Nanjing City Wall

Introducing Nanjing City Wall
Nanjing City Wall is one of the key historical and cultural remains of Ming Dynasty(1386) under state protection. Nanjing City Wall is a masterpiece of China’s ancient architecture. Nanjing is one of the few cities in China that still have old city walls, and its City Wall is better preserved with most part still remained. Even though Nanjing City Wall has a history of about 600 years Nanjing City Wall is still spectacular and of great value in terms of cultural relics protection. It was the longest city wall in the world and the city enclosed by it remained the world’s largest until the 17th century.

Nanjing City Wall Fast Facts
• الاسم الصيني: Nan Jing Ming Cheng Qiang 南京明城墙
• أفضل وقت للزيارة: من مارس إلى مايو; من سبتمبر إلى أكتوبر
• ساعات الزيارة الموصى بها: حوالي 1 إلى 2 ساعات
• الأنشطة التي يمكن ممارستها: التصوير, التاريخ والثقافة, الهندسة المعمارية
• ساعات العمل: 08:30 – 17:00 (Shence Gate to Taiping Gate & from Fugui Gate to Lanqi Street); 08:30 – 20:00 (East Water Pass to Jiqing Gate); طوال اليوم (Qingliang Gate to Central Gate)
• رسوم الدخول: يوان صيني 30 (Shence Gate to Taiping Gate, including the City Wall Museum); يوان صيني 10 (Fugui Mountain to Lanqi Street); يوان صيني 50 (East Water Pass to Jiqing Gate, including the barbican of Zhonghua Gate); مجاني (Qingliang Gate to Central Gate)
• العنوان: منطقة شوانوو, نانجينغ, مقاطعة جيانغسو

What to expect at Nanjing City Wall

With an original perimeter of about 35 kilometers (22miles), Nanjing City Wal has a height 14-21 meters (46-67 feet). The footing has a width of 14 meters (about 46 feet). The present remains have a length of about 21 kilometers (13 miles). Each brick weighs about 10 kilograms with a length of 40-50 centimeters, وعرضها 20 centimeters and a height of 10 centimeters. The bricks are inscribed with the names of officials who were responsible for the quality of the bricks. Up to 350 million bricks were used to build the wall.

Nanjing City Wall is made up of four parts. From the outside first there is Outer City, Inner City, Imperial City and Palace City. في 1390, Outer City was built with a length of 180 kilometers (112 miles) in a diamond shape to strengthen defenses though it does not exist any more and only the names of the 18 gates are still used now. Nanjing City Wall we can see today is mainly the relic of the Inner City. The Imperial City was built to protect the Palace City, which is nicknamed ‘Forbidden City’ as it is the centre of the four walls.

Nanjing City Wall is an important cultural relic for the inscriptions on the bricks. The inscriptions come in two forms. One is from scholars and officials, the other from the artisan or folk people. The characters of the former is beautiful and elegant and contains the major calligraphic styles, the origin of one of the characters styles even cannot be traced. From here, you can see how Chinese characters developed and understand the multiculturalism of the Ming Dynasty. These inscriptions act like a historical scroll, recording the changes of the wall over dynasties. It provides an indispensable record for the study of Nanjing history.

Getting up on the Nanjing City Wall, visitors can have great views of the Xuanwu Lake, Zijin Mountain and Intercontinental hotel tower from Jiming Temple, إلخ.

How to get to Nanjing City Wall
• خذ خط المترو 1 to Zhonghua Gate or Xuanwu Gate.
• خذ الحافلة 2, 16, 49, 63, 202, 302, 701, 706, D18 or G5 to Zhonghua Gate.
• خذ الحافلة 1, 8, 22, 25, 28, 30, 33, 35 أو 56 to Xuanwu Gate.
• خذ الحافلة 10, 13, 30, 32, 33, 35. 42, 45, 54, 66, 69, 72, 73, 76, 315, 318, 501, 510, 555, أو 558 to Central Gate.
• Rent a car/bus from GGC to enjoy a hassle free private transfer from hotels in Nanjing to Nanjing City Wall.

Additional travel advice on Nanjing City Wall
• Please wear comfortable hiking shoes.
• It’s suggested to visit the wall in the morning or during the sunset. Please wear sunscreen, hat and sunglasses to prevent sunburns in the daytime.
• To enjoy the night view of the city wall, visitors should buy the night tickets for the south section (East Water Pass to Jiqing Gate), and ascend the wall from the north gate of Zhonghua Gate.