legend, in the Southern Dynasty a black dragon was seen in the lake. Chinese Daoists believed that the black dragon was a water god appeared appearing as the uniform of a turtle and snake, called Xuanwu. Hence the lake was called Xuwu Lake. Another legend said stated that when Sun Quan, the King of the Eastern Wu Kingdom settled down in the region, he brought water in and made this lake. Geological study shows that the lake was actually formed by the movements of the geological plates when Mountain Yanshan was formed. In the long history of China, the lake had has been used by many dynasties as an ideal place spot to train their waterborne troops. Many military demonstrations had been held here and a lots of battles were fought here. Therefore, the lake was also called "Military Rehearsal Lake" or "Kunming Lake". At the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD), it was turned into a park. The lake today is much more beautiful with its water and colorful mountains. The lake itself is surrounded by mountains on three sides and water on one side. In the middle of the lake there are five islands, each of them stands for one great continent in the world and is connected with by bridges and dams. In addition, each island has its own name and distinctive characteristic. While Huan Island is famous for its willow trees in the mist, Ying Island is popular for its vast varieties variety of flowers known as the "Sea of Flowers"; While Ling Island is sought after for its rolling hills in the fog, Liang and Cui Islands are respectively famous for autumn chrysanthemums and cloud trees.

Mochou Lake
This Lake has a lakeside of 5km in all and covers a land and water area of 40 ha. It enjoys a fame of being the first scenic spot in Jingling (another name for Nanjing). It was said that in the Southern Qi Dynasty, a girl named Mochou (no worry) from Luoyang city married to Nanjing. She was mistreated by her mother-in-law and missed her hometown. She often spent her time on the lakeside in a sad and nostalgic mood, hence the lake got Mochou as its name. This is after all, a legend, but actually the lake itself, about two thousand years ago, was the bed of the Yangtze River. Historical records of the lake were only found in the late Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD) and early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). (around 14th Century). When Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty chose Nanjing as his capital, Mochou Lake was built as the residential place for his close minister Xuda, a very powerful and influential figure in the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Then it was then built into a park and the scenery was so beautiful that people honored it as the number one sight in Jinling. In the its long history, the lake experienced numerous ups and downs and lots of beautiful poems were written praising the scenery. The beautiful park was destroyed by wars and fires in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD) when Xianfeng was the emperor. It was rebuilt again in 1871 and turned into a park in 1929 but was unfortunately destroyed again in the Anti-Japanese War and Liberation War and was virtually abandoned until the 1950s. There are many scenic spots in the lake, but the most famous of all is the Shengqi Tower (Chess-winning Tower). It was said that Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty often played chess with Xuda here in this tower. Xuda was an excellent player but he often deliberately lost. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang knew his intention. He was unhappy and demanded that he should play with all his skill. Xuda agreed but tactically won the Emperor by arranging the chessmen in the shape of a Chinese character "longevity". Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was so pleased that he gave the tower under which they played chess as a gift to Xuda and named it as "Winning Chess Tower". Today, the lake is restored and enlarged into one of the largest gardens in Nanjing. On the one hand, it keeps the historical face of the lake, and on the other hand, created a lot of scenery. The layout of the lake structure is the combination of traditional Chinese architecture among trees and flowers, water and mountains. In the west of the Shengqi Tower is the Yujin Hall, where you can see the imagined portrait of Mochou girl and a huge Chinese character "swine" by artists from the Qing Dynasty. Out of the tower to the west you can see the Watching Fish Pond. Winding your way through the corridors and steps further up closer to the Square Pavilion, the beautiful scenery will remind you of many charming poems in praise of the lingering waters amid the purple mountains, with the white mists afloat in the sky around rolling peaks like silk ribbons, willows swinging swaying in the wind beside the lakeside reflected by water ripples rippling in front of the stone city.

Zhonghua Gate
Zhonghua Gate, also called the South Gate, is the largest gate and the best preserved one gate in the Nanjing City Wall. Because of a legendary story of burying a Treasure Collecting Pot during the construction of the gate, it was also called as "Treasure-collecting Gate". The gate from south to north is 128 m in depth, 118.5 m in width wide and was built with huge granite rectangular stones and bricks. Besides the normal facilities of a typical city wall like the compound, the draw bridge, the watching towers and ramparts, the most particular unique structure of this city wall gate was its special cave where soldiers were would hide. Inside the gate are 27 caves, each could capable of hide hiding more than 100 soldiers. Despite all these mentioned above, it also has three successive barbicans and four successive arches that which are linked up. It is rare to have such large-scale and carefully-designed gate in the world.

Xixia Mountain
Xixia Mountain is especially famous for its beautiful autumn scenery with fire-red maple tree leaves covered covering the whole entire mountain. In ancient times, it was named "Mountain She",. It lies 22km northeast of Nanjing City. Xixia Temple lies at the west foot of Xixia Mountain. and It has had a history of reaching more than 1,500 years. From 484 to 511 AD, 294 niches were cut on the cliffs and 515 statues of Buddha were carved. Since then people called it "Thousands-Buddha Cliffside". Later in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), Sung Dynasty (960-1279 AD), Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD) and Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), people cut niches on the cliffs successively. Now, the number of niches is totals 294 and the statues of Buddha are over 700 in number. Among these statues, the biggest largest one can reach dozens of meters, but while the smallest one is only several inches high. Before the Thousand-Buddha Cliffside is a pagoda, on which there are relief carvings of the Four Heavenly Guardians, statues of Buddha and Buddhist scriptures. It was built in 601 AD and is regarded as an art treasure in Buddhism.

Nanjing Yangtze River Grand Bridge
This bridge was the first one designed and built by the Chinese people and used as the example of self-reliance for the Chinese. It flies 6,772 m across the Yangtze River between Xiaguan and Pukou. It is a combined bridge with a double-track railway and a highway. The grand bridge is supported by 9 biers. On each head of the bridge there are a pair of bridge towers 70 m high. The construction started began in 1961 and finished was completed in 1968. Now the bridge is regarded as the symbol of Nanjing.

Nanjing Museum
Nanjing museum was originally set up in 1933, covering a space of 12.9 hectares. Due to warfare, only the construction of human culture hall was completed as planed. Now to the west of the hall, an archaized show hall has been constructed, having a floor space of 12,600 sq. m and consisting of treasure hall, bronze ware hall, porcelain ware hall, painting hall, jade hall, embroidery hall, pottery hall, lacquer ware hall, folklore hall, modern arts hall and calligraphy and painting hall of celebrities. The museum has a collection of more than 420 thousand pieces, including about 2,000 rare and valued ones. Calligraphy and painting works from ancient dynasties collected by the museum exceed 30,000, including those valuable from the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 AD) and the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD). Among them, Paleolithic stone wares, colored pottery wares, bronze wares of the West Zhou Dynasty (1027 or 1022 - 221 BC) and the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC), gold beast, jade dress sewn with silver thread, gold seal of a Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) prince and other articles are all treasures, worthy of studying and appreciating. Note: A Mysterious Beast-Shaped Zun in Celadon: This mysterious beast-shaped zun (wine vessel) in celadon is from the Western Jin Dynasty (265 - 316). It was unearthed from the Tomb of Zhou Chu in Yixing City, Jiangsu Province, and is now in the Nanjing Museum. The zun is 27.9 cm high and has a mouth 13.2 cm in diameter. Its body is carved with a mysterious beast shaped like a toad. The beast has round eyes, a large nose, projecting teeth, and a wide-open mouth holding a pearl. Zhou Chu was from the Western Jin Dynasty. He was ill behaved during his childhood, and even as an adult, he was considered a troublemaker by the people in his hometown. Later, Zhou realized the error of his ways and devoted himself to doing good for the local people. Eventually, he was elected an official in the central government of the Western Jin Dynasty. The fierce beast on the zun symbolizes the crudeness of Zhou Chu in his youth.

Zijinshan (Mt. Zijin) Observatory
The observatory is located on the west peak of Mt. Zhongshan. Constructed in 1934, it is the first modern observatory built by Chinese in China. Thus, it occupies a very important position in the history of Chinese astronomy. Considered the cradle of modern Chinese astronomy, the observatory still keeps ancient astronomical instruments invented by the Chinese as a tribute to her forbearers. The exhibits, full of artistic and scientific values include: The Celestial Globe was invented by Zhang Heng, an outstanding astronomer in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 AD-220 AD), it was used to locate the position of celestial bodies and define their rotations. The one displayed here was made during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD). Measuring one m in diameter, it is inlaid with 1,449 stars, the ecliptic and the equator. The Armillary Sphere is an invention of this instrument that dates back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). It was used to locate celestial bodies and define their movements. The bronze one kept here was made in 1437 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The Sundial - a bronze instrument was invented more than 3,000 years ago. It was used to define the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms and the length of the tropical year. The one on display was made in 1439. The Altazimuth is an instrument, made at the end of the Qing Dynasty, was used to locate celestial bodies and determine their heights. Cable Car: �25