I have been to many cities, and the one I remember most is Nanjing City, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, where purple gas comes from the east. Here are the sunset at the entrance of Wuyi Alley and the swallow in front of Wang Xie Hall; there are business women who do not know the hatred of the country but still sing flowers across the river; there are also the scenery of the Qinhuai River with green water and holding Zhu towers; There are also many 480 temples in the Southern Dynasty with many towers in the misty rain; and there are also massacres that carry the history of humiliation of the Chinese people. The endless stories that have been told for thousands of years are now welcoming the vicissitudes of life in the torrent of history and staying together with the eternal feelings of Jinling.

Every year in late autumn, I see various gorgeous autumn photos on the Internet. A visit to Qixia Mountain in Nanjing was planned a few years ago, but it is delayed every year for various reasons. China's three major maple spots have already been to Beijing's Fragrant Hills, but Jinan's Red Leaf Valley is not particularly longing for it, but only the five words Qixia Mountain in Nanjing are remembered. Seeing that 2020 was about to pass away under the ravages of the COVID-19 epidemic, I happened to be in time for my girlfriend to have a weekend break, so in late November of that year, I took the train to Nanjing again.


Qixia Mountain is located in Qixia District, Nanjing City. It is also known as Shashan. It is known as the "No. 1 Mingxiu Mountain in Jinling." During the Southern Dynasties, the mountain was built with the "Qixia Jingshe", hence its name. After getting off at Nanjing Railway Station, there is a direct bus, but it takes about an hour. If you use self-driving navigation, you can search for "West Gate of Qixia Mountain", but during the Red Leaf Festival, traffic jams near Qixia Mountain are quite serious. When I went there, I saw that the subway was under construction. I believe that when it is completed in the future, it will definitely alleviate the problem of traffic congestion and make it more convenient to enjoy Qixia in autumn.


Entering from the west gate of Qixia Mountain, the first thing that comes into view is Qixia Temple surrounded by red leaves. Famous mountains are equipped with ancient temples. Qixia Mountain has been a Buddhist holy place since the Southern Dynasties. Qixia Temple is the first of all temples and one of the four major ancient temples in China.


This ancient temple seemed peaceful and quiet even when there were many tourists. Although it was damaged by the war, it was reborn after continuous repair and protection by future generations.


Green smoke curled up, and huge ginkgo trees waited beside Qixia Temple like guardians on the left and right. Good men and women silently begged to worship. If you are not a believer, you can walk through the temple just to enjoy the beautiful scenery.


After passing through Qixia Temple, you can see the Qixia Temple Sili Pagoda. It is a Buddhist stone pagoda during the Five Dynasties in China and the largest stupa in China. In the distant Southern Dynasties, this was a wooden tower. The existing one is a stone pagoda, which was rebuilt during the Southern Tang Dynasty. The stone carvings on the tower body are still lifelike today.


Go around the stupa three times under the stupa to protect peace, and then there is Qianfo Rock. Since you cannot take photos of Buddha statues, you ignore this attraction. At this point, the tour of Buddhist culture in Qixia Mountain is basically over. Go up the mountain and pass the Qianlong Palace ruins. After about 20 minutes of climbing, you will reach Xiaoyingpan. This was the location of the Royal Forest Army responsible for protecting the emperor's safety when Qianlong was in Qixia Temple.

Now you can take the scenic bus to the top of the mountain here, or you can walk up the mountain along the wooden sightseeing trail while enjoying the maple scenery. Personally, I recommend walking because Qixia Mountain is not too high. It takes less than an hour to get from Xiaoyingpan to the top of the mountain, and the trail is always accompanied by beautiful red leaves.

Standing on the top of Qixia Mountain, Fengxiang Peak overlooks the Yangtze River, and the scene of hundreds of boats competing to flow and thousands of sails competing together is impressive in front of your eyes. It started to rain when I went, so the view was not very good and it was white.


Going down the mountain from Fengxiang Peak, you can also go to the Hongye Valley if you have time. After all, those who come to Qixia Mountain during this season are to admire the red leaves. The best route to enjoy the red leaves is personally recommended from Xiaoyingpan to Fengxiang Peak. It still takes 4- 6 hours to visit the entire Qixia Mountain.


After I came out of Qixia Mountain, due to the rain that day, there were much fewer tourists than usual, so the traffic jam was not particularly serious. There is a red leaf special bus to the Presidential Palace in the parking lot at the entrance of the scenic area, 20 yuan per person. There are also many private cars that drive passengers to the subway entrance, and the prices can be negotiated. My planned itinerary was to go to Dabaoen Temple, so I directly called a taxi and arrived at Dabaoen Temple Ruins Park in about an hour.


Dabaoen Temple Ruins Park is located outside the Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing. If you plan to climb the Nanjing City Wall, you can visit it together. In addition to Buddhist culture, this place is also quite suitable for girls to take photos. There are also specially rented Han costumes and ancient costumes at the entrance, and you can also take a photo shoot.


Dabaoen Temple uses modern technological lighting to create a Buddhist themed visual show. With its profound historical and cultural heritage, tourists can feel the resplendent glory of the year.






I was originally doing guides before going, but when I saw the photos online, I was really shocked by the scene here. In addition, my girlfriend originally wanted to take a costume photo shoot, so she spent more than 300 yuan here in Dabaoen Temple and had their photographer take 20 photos of her girlfriend directly. The shooting locations are various classic scenes in the ruins park.


The high-profile glazed pagoda in the ruins park was not rebuilt as it was in history, but was reproduced in the form of a light steel-frame glass protection tower. There is an elevator in the tower, which can go directly to the top floor to enjoy the 360-degree view of Nanjing's Urban area.


Since the 5 o'clock Baoen Temple Ruins Park was closed, you walked 5 minutes after coming out of the park to the entrance of the Zhonghua Gate City Wall. There will also be a light show on the Nanjing City Wall at night, but due to the heavy winter rain that day, there are not many tourists on the city wall.




Zhonghua Gate, known as Jubao Gate in the Ming Dynasty, is the main south gate of Nanjing City. Among the thirteen city gates in the inner city of Nanjing City Wall, the castle-style gate is second only to Tongji Gate in size. It is also the largest existing castle in China and the most well-preserved and most complex structure in the world. The ancient castle, fortress Weng City.






When climbing the city wall from Zhonghua Gate, the security guard enthusiastically asked if he had been to Laomen East. If you have not been there, walk east for ten to twenty minutes after climbing the city wall and get down to the first entrance. That will be the gathering place of Nanjing's delicious food-Laomen East.


Because it is located east of the south gate of Nanjing's capital (i.e. Zhonghua Gate), it is called "Gate East". It is opposite to the west of Laomen and is an important part of the Qinhuai scenery belt of Nanjing Confucius Temple.


The history of Laomen East Street can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms Period. The most famous person on this street now is probably Deyun Society. Tickets here are very difficult to get. My girlfriend originally planned to come to Deyun Society to listen to a cross talk in a small theater, but she couldn't get tickets and had to give up.


You can see the program list through the doors and windows. The most famous one should be Yue Yunpeng's apprentice Shang Xiaoju. I remember when I went to the Guangde Tower Theater in Dazhalan in Beijing three years ago, tickets for the small theater were not as difficult to get now.


After having a full meal and wine in Laomendong, continue walking for ten minutes and you will reach the Qinhuai River Confucius Temple scenery belt. Nanjing Confucius Temple is located on Gongyuan Street on the north bank of the Qinhuai River in Nanjing and west of Jiangnan Gongyuan. It is the Nanjing Confucius Temple. It is a place where Confucius is worshipped and worshipped. It is the first national highest academic institution in China and one of the four major Confucian temples in China.


Nanjing Confucius Temple, as a landmark attraction in Nanjing, is a place where every visitor to Nanjing must check in. It is a large-scale ancient building complex, mainly composed of three major building complexes: Confucian Temple, Xuegong Palace, and Gongyuan. It is known as a scenic spot in Qinhuai and has become a characteristic landscape area in the ancient capital of Nanjing.


This poem "In the old days, Wang Xie Tang was in front of Yan and flew into the homes of ordinary people" comes from here-Wuyi Lane. After several renovations, this street has become more lively than when I came here a few years ago. Different times and different people, the same thing is the same street and the lingering rain in Nanjing.


Confucius Temple in Nanjing is dedicated to Confucius. In ancient times, when establishing schools, Confucius was always worshipped. In fact, the Confucius Temple is not much different from other Confucian temples in other places. It is mainly adjacent to the Qinhuai River, and the night lights are beautiful, so tourists are attracted to stop.








On the east side of Confucius Temple, there is a Jiangnan Gongyuan. When I came to Nanjing a few years ago, I was still repairing and rebuilding. Today, I can see the truth under the autumn rain and cold wind.


Due to the rainy weather, the photos did not capture that artistic conception. The sunken Chinese Imperial Examination Museum now completed allows me to learn about the Chinese imperial examination while hiding from the rain.


The Imperial Examination Museum has sunk more than 30 meters, creating a modern museum underground. There is also a book bar and tea drinks inside, where tourists can stop and take a nap and read books.


In ancient times, there was only one way to change one's destiny, and that was to obtain fame. All things are inferior, but only reading is superior. In fact, if you think about it, it's not like this now.




I visited the Qinhuai River Confucius Temple scenery belt in the rain at night and could find a nearby place to stay. But because I wanted to go to Ming Xiaoling early the next day. So I took Metro Line 2 to Alfalfa Garden or Xiamafang Station to find a nearby place to stay.


Pictures of the most beautiful 600-meter Shinto have recently become popular on the Internet. Even if they arrived at Ming Xiaoling before 9 a.m., there were still many tourists. I entered from Gate 1 of the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, which is the junction of Shinto and Shixiang Road.






After entering the door from Gate 1 of the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, we first traveled the most beautiful 600-meter journey, and then returned the same way. A winding Shinto leads directly to Baocheng. From ancient times to this day, the mausoleum roads of emperors have been straight. Only the Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty is curved, because Zhu Yuanzhang saw Sun Quan's tomb here and respected Sun Quan as a hero and appreciated each other. Therefore, he ordered his own mausoleum road to make way for Sun Quan's tomb.












In the 38th year of Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1699), Emperor Kangxi went to Jiangnan to pay a visit to Xiaoling and inscribed the stele "Governing the Tang and Song Dynasties" on the stele pavilion.


At the end of the mausoleum road is the Fangcheng Minglou of the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum. You can climb the tower and overlook Zhongshan Mountain. Now it seems that tourists are forbidden to enter the back mountain beyond Minglou. Last time I came to Nanjing, tourists came down from the mountain, but it was said that there was nothing on the mountain.




The picture below shows the passage to Dengming Tower.


After climbing the Ming Tower, my vision was not good because of the rain, so I could only see the lush jade trees nearby and pedestrians in twos and threes.


Coming out of the No. 3 gate of the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, you can see a large area of metasequoia. This is also a popular check-in place on the Internet recently. Presumably, if we catch the sunny days and blue skies, the scenery should be more beautiful.








Zhongshan Scenic Area includes Ming Xiao Mausoleum, Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Music Platform, Meiling Palace, Linggu Temple and other scenic spots. It may take two to three days to visit the entire Zhongshan Scenic Area. Therefore, many tour groups and even free travelers will choose several of these attractions to visit. I think the one you have to choose must be Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum.


Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum is the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and its affiliated commemorative buildings. It is a national 5A-level tourist attraction and is known as the "first mausoleum in the history of modern Chinese architecture."


Climbing the entire Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum is not too tiring. It takes about half an hour to reach the top of the cemetery and see Sun Yat-sen's white jade statue.




The mausoleum buildings are symmetrically arranged on the gentle slope at the southern foot of Zhongmao Mountain according to the north-south central axis. Looking down from the sky, the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum is like a reclining "freedom bell", meaning "Muduo warns the world".










After coming down from Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, there is the music stage opposite. Both attractions will usually be selected together. There is a seller selling pigeon feed on the music station for 5 yuan per pack. Many Republic of China film and television dramas will be filmed here.


The stage area of the music stage is nearly 250 square meters. There is a large arc-shaped light wall behind the stage. The wall is 11.3 meters high and 16.7 meters wide, which has the function of gathering sound. There is a crescent lotus pond in front of the stage. A fan-shaped auditorium is built in front of the pool along the slope, which can accommodate more than 3000 spectators.


Coming out of the music station, take the sightseeing train in Zhongshan Scenic Area and you can go directly to Meiling Palace. It is actually not far from Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum. Looking down from the sky, Meiling Palace is a locked-shaped pendant composed of sycamore trees in Zhongshan Scenic Area.


Meiling Palace is the villa where Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Song Meiling stayed. It is officially called the "Official Residence of the Chairman of the National Government" and is known as the "First Villa in the Far East".


Looking down from the sky, the overall design of the building built along the mountains is like a string of pearl necklaces inlaid with emeralds. The ring roads leading to the main building of Meiling Palace on both sides and covered with French sycamore trees are "necklaces". The entrance is the connection of the "necklaces", and the dark green glazed tiles are like the jewel pendant of the necklace.










This picture tells us how big the background of the Song family is. The three Sisters of the Song family are definitely indispensable and important families in the history of the Republic of China.




Due to time constraints, I left Meiling Palace and took a bus directly to the Presidential Palace. It was already three o'clock in the afternoon the next day.


Since modern times, the Nanjing Presidential Palace has many times become the center of China's political and military affairs and the source of major events. A series of major events in China have occurred here or are closely related to it, and many important figures have acted here.


On the large oil painting after entering the presidential palace, my girlfriend suddenly laughed. The reason was that she said that the two people looked like Yang Di and Shaobing. This oil painting turned out to be the greatest gain and joy of her trip to Nanjing.


The Bazimen in the Presidential Palace was the place where Chiang Kai-shek welcomed and saw off guests. Many important group photos of the Ming government were also taken here. It can be said to have witnessed that short historical period.


In Chiang Kai-shek's office, the desk is placed obliquely. Listening to the tour guide was to see what his political opponent Li Zongren was doing anytime and anywhere.




The Nanjing Presidential Palace Building Complex covers an area of about 90,000 square meters. It contains both ancient Chinese traditional Jiangnan gardens and modern architectural relics with the west wind spreading eastward. It is divided into three areas. In addition to the office space during the Republic of China, this is also the so-called "Imperial Garden".




In fact, if you have time, you can visit the Presidential Palace slowly. Not only does it have the government office address during the Republic of China, but it also has an exhibition of cultural relics from the Taiping Rebellion period. However, when I went this time, the exhibition area was under maintenance and was not open.




Outside the Presidential Palace, next to it is 1912 Bar Street. In recent years, this street has become Nanjing's most fashionable district.


The buildings of the Republic of China, the fashionable bars, and the city's living rooms.


I remember the last time I came to Nanjing, I had a Nanjing food stall on Hunan Road. Now I also have this restaurant on 1912 Bar Street. The decoration is still ancient.


After having dinner in the 1912 block, it takes a fifteen minute walk to Xinjiekou, Nanjing Commercial Center. It is a shopping paradise, with all kinds of luxury brands, and of course there will be affordable consumer groups.


Finally, I took the subway from Xinjiekou to Nanjing Railway Station, ending a two-day weekend tour in Nanjing. In particular, there are more than 20 subway entrances at Xinjiekou Didi Station in Nanjing. Standing in the center of the circular subway entrance, you have to think twice about even navigation.


It was still rainy when I came to Nanjing again. Nanjing becomes Jinling in late autumn. It took two days to go to Xuanwu Lake, Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall and other attractions. In this ancient capital of thirteen dynasties, it will take at least four days to deeply appreciate the depth and inclusiveness of this city.