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Nanjing
(Chinese: ??; Romanizations: Nánj?ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of China's Jiangsu Province, and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. Nanjing (literally: 'Southern capital') served as the capital of China during several historical periods, including as the former capital city of Republic of China, and is listed as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Nanjing is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure, enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly less than that of a province. Located in the lower Yangtze River drainage basin and Yangtze River Delta economic zone, Nanjing has always been one of China's most important cities. Apart from having been the capital of China for six dynasties and of the Republic of China, Nanjing has also served as a national hub of education, research, transportation and tourism throughout history. With an urban population of over five million, it is also the second largest commercial center in the East China region, after Shanghai.
Geography and climate
Nanjing Area - Lower Yangtze Valley and Eastern China 
Spring 
Summer 
Autumn 
Winter Nanjing has a humid subtropical climate and is under the influence of the East Asia Monsoon. Seasons are distinct in Nanjing, with usually hot summers and plenty of rainfall throughout the year. Along with Wuhan and Chongqing, Nanjing is often referred to as one of the "Three Furnacelike Cities" along the Yangtze River (????????) for the perennially high temperatures in the summertime.[1] The average temperature during the year is . The average high temperature in January is while the average low is ; the average high in July is with an average low of .[2] The highest recorded temperature is (July 13, 1934), and the lowest (Jan 6, 1955). On average it rains 117 days out of the year, and the average annual rainfall is . The time from mid-June to the end of July is the plum blossom Meiyu season, during which the city experiences a period of mild rain as well as dampness. Nanjing is endowed with rich natural resources, which include more than 40 kinds of minerals. Among them, iron and sulfur reserves make up 40 percent of those of Jiangsu province. Its reserves of strontium rank first in East Asia and the South East Asia region. Nanjing also possesses abundant water resources, both from the Yangtze River and groundwater. In addition, it has several natural hot springs such as Tangshan Hot Spring in Jiangning and Tangquan Hot Spring in Pukou. Surrounded by the Yangtze River and mountains, Nanjing also enjoys beautiful natural scenery. Natural lakes such as Xuanwu Lake and Mochou Lake are located in the center of the city and are easily accessible to the public, while hills like Purple Mountain are covered with evergreens and oaks and host various historical and cultural sites. Sun Quan relocated its capital to Nanjing after Liu Bei's suggestion as Liu Bei was impressed by Nanjing's impeccable geographic position when negotiating an alliance with Sun Quan. Sun Quan then renamed the city from Moling (??) to Jianye (??) shortly thereafter. [3] HistoryAncient times
Devil-face city wall. Built by State of Chu in 333 BC 
The City Wall of Nanjing, the world's longest. Built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Nanjing first became a capital in AD 229, where Sun Quan of the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period relocated its capital to Jianye (??), a city he extended on the basis of Jinling Yi in AD 211. After the invasion of the Five Hu, the nobles and wealthy families of the Jin Dynasty escaped across the Yangtze River and established Nanjing as the capital, which was then called Jiankang (??). Thereafter, Jiankang remained as the capital of Southern China during the North-South Division period, until Sui Dynasty reunified China and destroyed almost the entire city, turning it into a small town. The city was reconstructed during the late Tang Dynasty. It was again named capital (then known as Jinling (??)) during the short-lived Southern Tang Kingdom (937 ? 975) (who renamed it Xidu), who succeeded the Wu Kingdom. [4]Jiankang's textile industry burgeoned and thrived during Song Dynasty despite the constant threat from the northern foreign invasions. The Mongolians, the occupiers of China, further consolidated the city's status as a hub of the textile industry under the Yuan Dynasty. 
Divine Trail, located in Eastern Suburb Scenic Area of Nanjing, was built in the Ming Dynasty 
Jiming Buddhism Temple It is believed that Nanjing was the largest city in the world from 1358 to 1425 with a population of 487,000 in 1400. [5] During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Nanjing area was known as Jiangning (??) and served as the seat of government for the Liangjiang Viceroy. Nanjing was the capital of the Taiping Kingdom[6] in the mid-19th century, being renamed as Tianjing (??) (lit. Heaven's Capital). Both the Viceroy and the Taiping king resided in buildings that would later be known as the Presidential Palace. As Qing general Zeng Guofan retook the city in 1864, massive slaughtering occurred in the city with over 100,000 committing suicide or fighting to the death. After 1911
The President House of the Republic of China, when Nanjing was its capital In 1927, the Kuomintang (KMT) under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek again established Nanjing as the capital of the Republic of China, and this became internationally recognized once KMT forces took Beijing in 1928. The following decade is known as the Nanjing decade, as they used the Presidential Palace in Nanjing as their headquarters. World War II
Nanjing Massacre Memorial In 1937, the Japanese army invaded and occupied the Capital city of Republic of China - Nanjing, and carried out the systematic and brutal Nanking massacre. The total death toll could not be confirmed, since no official records were kept, and is often contested, but most estimates put the number of dead between 200,000 and 350,000.[7] The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall was built in 1985 to commemorate the event. After the conquest of the city, the Imperial Japanese Army established the bacteriological research Unit 1644, a section of Unit 731, where Japanese doctors experimented on humans. [8] A Japanese-collaborationist government known as the "Nanjing Regime" or "Nanjing Nationalist Government" led by Wang Jingwei was established in Nanjing as a rival to Chiang Kai-Shek's government in Chongqing, and after World War II, the KMT relocated its central government to Nanjing. After 1949
Nanjing downtown, 2007 Until 2002, the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of China (Taiwan), as well as textbooks published in Taiwan, referred to Nanjing as the official capital of the Republic of China, while Taipei is just its temporary capital. It has long been rumored that Nanjing might be split from Jiangsu Province in future years and become its own municipality, but the rumour was never officially confirmed. Government and administrative division
President House of Republic of China, when Nanjing was its capital 
Nanjing (People's Republic of China) Municipal Hall Nanjing currently consists of thirteen county-level divisions, of which eleven are districts, and two are counties. The districts are the urban areas of Nanjing while the counties are the rural areas governed by the city.
Nanjing is divided into different districts and counties. The districts listed below are eleven urban districts and two counties: 
Current Districts of Nanjing (2006) Districts:
Counties:
The current partition of districts of Nanjing might change in the future. There was a rumor that Lishui County would be designated as a new urban district in the near future. Demographics
According to the Fifth China Census, the total population of the City of Nanjing reached 6.24 million in 2000. The statistics in 2007 estimated the total population to be 7.4 million, while the registered population was 6.172 million. The birth rate was 8.7 percent and the death rate was 6.22 percent. The urban area had a population of 5.344 million people. As in most of eastern China the ethnic makeup of Nanjing is predominantly Han nationality (98.56 percent), with 50 other minority nationalities. In 1999, 77,394 residents belonged to minority nationalities, among which the vast majority (64,832) were Hui nationalities, contributing 83.76 percent to the minority population. The second and third largest minority groups were Manchu (2,311) and Zhuang (533) nationalities. Most of the minority nationalities resided in Jianye District, comprising 9.13 percent of the district's population. In 2003 the sex ratio of the city population was 106.49 males to 100 females. Economy
A night view of Nanjing city in 2006 shows the central business district's skyline Early developmentSince the Three Kingdoms period, Nanjing has become an industrial center for textile and mint owing to its strategic geographical location and convenient transportation. During the Ming Dynasty Nanjing's industry was further expanded, and the city became one of the most prosperous cities in China and even the world. It led in textile, mint, printing, shipbuilding and many other industries, and was the busiest business center in the Far East. Into the first half of the twentieth century, Nanjing gradually shifted from a production hub into a heavy consumption city, mainly because of the rapid expansion of the wealthy population after Nanjing once again regained the political spotlight of China. A number of huge department stores such as Zhongyang Shangchang sprouted up, attracting merchants from all over China to sell their products in Nanjing. In 1933, the revenue generated by the food and entertainment industry in the city exceeded the sum of the output of the manufacturing and agriculture industry. One third of the city population worked in the service industry, while prostitution, drugs and gambling also thrived. In the 1950s, the CPC invested heavily in Nanjing to build a series of state-owned heavy industries, as part of the national plan of rapid industrialization. Electrical, mechanical, chemical and steel factories were established successively, converting Nanjing into a heavy industry production center of East China. Overenthusiastic in building a ?world-class? industrial city, leaders of Nanjing also made many disastrous mistakes during the development, such as spending hundreds of millions of yuan to mine for non-existent coal, resulting in the negative economic growth in the late 1960s. Today
Daxinggong CBD 
Xinjiekou Commercial Area The city government is further improving the desirability of the city to investors by building large industrial parks, which now total four: Gaoxin, Xingang, Huagong and Jiangning. Despite the effort, Nanjing's Gross Domestic Production is still falling behind that of other neighboring cities such as Suzhou, Wuxi and Hangzhou, which have an edge in attracting foreign investment and local innovation. In addition, the traditional state-owned enterprises find themselves incapable of competing with efficient multinational firms, and hence are either mired in heavy debt or forced into bankruptcy or privatization. This has resulted in large numbers of layoff workers who are technically not unemployed but effectively jobless. In recent years, Nanjing has been developing its economy, commerce, industry, as well as city construction. In 2007 the city's GDP was RMB 327.5 billion (3rd in Jiangsu), and GDP per capita was RMB 44,852, a 15 percent increase from 2006. The average urban resident's disposable income was RMB 20,317, while the average rural resident's net income is RMB 8,020. The urban unemployment rate was 3.26 percent, lower than the national average (4.0 percent). Nanjing's Gross Domestic Production ranked 15th in 2007 in China, and its overall competence ranked 9th. TransportationNanjing is the transportation hub in eastern China and the downstream Yangtze River area. Different means of transportation constitute a three-dimensional transport system that includes land, water and air. As in most other Chinese cities, public transportation is the dominant mode of travel of the majority of the citizens. Therefore see also Transport in Nanjing. Land
Nanjing Railway Station 
Nanjing Railway Platform Public transportation
Nanjing metro AirNanjing's airport, Lukou International Airport, serves both national and international flights. In 2007, the airport handled 8.037 million passengers. It was ranked 14th among 126 civil airports in China in terms of yearly passenger transport, and 10th for yearly cargo transport. The airport currently has 85 routes to national and international destinations, which include Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Germany. The airport is connected by a 29-kilometer (18 mi) highway directly to the city center, and is also linked to various intercity highways, making it accessible to the passengers from the surrounding cities. Water
1st Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge Culture and artBeing one of the four ancient capitals of China, Nanjing has always been a cultural center attracting intellectuals from all over the country. In the Tang and Song dynasties, Nanjing was a place where poets gathered and composed poems reminiscent of its luxurious past; during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the city was the official imperial examination center for the Jiangnan region, again acting as a hub where different thoughts and opinions converged and thrived. Today, with a long cultural tradition and strong support from local educational institutions, Nanjing is commonly viewed as a ?city of culture? and one of the more pleasant cities to live in in China. ArtSome of the leading art groups of China are based in Nanjing; they include: Qianxian Dance Company, Nanjing Dance Company, Jiangsu Peking Opera Institute, Nanjing Xiaohonghua Art Company are just a few to list. Jiangsu Province Kun Opera is one of the best theatres for Kunqu, China's oldest stage art. It is considered a conservative and traditional troupe. Nanjing also has professional opera troupes for the Yang, Yue (shaoxing), Xi and Jing (Chinese opera varieties) as well as Suzhou pingtan, spoken theatre, and puppet theatre. Jiangsu Art Gallery is the largest gallery in Jiangsu Province, presenting some of the best traditional and contemporary art pieces of China; many other smaller-scale galleries, such as Red Chamber Art Garden and Jinling Stone Gallery, also have their own special exhibitions. Festivals
Remnants of the Ming Dynasty City Wall in Nanjing Instead, Nanjing, as a popular tourist destination, hosts a series of government-organised events throughout the year. The annual International Plum Blossom Festival held in Plum Hill, the largest plum collection in China, attracts thousands of tourists both domestically and internationally. Other events include Nanjing Baima Peach Blossom and Kite Festival, Jiangxin Zhou Fruit Festival and Linggu Temple Sweet Osmanthus Festival. Libraries
The New Nanjing Library Museums
The Nanjing Museum Night life
Pubs in Nanjing 1912 block In recent years, several commercial streets have been developed, hence the nightlife has become more diverse: there are shopping malls opening late in the Xinjiekou CBD and Hunan Road. The well-established "Nanjing 1912" district hosts a wide variety of pastime facilities ranging from traditional restaurants and western pubs to dance clubs. Theatre
People's Convention Hall Most of Nanjing's major theatres are multi-purpose, used as convention halls, cinemas, musical halls and theatres on different occasions. The major theatres include the People's Convention Hall and the Nanjing Arts and Culture Center. Most of the city's cinemas are not well maintained owing to lack of revenue and rampant movie piracy. Yet a new cinema, Nanjing Shangying-Warner Cinema Complex, was opened in 2004, as the first modern cinema complex in Nanjing.It has become a must-visit for movie enthusiasts. StadiumThere are two major sports centers in Nanjing, Wutaishan Sports Center and Nanjing Olympic Sports Center. Both of these two are comprehensive sports centers, including stadium, gymnasium, natatorium, tennis court, etc.. Wutaishan Sports Center was established in 1952 and it was one of the oldest and most advanced stadiums in early time of People's Republic of China. In 2005, in order to host The 10th National Game of People's Republic of China, there was a new stadium, Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, constructed in Nanjing. Compared to Wutaishan Sports Center, whose major stadium's capacity is 18,600, the stadium in Nanjing Olympic Sports Center is more advanced and has a bigger capacity. Nanjing Olympic Sports Center has a stadium of capacity 60,000. Its gymnasium has capacity of 13,000, and natatorium of capacity 3,000. Tourism
Bei Ji Ge 
Zhonghua City Gate Soldiers Hidding Cache 
Fu Zi Miao buildings along Qinhuai River Buildings and monumentsAncient period
Republic of China period (1912-1949)Because it was designated as the national capital, many structures were built around that time. Even today, some of them still remain which are open to tourists. 
Classical buildings in the Mochou Lake
Contemporary
Parks and gardens
Xuanwu Lake
Other places of interests
EducationNanjing has been the educational center in southern China for more than 1700 years. Currently, it boasts of some of the most prominent educational institutions in the region, which are listed as follows: National
Public
PrivateNotable Schools
Sister citiesNanjing currently has 18 sister cities (areas), namely:
See also
Notes
ReferencesExternal links
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ar:??????? zh-min-nan:Lâm-kia? bg:?????? cs:Nanking da:Nanjing de:Nanjing el:????????? es:Nanjing eo:Nankingo eu:Nankin fa:??????? fr:Nankin gan:?? gl:Nanjing - ?? zh-classical:?? ko:?? id:Nanjing it:Nanchino he:????'??? lt:Nankinas hu:Nanjing ms:Nanjing nl:Nanking ja:??? no:Nanjing pl:Nankin pt:Nanquim ro:Nanjing ru:?????? simple:Nanjing sr:??????? fi:Nanjing sv:Nanjing tl:Nanjing th:??????? vi:Nam Kinh tr:Nanjing zh-yue:?? zh:??? Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
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