What to do in Nanjing?
 

For our upcoming trip to China, we added Nanjing to our itinerary. We have never been there before; therefore, any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Here are some attractions that I found:

Memorial to Nanjing Massacre Victims (Historic site); Sun Yatsen Mausoleum-Zhongshan Ling (Historic site; Cemetery); Presidential Palace (Museum; Architectural building; Government building); Xiaoling Tomb of Ming Dynasty (Historic site; Ancient ruins; Historic walking area; Cemetery); Purple Mountain-Zijin Shan (Park; Mountain); XuanWu Park (Park); Confucian Temple-Fuzi Miao (Historic site; Museum; Religious site); Nanjing Museum-Nanjing Bowuguan (Museum); Zhanyuan Garden (Garden); Nanjing Taicheng Wall; (Ancient ruins); Tangshan Mountain (Mountain; Hot spring/geyser); Nanjing Olympic Gym Center (Sports complex; Arena/stadium/field); Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge (Bridge); Zheng He Treasure Ship Park (an archaeological site where a number of boats were built for Zheng He's fleet; History museum); Chaotian Gong ( Historic site; Museum); Yu Hua Tai (Historic walking area; Park); Dacheng Temple (Religious site); Ming City Wall (Ancient ruins); Qi Xia Mountain (Scenic/historic walking area; Mountain; Forest; Historic walking area)

If you have been to any of these attractions, please provide your opinions.

Thanks.

I just recently posted a few things here, will probably look into the others later today.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14533541-post13.html

I took a quick weekend trip (arrived by train Saturday morning and departed Sunday evening) to Nanjing a few months ago and made it to these sites:

1. Purple Mountain - Take the cable car ride; it's relaxing and worth every jiao (really, really long). The view from the top of the mountain's not memorable, even if you get a smog-free day, but the trip's fun. I thought I'd walk down from the top to the mausoleum of Sun Yat-Sen but wasn't able to - the park is huge and trails aren't marked.

2. Yangtze River Bridge - An absolute must-see if you have any interest in Sino-Soviet architecture. You can get onto the span from the stairwells in the supports, or take an elevator up for ~2 RMB. Don't go after dark - you'll miss the great murals/sculptures and the scooter drivers who also use the sidewalk are spectacularly reckless.

3. Presidential Palace - A surprisingly fascinating place. The complex has been practically untouched since abandoned. It's light on propaganda and not visited by the provincial tour group crowds, and you can wander around through the unadulterated buildings at your leisure. Some very decent art deco and international-style architecture there.

Also - I cannot speak highly enough of the Sofitel. It's simultaneously the least expensive one I've ever stayed at (~550 RMB, maybe the least expensive in the whole chain?) and has the nicest rooms (the bathroom alone was about 20 sq meters; the whole room as large as my apartment in Shanghai). The best breakfast in the city too - it's a great deal.

Hahaha! We had the same problem 2 weeks ago. Purple mountain cable car peak to Zhongshan mausoleum is doable - three hours hike (!), not walk. People indeed do not know. Whenever you exit the cable car, after 200 meter the path splits into three - very right, stairs that lead down to the cable car, center up the very mountain peak, slight left, around the peak downwards to to Zhongshan mausoleum.
You can either take this way or the very right until you reach the first resting place (with a kiosk), then turn steep left on the gravel road (not the paved one). We thrice went the wrong way, and always ended up in a military restricted area - funny, but at 30+° C not that welcomed :) Advice: don't go for it....

BTW, the cable car is by far no "jiao", but 35 yuan one way!

You cannot fault Sofitels, but when spending this amount of money, look at the InterContinental, brand new with breathtaking views.

Go to the palace and also to the ming ruins, which are in a quite eerie park, which is really worth the visit, and the <5 yuan entry.

Gulou (Drum tower) as well as the Taiping sites should be on your itinerary.

How many nights are you staying anyway?

Btw, while I absolutely love Nanjing and also surrounding areas (look out for the Tangshan spas mentioned by the OP) I do loathe the airport.

If you have a choice and actually want to visit central areas of Nanjing, always take the train. While the location of NKG is convenient for my usual work destinations, it's rather far from the city itself.

The waiting areas are poor, the food in the airport restaurants borderline horrible and lounges nothing much really. Only plus point is the smallish but at least well stocked tax free shop.

And do taste the famous salted duck with a baiju shot or two...;) Fantastic flavours.

NKG vs. PVG/SHA

- Accessible by "expensive" taxi (120 RMB) only, 45 mins.
- Old, bit grubby terminal building

+ Taxi is still cheaper than to PVG (by taxi)
+ Ways are short, from taxi to gate barely 200 meters, if at all.
+ Hardly any lines or crowds
+ Hence, no need to be there earlier than 50-60 mins before flight.

I prefer it over PVG/SHA, like I do any small airport in "the area", like Wuxi, HGH, NGB.

Few ideas from the two times I've been to Nanjing.

Massacre Memorial: Plan at least 2 hours here. We only planned 1.5 and wished we had more time. The grounds are huge and you can check out all the sights, but the actual museum is actually very very large and has LOTS of very good displays and info. More than what appears from the outside.

Purple Mountain: If the crowds are getting to you, this place is pretty nice and quiet. There isn't a lot to do up top, and when I was there in July the Astronomy place was closed (half way up the mountain). You can certainly do some hiking and sightseeing, but don't set your expectations high for things to see or do. But if you're looking for a place to escape crowds, get outside, and catch some good city views it's a perfect place to go.

Zhonghua Gate: Pretty neat, you can see this entire place in an hour or less. Inside the tall structure there are some neat displays you can pass time. If it's hot, the temps in here are a lot cooler too. I was there when it was close to 100.

River Bridge: Far off and somewhat hard to get to. We were worried about catching a cab back, but were able to find one in about 10 min (you can take a bus too). Park wasn't that interesting though it was large, and the actual bridge was somewhat of a disappointment. You pay something like 10 RMB to get to the street level, and another 5 level to walk the stairs to the second level. If you're rushed for time, I'd skip this unless you like river views. Nothing super impressive.

Fuzi Miao: definitely worth checking out. I'd go at night as it's more lively then and more fun. Catch a boat ride, or grab a bite to eat at the famous Nanjing Dim Sum style restaurant. Also, tons of cheap goods you can buy here and bargain for (clothes, DVDs, pets, you name it they have it).