Nanjing Attractions

Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant

Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant a traditional Indian restaurant run by an Indian, the restaurant is not too big, but it can supply at least more than 30 customers at the same time.
The environment is traditional Indian looking, the food, the drinks will bring you to the real India. And a great part is they will play the Bollywood movies and Indian local TV shows all the time, singing and dancing, fantastic.
If you like curry and Bollywood movies come to Taj Mahal.

Opposite of Nanjing Police Station where you can get your visa stuff by the way. It`s on the Fengfu Lu and Shigu Lu, every taxi driver knows there and if you take the bus to Xinjiekou, say No. 16, 18, 33, 34, 35, 100,Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant will is within a walking distance.

Tan

Lee 5 Sens

Foreign Languages Bookstore

The Foreign Languages Bookstore has a small collection of English language books including classics and travel guidebooks. Their selection of HSK books and other Chinese language textbooks is not bad either.

Upstairs is an immense collection of books for studying English and other foreign...

Upstairs is an immense collection of books for studying English and other foreign languages.

How to Get There

It is about a 15 minute walk straight east along Zhongshan Dong Lu from the center of Xinjiekou. The center of Xinjiekou can be reached by subway or bus.

Links

Jiangsu Foreign Languages Bookstore (Chinese only)

HSK - Official Website

Bus No. 5 and 9 stops at the entrance.

Duokeduo Bubble Tea

Bubble tea, a drink containing milk-tea and gelatinous “bubbles”, can be found throughout Nanjing at street-side take-out vendors, restaurants of any price level, and even in convenience stores. It’s not uncommon to witness 2 or 3 different bubble tea vendors within shouting distance of each other each offering something slightly different. Despite the stiff competition it is clear that Duokeduo (多克多) maintains some of the most loyal customers of all. Customers patiently wait in long line-ups to pay twice the price of a normal take-out bubble tea. Many come for Duokeduo’s 7 yuan “Large Combo Bubble Tea” (全套奶茶, quántào nǎichá), which contains pudding, bubbles, small strips of chewy coconut and ice cream. Bubble teas are served in a variety of flavors such as papaya, original, strawberry and taro. It can be requested hot (热, rè) or cold (冷, lěng). The menu is in Chinese only.

The Duokeduo location next to Lion’s Bridge
Don’t worry, the line moves up fairly quickly.

Did You Know?

Bubble tea is also called “pearl milk tea” (珍珠奶茶, Zhēnzhū Nǎichá)

Duokeduo does not have a phone or an internet site and employees do not know the addresses of the other 4 Duokeduo locations in Nanjing. Why worry about attracting more business if there is already a long line of customers to serve?

How to Get There

Duokeduo is just around the corner from the south entrance to Lion’s Bridge (狮子桥, Shī ziqiáo). It is right next to the parking building and across the street from Yosemite (悠仙美地). Look for the red sign.

Jiuhua Hill and Xuanzang Temple

The dimunitive Jiuhua Hill (Jiuhua Shan) lies alongside the Ming City Wall and the south side of Xuanwu Lake. What draws most visitors to Jiuhu...

The dimunitive Jiuhua Hill (Jiuhua Shan) lies alongside the Ming City Wall and the south side of Xuanwu Lake. What draws most visitors to Jiuhua Hill is the Xuanzang Temple.

The monk Xuanzang journeyed to India to bring Sanskrit Buddhist texts back to China. He then spent much of the remainder of his life translating these texts. Xuanzang’s quest was the basis for the ultra-famous fictional story “Journey to The West”, a novel originally written during the Ming Dynasty. Journey to The West has since been the basis for a popular television show in China as well as the inspiration for the cartoon show and video game serious Dragon Ball Z.

Tunnel under Jiuhuashan

Bell on Jiuhuashan

Links Within Synotrip

Linggu Temple

Links Outside of Synotrip

More information on Xuanzang

A summary of Journey to The West

Comparison of Journey to The West and Dragonball Z. He is referred to as “Sanzang” and “Tang Seng” in this article.

To reach the main entrance by bus, stop at the Beijing Dong Lu (北京东路) bus stop and walk 3 blocks north down Jiuhuashan Lu (九华山路).

The rear entrance is along the city wall near Taiping Men (太平门).

Jiming Temple is only 15 minutes walk along Beijing Dong Lu or a 20 minute walk along the top of the city wall.

Ivy Food Store - Foreign Foods Convenience Store

The conveniently located Ivy Food Store carries a variety of foreign foods, sweets and liquor. Prices are accordingly higher than prices for foreign goods at larger supermarkets or grocery stores.

Other Ivy Food Store Locations in Nanjing

No. 389 Zhujiang Lu (珠江路389号)
+86 (0) 25 8322 8512

No. 1-5 Beimenqiao (北门桥1-5号)
+86 (0) 25 8471 8462

No. 48 Zhongshan Dong Lu (中山东路48号)
+86 (0) 25 8472 7027

No. 47 Guangzhou Lu (广州路47号)
+86 (0) 25 8330 6436

No. 10 Taiping Men (太平门10号)
+86 (0) 25 8466 4572

No. 59 Guanjiaqiao (管家桥59号)
+86 (0) 25 8473 2650

Nanjing Botanic Garden

The Nanjing Botanic Garden was opened on September 26th, 2005.

Nanjing Botanic Garden is located in the new city zone in Hexi. The garden covers an area of 0.77 square kilometers. The scale of the garden and volume of visitors it receives are...

The Nanjing Botanic Garden was opened on September 26th, 2005.

Nanjing Botanic Garden is located in the new city zone in Hexi. The garden covers an area of 0.77 square kilometers. The scale of the garden and volume of visitors it receives are impressive. Several large exhibition halls feature a variety of distinctive plants which represent every province in China as well as other nations, including Korea, Singapore, and Mexico.

How to get there

-Take No. 152 bus from Qing Liangshan Garden or take No. 109 bus from Wu Taishan.

-Take the subway to Olympic Sports Centre. From here several buses go to the garden which is actually only one bus stop distance away.

-Taking a taxi from Xinjiekou to the garden will cost around 25-30 yuan.

Estimated duration of a trip

A whole day. There are vendors that serve food and water in the garden.

Swede and Kraut Restaurant

Swede and Kraut serves Western cuisine in a cozy community-like atmosphere. High quality pasta, pizza and German-style meat dishes can be found here. The bread is baked fresh and is also sold at

Swede and Kraut serves Western cuisine in a cozy community-like atmosphere. High quality pasta, pizza and German-style meat dishes can be found here. The bread is baked fresh and is also sold at Skyways Bakery nearby.

Prices are comparable to those of other authentic Western restaurants in Nanjing. Expect to pay 120 to 250 yuan for a meal for two not including alcohol.

How to Get There: Swede and Kraut is located in an alley (南秀村, nánxiùcūn)) one block north of Hankou Xi Lu (汉口西路, hànkǒu xī lù). It is just a little bit farther down the alley than Behind the Wall Cafe.

Yes Club

If you are in the mood for something strange, then stop by Yes Club. Starting at 9:40 every night is a three hour series of performances that include singing, pole-dancing, a midget and a transvestite.

Drinks are priced at about 25-30 yuan, which is standard ...

Drinks are priced at about 25-30 yuan, which is standard in Nanjing.

Yes Club also has a series of KTV rooms. Attached to "Yes" is "Jimmy’s" - an American-owned and operated pizza restaurant and bar.

Nanjing Articles

Climate

Located in the subtropical climatic zone and surrounded on all sides by mountains which keep heat in，Nanjing is known as one of the three “furnaces of China” (the other two are Wuhan and Chongqing).

...

Nanjing’s average annual temperature is 15 degrees Celsius (59 Fahrenheit) and the annual average rainfall is 1106mm.

October is the best month to visit Nanjing. Travelers can beat the summer heat, avoid the cold of winter, and stay dry from the spring showers.

The summer temperatures range between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius (86 - 104 Fahrenheit), and often feels even hotter due to the high humidity. Air-conditioners are present in nearly every home, restaurant and car. Some buses have air-conditioning while others do not. Even if I walked on the street naked and constantly sprayed water on myself I would still be too hot in the summer. It is not advisable to go out much in the middle of the day. If you do go out, bring as much water as you can.

During winter the temperature occasionally drops below 0 degrees celsius (32 Fahrenheit), but usually it hovers around 5 degrees celsius (41 Fahrenheit). Interior heating is not standard inside apartments. Indoor public areas such as shopping centers and restaurants are usually warmer, but they are not always heated to the extent that people should need to take their jackets off. Layered clothing, a warm jacket, and an umbrella are appropriate during this season.

The middle of June in Nanjing is known as the "Mei Yu" or "wet" period. Nanjing residents can count on heavy and prolonged rainfall during that period. Sometimes, the rain lasts for several days at a time, so umbrellas are a necessity when venturing outside during this time.

Public Transportation - Buses and the Subway 公共交通-公共汽车和地铁

Nanjing has a busy bus system and a new and efficient subway line.

Buses

Buses without air conditioning cost 1 yuan per trip and buses with air conditioning cost 2 yuan. The extra yuan is surely worth it in the steamy summers. You can...

Nanjing has a busy bus system and a new and efficient subway line.

Buses

Buses without air conditioning cost 1 yuan per trip and buses with air conditioning cost 2 yuan. The extra yuan is surely worth it in the steamy summers. You can pay with an IC card or with 1 yuan coins. No change is given.

The bus stops can appear quite hectic. There are often a hundred people at one station, but buses arrive so frequently that there may be 3 or 4 buses stopped at one station at the same time.

If you don’t read Chinese it would be quite diificult to navigate the bus routes without planning ahead. The signs which display bus routes are only written in Chinese characters.

The roads in the Xinjiekou and Gulou often suffer from intense traffic jams in the middle of the day.

Subway

The No. 1 North-South subway line was put into operation in 2005. It has a length of 22 kilometers and has 16 stops.

The Nanjing Railway Station Station (yes I said station twice) connects so smoothly with The Nanjing Railway Station that you will not even realize they are two separate stations. This is very convenient for transporting large luggage in and out of the Nanjing Train Station.

Tickets cost between 2 and 4 yuan. It is a bit cheaper to use an IC card (see bellow). The ticket machines can take bills or coins and do give change.

The ticket machines also have English and are quite easy to use. They dispense blue tokens. These tokens are to be swiped on the way in and deposited on the way out. That is, when you approach the train you just swipe the token over the pad, and as you head upstairs to exit the station you deposit the token in the machine. Since the Subway was opened they have had plenty of staff on hand to assist passengers with purchasing and using tokens.

Trains arrive every 4 to 8 minutes and run between 6:30am and 10:00pm.

Click here for a map of Nanjing City or here for a map of the subway system only.

For more information (in Chinese) check www.nj-dt.com.

IC Card

An IC card can be used to access both the buses and the subway. The IC card is called a “yue piao”(月票). It can be recharged inside subway stations but can only be purchased at Huaxia Bank (华夏银行). Each branch of Huaxia bank has a dedicated counter for this purpose. It is also possible to recharge a yue piao at some Suguo convenience stores.

The IC card gives you a 20% discount on bus fares and a very small discount for the subway. On buses the card can be swiped several times to pay for you and your friends. However, the IC card can only be swiped once per trip on the subway.

A list of Huaxia Bank locations.

Extra Information About the Subway

The Nanjing municipal government first committed to building a subway line in 1984. However, the plan was not carried out until 2001. After four years of hard work and expenditures totaling more than 8.5 billion yuan (about 1billion USD), the No. 1 subway line began operating in August of 2005.

Le Metro was designed by the French company ALTSOM. Each train has a capacity of 1860 people.

The No. 2 East-West line, with a length of 25 kilometers, is already under construction. It is planned to be completed in 2008.

Taxis 出租车

Taxis cost 8 yuan for the first 3 kilometers and 2.4 yuan for every additional kilometer. Starting in mid-June 2006 there is also an additional hidden 1 yuan fee because of high gas prices which takes the minimum prices up to 9 yuan.

To give you...

To give you an idea of what it costs to get around it would be about 9-12 yuan to get from Xinjiekou to Hunan Road and 9 yuan to get from Xinjiekou to Nanjing University. Getting to Purple Mountain should cost 20 yuan from Xinjiekou or 30 yuan from Hunan Road.

Taxi loading area in Xinjiekou district, Nanjing

Taxi drivers do not speak English, and most of them do not speak standard Mandarin either. They speak Nanjingese (Nanjinghua). Generally speaking, drivers are quite familiar with the city. Every taxi driver should know the most popular areas, and they will likely know the central areas in enough detail that they can navigate their way in and out of the alleys between major roads.

There have been some reports that taxi drivers sometimes pass off fake bills as change. If you want to be safe, be sure to carry bills that are 20 yuan or under.

Top Nanjing Tours

$50 Per Day

Nanjing Hiking tour with local tour guide Sam

It`s springtime, it`s hiking time!

This tailor-made tour is for people who like nature, history, and hiking!

Ming Tomb (Admission: FreeCNY) - Nanjing became the capital of China when Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty in 1368. During his reign, Zhu Yuanzhang built the great city walls of Nanjing, the imperial palace, and his future tomb - the Ming Tomb in Nanjing. The Ming Tomb is a certified UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a must-see for travellers to Nanjing.

It`s springtime, it`s hiking time!

This tailor-made tour is for people who like nature, history, and hiking!

Xuanwu Lake (Admission: Free) - Close to the city center and featuring 368 hectares of water and 104 hectares of land, Xuanwu Lake Park is a favorite getaway for locals. Well before the sunrise and even after sunset, the park is bustling with visitors. Some come to walk, jog, or fly kites, others to practice Tai Chi, and many more just want to enjoy the scenery.

Nanjing Food Court - my favorite local Nanjing restaurant, Nanjing people like to go there with family. It`s a resultant with a lot of Nanjing local food and ancient style of decoration, at night they will have Kunqu playing, coolest restaurant ever.

City Wall (Admission: 45CNY) - Nanjing City Wall, constructed during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties between 1365 and 1386, originally stretched over 30km which made it the longest city wall in the world. Now, with about two thirds of the wall still intact it still remains the longest city wall in China. We could walk on the city wall and feel the history of Nanjing.

*Please contact me for daily tour fees, i charge by per tour, not per person.

$80 Per Day

Relaxing Hot Spring Tour at Tangshan Area

Nanjing Tangshan is famous for the hot spring, hot spring is good for your skin and health, and relaxing your body and get rid of the press.

Maybe you don't like all the tourist attractions in the downtown, here would be one of another option.

This tour will be only visit 2 attractions and the rest will be spend the whole time in the hot spring. Or, if you prefer, you can only go for the spring.

Tour plan would be:

Hotel pick up -----> Yangshan Stele -----> Tangshan Ancient Ape Man Caves -----> Hot Spring -----> Send back to hotel.

Nanjing Tangshan is famous for the hot spring, hot spring is good for your skin and health, and relaxing your body and get rid of the press.

Maybe you don't like all the tourist attractions in the downtown, here would be one of another option.

This tour will be only visit 2 attractions and the rest will be spend the whole time in the hot spring. Or, if you prefer, you can only go for the spring.

Tour plan would be:

Hotel pick up -----> Yangshan Stele -----> Tangshan Ancient Ape Man Caves -----> Hot Spring -----> Send back to hotel.

Since Tangshan is a little town outside of Nanjing city and it`s quite far away, i would suggest to use a private car to drive there directly.

$40 Per Day

Nanjing nightlife tours - Bar crawling

In recent years Nanjing’s nightlife scene has undoubtedly changed for the better. The 1912 bar district is a common place to start a tour of Nanjing’s nightlife as it features Nanjing’s largest concentration of bars and clubs. Besides 1912, bars, pubs, clubs, karaokes, restaurants and not-so-mentionable locales are dispersed across the city, especially near Xinjiekou and close to the student population.

Nail Jazz Bar is a light bar with good Jazz muisc, live sometimes, they have over 50 kinds of imported beer from all over the World, the Draft beer Hoegaarden is with special roam and taste, for lady, here have over 100 cocktail to choose, lovely and enjoyable. The price here is quite as other bars, short cocktail for 28 Yuan, long drink cocktail for 38 Yuan. Hoegaarden draft beer, 38 for 0.3L and 68 for 0.5L.

Behind the Wall - A cozy atmosphere, decent food, live music and cheap margaritas make Behind the Wall a popular hang-out, especially with the foreign student population. Inside, Behind the Wall’s three rooms are linked by over-sized arched doorways, and provide seating for groups of two to ten. Mexican, Latin and Greek cuisine is served. The drink menu is varied and not too expensive by Nanjing standards - margaritas are served for only 15 Yuan from Sunday to Thursday.

Castle Bar - Castle Bar is lively on weekends and can become packed during special events. However, during weekdays staff members often outnumber customers. A good place if you like dancing.

Secco Restaurant and Bar - Great German restaurant and bar in Nanjing, they have a good rang and selection of cocktail made by a German, he is also the manager there, really strict to every cocktail he made, always bring you the best taste.

Finnegans Wake - A traditional Irish bar in Nanjing,offering Kilkenny, Guinness and strongbow cider on draught.

Please contact me for daily tour fees, i charge by per tour, not per person.

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