Presidential Palace (Nanjing)

Seat Of The Republic Of China Government And Of The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Palace Before It · Nanjing, Jiangsu

The best place in China to walk through the political turmoil of the last two centuries, a compound of courtyards, offices and gardens in central Nanjing that served in turn as a Ming princely residence, a Qing viceroy's yamen, the palace of the Heavenly King of the Taiping rebellion, the seat of Sun Yat-sen's provisional republican government in 1912 and finally the presidential offices of the Nationalist government until 1949. The buildings tell the story in layers: a grey stone gatehouse with the characters for Presidential Palace above it, corridors of 1930s offices with heavy wooden desks and black telephones, the small room where Sun Yat-sen was sworn in, and beyond them the Xu Garden, a classical Jiangnan garden of ponds, rockeries and a marble boat first laid out in the Ming dynasty and rebuilt by the Taiping king. Exhibitions cover the Taiping rebellion and the republican era in detail. It sits a short walk from the city's main museums and gardens, and its garden makes the visit as pleasant as it is instructive.

Presidential Palace, 292 Changjiang Road, Xuanwu District, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Tuesday-Sunday about 8:30-17:00, closed Mondays except public holidays; entry by real-name timed booking (check).

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