The second destination of my visit to China in 2007 was Nanjing. The atmosphere of this city is completely different from Beijing and I fell in love with it straightaway.

Nanjing

It’s an incredibly easy city to see in one day. The city itself is tranquil and walking around it enjoyable. I tend to always prefer the smaller cities over the bigger and dirtier capitals. This is the case in almost every country I visit.

At the time I didn’t realize how many of these markets I would see in my life, but this one was quite special because this was my first experience with a market like this with the slaughtered animals just lying around.

Let’s hope these were sold as pets and not dinner…

Purple Mountain
You could combine the Purple Mountain on the first city exploration day. This location is famous for the events of the Nanjing Massacre. The massacre occurred over six weeks starting December 13, 1937, the day that the Japanese captured Nanjing. During this period, soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army murdered an estimated 40,000 to over 300,000 Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants, and perpetrated widespread rape and looting.

You would not be able to tell that these grim events occurred in the city, let alone around the mountain. There are a few mausoleums – for example the one of Sun Yat-Sen which boasts a spectacular view over the landscape…

Linggu Temple (a Buddhist temple)

Travelling up the ski lift to the Purple Mountain Observatory. There is nothing worth to see up on the mountain, but the ride up and down is pretty amazing.

The cutest statue (trash bin?) I have seen in Nanjing.

Conclusion

Nanjing is a great city to spend a few days when you’re travelling to China. The Purple Mountains are worth a visit. We came by sleeper train from Beijing which was an easy journey; it’s even closer to Shanghai which would be our next stop.