Nanjing City Wall and Zhonghua Gate

Ming Dynasty City Wall; Major Historical And Cultural Site Protected At The National Level · Nanjing, Jiangsu

The colossal brick wall built around Nanjing by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming dynasty, when he made the city his capital - in its day the longest city wall ever constructed. Work began in 1366 and took nearly three decades, and the inner wall eventually ran for about 35 kilometres, following hills, lakes and the Qinhuai River rather than a neat rectangle; about 25 kilometres still stand, making it one of the largest surviving city walls in the world. Its hundreds of millions of bricks were made in kilns across five provinces, and many are stamped with the names of the officials, supervisors and brickmakers responsible for them, an early system of quality control that visitors can still read today. The greatest of its gates is Zhonghua Gate in the south, a fortress of three successive courtyards and four gateways designed to trap attackers, with 27 vaulted chambers inside its walls said to have hidden thousands of soldiers and their supplies. Visitors can walk long stretches of the wall-top: from Zhonghua Gate along the river toward the Dongshuiguan water gate, or in the north beside Xuanwu Lake and Jiming Temple at Taicheng. The Nanjing City Wall Museum explains its construction, and at night the southern ramparts are lit above the Qinhuai River.

Zhonghua Gate, Qinhuai District, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Day visits about 8:30-17:00; night opening 17:00-22:00 April-October (last ticket 21:30) and 17:00-21:00 November-March (last ticket 20:30).

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