This is how to plan your trip to Nanjing China
Must go places for food and where to stay.
First, let’s dive into food. There are three places that local Nanjing people go to.
1. 三七八巷 san qi ba xiang
2. 科巷 kexiang
3. 南湖 nanhu
1. san qi ba xiang 三七八巷, its a local fresh market for local, best to find breakfast.
Glutinous Rice Balls in Fermented Rice Wine Soup with Red Dates 酒酿红枣汤圆
Steamed Cake 蒸糕
Honey Glazed Lotus Root 蜜汁藕
Lotus Root Balls 藕圆
- 科巷 kexiang and 南湖 nanhu and you can go there for lunch or dinner.
- Top food to try are :
- Green dumpling 青团 sweet dessert
- 鸭血粉丝配烧饼 Duck Blood Vermicelli with Baked Sesame Cake
- 汤包 Soup Dumplings
- 鸡蛋汉堡 Egg Burger
- 德基扒鸡炸藕 Deji Braised Chicken and Fried Lotus Root
- 李记锅贴 Li’s Pan-Fried Dumplings
- 皮肚面 Skin belly noodles
- 南京烤鸭 Nanjing duck
- 梅花糕 Plum cake dessert
Where to stay?
- 夫子庙 Fūzǐ miào
- 大行宫 dà xínggōng
- 新街口 xīn jiē kǒu
Recommended to stay in these places because they are connected to the metro and have a lot of restaurants and shops nearby.
My hotel is Jinjiang Metropolo Nanjing Confucius Qinhuai Classical Hotel,锦江都城酒店, it is near 夫子庙 Fūzǐ miào, the station that I needed to alight is Sansanjie 三山街, if you are catching metro from the Airport. The fare is only 8Rmb, that is about SGD 1.50. Then I walked for 15 min to reach my hotel.
Transportation
If you are catching a flight to Nanjing, airport taxi to city center cost 100 to 200 rmb.(20 to 40 sing dollar By metro, you can catch S1 line to Nanjing Nan zhan 南京南站 Nanjing south station then change to line 1 or 3 to city center.
If you are arriving by high-speed train from Nanjing South Station (南京南站) or Nanjing Station (南京站), you will need to spend 20 to 40 RMB (4 to 8 sing dollar) to catch a taxi to the city center . If you are traveling light, you can take Line 1, which has a direct route to Xinjiekou.
In Nanjing the traffic is bad especially in city center, so sometimes catching metro is faster. Didi and taxi are very affordable when converting back to Singapore dollar. But Didi is a cheaper than taxi because some taxi they will charged more. Just give you an example when I called a didi from my hotel in Fuzimiao to President house, it cost about 20 rmb, that is about SGD4. If you have 4 pax, it is still worth to get a didi.
- 夫子庙 Fūzǐ miào is very close to 老门东 Lao men dong, these 2 are old traditional night market, best to visit at night for street food, restaurant, shopping, lantern lighting and boat ride along Qin Huai River. The crowd can get very big especially during weekends.
- 新街口 xīn jiē kǒu is a modern shopping street, there are lot of expensive shopping plaza and many restaurants too. There is a million dollars toilet that everyone will pay a visit when coming to Nanjing, located in Deji Plaza 德基大厦. Xinjiekou is also best to visit at night when the neon lights are on all the tall buildings.
Top places to visit
Day 1 President Palace 总统府
If you are reaching in the morning, go to this place first and understand the China modern history. You need about 2 hours. Once you gotten your ticket, please take a photo in front of the President house because that is the icon, also you won’t be exiting from the same place.
In the evening, you can go to Fuzimiao for dinner, street food, dessert house, boat ride. In Fuzimiao, there is also a temple called Fuzimiao.
Day2
- Ming Xiao Ling Mausoleum 明孝陵 Unesco World Heritage site
- Meiling Palace 美玲宫
- Zhong Shan Ling Mausoleum 中山陵
- Linggu Temple 灵谷寺
- Wutong dadao 梧桐大道
- Pigeon stage 鸽子台
All these places are at the same area, you can do it in a day. I recommended to get a didi rather than catching metro because you need to do a lot of walking. Don’t waste your energy on catching metro.
- Ming Xiao Ling Mausoleum 明孝陵 Unesco World Heritage site
Ming Xiao Ling Mausoleum itself is so big, there is even a Mei Hua shan 梅花山 inside, hectares of plum trees blossom with colorful plum flowers in March. You need about 2 to 3 hours here.
- Meiling Palace 美玲宫
Meiling Palace is just sit next to Ming Xiao Ling Mausoleum, you need 1 hour to visit. Inside you will find the thing that Mei Ling used, her piano, her drawing and extravagant flooring and dining area.
- Wutong dadao 梧桐大道
This is the the place where internet celebrities check in, the didi driver will pass through here and you can quickly shoot some photos.
- Linggu Temple 灵谷寺
I don’t have the energy to check on this temple. Furthermore there is on site transport to bring you but it cost 35rmb (SGD7) so I quit this places.
- Pigeon stage 鸽子台
You can buy the pigeon food and feed them, the pigeons aren’t afraid of human.
There is a package ticket for all the above site, only 100 Rmb (SGD20) but it does not include the on site battery transport.
- Zhong Shan Ling Mausoleum 中山陵
This is a free entrance site, there are over 300 steps to walk up. I didn’t have the energy to go.
Mind you there are lots of walking and you need a flat shoes, that’s why I arrange to visit these places on Day 2. Day 1 you are still tired after the night flight.
In the evening, you can go to Lao Men Dong for dinner and walk around the check out the old street in Nanjing. You will find 德云社, Deyun Crosstalk Association here.
Day 3
- Niu Shou Shan 牛首山
This is the new attraction and built with 4-billion-dollar temple. High recommend you to catch the in house battery car to go up to the top because the hill is too much to walk up.
In the evening you can catch metro to XinjieKou for dinner and the million dollar toilet.
Day 4
- Nanjing City wall 南京城墙
- Jiming si 鸡鸣寺
From the top of the city wall, you can view Xuan wu Lake 玄武湖.
Have your lunch and then catch the flight back to Singapore as the Scoot flight depart at 5pm so you need to be in the airport by 3pm. City center to airport is about 50 mins to an hour.
The restaurants that I’ve visited and highly recommended are:
- 小厨娘 – I like how the portion aren’t very huge and the taste are super delicious. 4.5/5 star
- 南城燕归楼
- 章云板鸭, this is not a restaurant but take away for the Nanjing duck.
Other places may interest you are:
- Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre, don’t wear bright colors when you visit here and be serious and no funny pictures.
- Nanjing Museum, closed on Monday. Foreigner can use passport to enter.
- Zhan Garden (瞻园)
- Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge 南京長江大橋
- Nanjing University