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Diverse Culture in Nanjing

 2014-06-02    Ada    Tours    Nanjing    1371  

As we all know, Nanjing is a modern city with well-preserved ancient features. Lies on the south bank of the Yangtze River, Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, is one of the most delightful destinations in China. Known as the capital city of six or ten dynasties in ancient Chinese history, it has a brilliant cultural heritage. However, besides the numerous historical sights, memorials, museums and cultural sights, there are more lively culture in Nanjing.

First of all, Nanjing is bestowed with beautiful landscape, picturesque mountains, winding rivers and the massive Yangtze River. In the recent years, the city has been greatly revamped and widened, and its pleasant plane trees give shade in summer and offer the city a leafy environment. Qinhuai River , in the southwest of the city, extends one hundred kilometers. The river used to be the most flourishing part of the city in the old days. In many Chinese novels, it is renowned as a place which nurtured beauties and romance. Today, it is a place for people to recall the old splendor of this historical city. Like all sights here, it tells the story of past, present and future of the city.

As one of the four ancient cities in China, Najing boasts time-honored history and profound culture. The most notable one is Baiju. Baiju is a prevalent storytelling and ballad singing folk tune in Nanjing, which is revolved from songs sung by workers when producing cloud brocade. With a history of 600 years, Baiju is the only old folk tune in Nanjing. The actor of performing Nanjing Baiju is generally one or two persons, with a maximum of 5 persons. All the dialogue in Baiju is spoken in Nanjing dialect, easy to understand but full of humor. It is a distinctive singing art brimming with Nanjing local flavor. On the Dragon Boat Festival, Nanjing people eat rice dumplings and Green Bean Cake. Also people will use the sunshine-exposed water to wash eyes to avoid eye disease. Moreover, people will hang the folium artemisiae argyi onto the door to drive away bad luck.

At night, houses flanked on both sides of Qinhuai River are decorated with colorful lanterns, and people will cruise on the dragon boat to appreciate the enchanting nightscape of Qinhuai River.

Museums and cultural sights also attract thousands of visitors. The famous Confucius Temple (Fuzimiao) is not only a memorial place for the Great Sage but has a surrounding area bustling with shops, restaurants and a snack street housed in traditional architectural buildings. In the city center, Nanjing Museum is a must for visitors with a collection of more than 420 thousand pieces, including about 2,000 that are rare and valued.

The Zijinshan Observatory (Purple Mountain Observatory) to the east of the city center was the first modern observatory built in China.

Besides the numerous historical sites and culture sites, Nanjing also has diversified Nanjing food to offer for visitors. No travel in Nanjing is complete without tasting the follow must-have Nanjing food.

Among the numerous Nanjing food, Salted Pressed Duck, Salted Soup Boiled Duck, Soft Fire Boiled Noodles, Shijin Beancurd Jelly and Duck Blood Soup are what cannot be missed along your Nanjing travel. 

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