Fernweh: Nanjing

As time goes by during this very special time in my life (and I also think in all our lives), I would like to start collecting nice pictures, impressions and also some recommendations of some of the destinations I had visited over the past years. Our planned trip to the USA had to be cancelled, but our small garden has been keeping us busy the whole spring and summer.

Now some borders have been opened again, some are even closed again, there is only a little chance to go to one of the Canary Islands later this year.

The first part (after my Sydney report) will be about Nanjing.

Nanjing? Never heard of? Well, that was the case until I started my job at BSH. My employer has a subsidiary in Nanjing, China, where several major and small domestic appliances are developed and produces. I have been to Nanjing four times in the past five and a half years and will tell you a little bit about this city.

Nanjing, which is sometimes also called Nanking, is the capital of the province Jiangsu and with 6 million people living there also the largest city in the province. Nanjing is translated to “Southern Capital”, while Beijing is the “Northern Capital”. This shows the importance Nanjing has had in the past, as it had been the capital of China several times in history. The last time it was the capital of the Republic China, after the last emperor was chased away. For the people in the current republic China or Taiwan it is still considered as their capital in case they might conquer back China Mainland.

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Location

Nanjing is situated at the river Jangtsekiang, the longest river in China and even Asia. Most of Najing is located at the right side of the river. The climate is humid and subtropical in summer, but it can get quite cold in winter, sometimes with lots of snow. I would recommend to go there end of April and May or in September/ October. Then the temperatures are usually between 20°C – 25°C (70 – 80°F), which is quite comfortable.

As you might know, there is really only one time zone in China. Because Nanjing is located in the east of the country , this means, the sunrise is quite early, but the sunset is early as well. In August it gets dark at 7 p.m. which I am not used to.

Arrival

Before Corona there were three or four flights weekly with Lufthansa directly from Frankfurt with an Airbus A340-300. You also had the opportunity to fly with Finnair via Helsinki. Otherwise there are many connecting flights from Beijing or other Chinese cities. But it is also possible to fly to Shanghai and use the high speed trains from there. There are several trains per hour and the time is between 90 and 120 minutes to the main station in Nanjing.

 

Hotel recommendation

Clearly, my recommendation for a hotel is the Intercontinental Hotel in the Zifeng Tower. There are a couple more interesting and very good hotels, but here are my top reasons for choosing the Intercontinental:

  • Location: The hotel is located directly at a major subway station. From here it is only 2 stations to the to Xinjieko, the central business district. The price for this trip is 2 RMB or 0.25 €.
  • Zifeng Tower: The building is 450 m high and currently the 19th highest building in the world. The hotel starts at the 49th floor and reaches to the 71st floor. Above those level you have the President’s Suite and a bar and restaurants. Directly integrated in the building there is a shopping center with direct acces to the hotel’s lobby.
  • Rooms: Even the simplest rooms are equipped with a king’s size bed, minibar and a very nith bathroom with bathtub and shower.
  • Breakfast: The breakfast buffet is by far the best I have ever seen.You can get verything from fresh fruits to a normal continental breakfast, classical fried potatoes to Egg Benedict, soups, dumplings and fried rice. At the weekends you shoud stay longer and enjoy the breakfast as some kind of brunch
  • Pool: There is a pool located at the 8th floor where you can swim indoor as well as outdoor. You also have a gym there which is free for hotel guests and this gym is by far better equipped than most of all other hotel’s gym that I have seen over the years.

Sightseeing

As I have been in Nanjing only on business trips, there was little time for exploring all the interesting points. But here are some recommendations you definitely should not miss.

  • City Wall
  • Fuzimiao Tempel
  • Xuanwu Laki and the Island on the lake
  • Purple Mountains
  • Sun-Yat-sen-Mausoleum

Here are some impressions from Nanjing:

Stadtmauer von unten

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Stadtmauer von unten

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