10 Essential Things to Do in Nanjing, China
Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use.
Nanjing’s essential first-timer list runs through Purple Mountain (Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Ming Xiaoling, Linggu Temple), the Confucius Temple/Qinhuai night scene, a stretch of the Ming City Wall, the Presidential Palace, and one solemn half-day at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. That’s a genuine 2-3 day core, no padding needed, and it covers everything a first visit to this city should include.
Nanjing’s Top Sights at a Glance
| Sight | Price (RMB) | Time Needed | Booking Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum | Free (Music Hall +¥10) | 1.5-2.5h | Passport-ID reservation required |
| Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum | ¥70 | 1.5-2h | Walk-up (verify) |
| Linggu Temple | ¥35 | 1.5-2h | Walk-up |
| Ming City Wall (Zhonghua Gate) | ¥50 | 1-1.5h | Walk-up |
| Confucius Temple + Qinhuai | ¥30 (Dacheng Hall) | 1.5-3h | Walk-up |
| Presidential Palace | ¥40 | 2-3h | Walk-up, west entrance only |
| Xuanwu Lake | Free | 1-3h | None |
| Nanjing Museum | Free | 3-4h | (verify timed-ticket policy) |
| Nanjing Massacre Memorial | Free | 1-2h | Reservation likely required, verify |
Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum: Start Your Trip Here
This is Purple Mountain’s centerpiece and the sight most first-timers build their first day around. The main grounds are free, but it isn’t a walk-up visit despite that: you need a passport-ID reservation through the official website or WeChat (system open 7:00am-10:00pm) or same-day at on-site ticket machines (8:00am-5:00pm). The climb itself is the point: 392 stone steps rise about 70m over a 700m approach, laid out so the top only shows you flat platforms and the bottom only shows you steps, a deliberate perspective trick from the Ming/Republic-era design. Go early to beat both the heat and the tour groups; there’s zero shade on the ascent. Closed Mondays except national holidays and November 12/March 12 (Sun Yat-sen’s birthday and death anniversary). A combo ticket covering this plus Ming Xiaoling, Linggu Temple, and Meiling Palace runs ¥100.
Do you need to book the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in advance? Yes. It’s free, but the reservation is a real, enforced timed-entry system, not a formality. Book through the official website or WeChat ahead of time, or use the same-day on-site machines if you arrive without one. Showing up assuming free walk-up entry works is the single most common first-timer mistake at this site.
If you’d rather have someone else handle the logistics on your first Purple Mountain day, book a Nanjing Purple Mountain tour that bundles transport between the three sites below.
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum and the Sacred Way
Next door to Sun Yat-sen’s tomb, Ming Xiaoling holds the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming dynasty’s founder, along with his empress, in a 400m tumulus begun in 1381. It’s ¥70 standalone or included in the ¥100 combo, walk-up with no reservation confirmed necessary (some 2025-era sources mention optional online pre-booking, verify). Walk the full 1,800m Sacred Way (Shendao) from the Sifangcheng pavilion through Elephant Road to Wengzhong Road, lined with 12 pairs of stone animals across 6 kinds (lions, xiezhi, camels, elephants, qilin, horses) plus stone officials, laid on a bend that follows the hillside rather than running dead-straight. It’s part of the joint “Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties” UNESCO World Heritage Site , added in the 2003 extension alongside the Shenyang tombs, so it’s a component of that listing rather than a standalone site. Combine with Plum Blossom Hill just south for the plum blossom festival (late February-mid March) if your timing lines up.
Linggu Temple and the Rest of Purple Mountain
Purple Mountain (Zijin Shan) is a half-day-to-full-day zone, not one stop, and Linggu Temple is the third piece of the classic loop. Ticket is ¥35 standalone, included in the ¥100 combo. The Beamless Hall here is built entirely of brick and stone arches with no timber at all, a name that’s actually a pun: “no beam” sounds identical in Chinese to “Wuliang,” the Buddha the hall originally memorialized. The nine-story Linggu Pagoda, built 1929-33 as a Nationalist soldiers’ memorial rather than an ancient structure, is climbable. Budget 1.5-2h, and use the internal shuttle (¥10/person/trip) to move between Purple Mountain’s spread-out sites rather than walking.
Confucius Temple, Qinhuai River, and the Jiangnan Examination Hall
Fuzimiao is Nanjing’s best-known night scene, and it earns that reputation: lantern-lit river, Ming/Qing-style shophouses, snack stalls along the water. Dacheng Hall runs ¥30 (¥15 for children 1.3-1.5m) and stays open until 9:30pm specifically so you can pair the temple with the evening river scene. Add the Jiangnan Examination Hall (¥50), where replica exam cells reportedly just 1.33m wide show what China’s imperial civil-service exam actually demanded of candidates, a detail most tourists walk right past. A Qinhuai River cruise runs ¥60/person by day, ¥80 at night, about 50 minutes, boats running 9:00am-10:00pm from Panchi Wharf. Go at dusk and expect real crowds on weekends and holidays.
Book a Qinhuai night river cruise if you want a fixed departure time rather than queuing at the wharf.
Ming City Wall: Zhonghua Gate and the Taicheng Walk
Nanjing’s Ming City Wall is one of the best-preserved in the world specifically because it follows the natural terrain instead of a rigid rectangle, built 1366-1393 under the Hongwu Emperor with roughly 200,000 laborers whose names were stamped onto the bricks for accountability. Of the original roughly 35km, about 21km survives. Zhonghua Gate (¥50) is the largest surviving castle-style city gate in China: three enclosed courtyards, four trap-gates, and 27 vaulted chambers that once quartered around 3,000 soldiers, worth 1-1.5h on its own. For a scenic lake-and-skyline walk instead of a fortress, choose the Shence Gate-Taiping Gate stretch (commonly called Taicheng, ¥30) along Xuanwu Lake, popular with cyclists.
Presidential Palace: Enter From the West Now
Billed as China’s largest museum of modern history, the Presidential Palace spans a Ming garden layout, a Qing viceroy’s office, and Republic-era government buildings across ¥40 admission and 2-3 hours. Sun Yat-sen took his 1911-12 inauguration oath here as the Republic of China’s provisional president, and Chiang Kai-shek later ran his government from the same complex. One thing to know before you go: the historic gatehouse everyone’s guidebook photo shows has been closed to entry since December 10, 2024. You now enter through a new west entrance, so ignore any older directions pointing you to the old front gate. Closed Mondays and Chinese New Year’s Eve except national holidays.
Xuanwu Lake and Jiming Temple
Xuanwu Lake is free, open around the clock along its Huanhu Road perimeter, and holds five connected isles (Huan, Ying, Liang, Cui, Ling) inside what’s the largest surviving imperial-era city lake in China, backed by the Ming wall with Purple Mountain behind it. Ying Isle is the pick for spring cherry blossoms, Liang Isle for autumn chrysanthemums. Right next to it, Jiming Temple (¥10, verify, includes 3 free incense sticks) is Nanjing’s most-visited working temple, with a famous pink-wall approach lane that’s especially photogenic when cherry blossom or wisteria is out nearby. The two combine easily into one morning.
Nanjing Museum
China’s second-largest museum, free to enter, holds more than 430,000 artifacts across six halls covering jade, bronze, ceramics, and furniture, plus a recreated Republic-era street with costumed staff and heritage demonstrations. Budget 3-4 hours. It sits at Purple Mountain’s southern foot, an easy same-day add to the Sun Yat-sen/Ming Xiaoling/Linggu cluster, and it’s a 5-minute walk from Minggugong station on Metro Line 2. Open Tuesday-Sunday 9:00am-5:00pm, Monday 9:00am-noon.
The Nanjing Massacre Memorial
The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders commemorates the estimated 300,000 civilians and unarmed soldiers killed after the city fell to the Imperial Japanese Army on December 13, 1937. This is a place of national mourning, not a sightseeing stop, and it belongs on a first-timer’s itinerary for that reason: it is one of the most historically important sites in the city. Entry is free, hours run roughly 8:30am-4:30pm, closed Mondays except holiday periods. Whether same-day walk-up is currently possible without a reservation is unconfirmed (verify), so check the memorial’s own site before you go rather than assuming you can just show up. Two partially excavated mass-burial sites are displayed inside a coffin-shaped hall, alongside a memorial wall of victims’ names and exhibits on foreign nationals like John Rabe who helped establish the Nanking Safety Zone at the time. Keep photography quiet and your conduct restrained, as you would at any memorial to mass death.
Should you visit the Nanjing Massacre Memorial? Yes, if you approach it with the right mindset. It’s free, historically essential, and unlike anything else in the city, but it asks for respectful behavior and quiet conduct rather than a typical sightseeing attitude. Check the official memorial site for current reservation requirements before you go, and plan the visit for its own half-day rather than squeezing it between livelier stops.
How Many Days Do You Need in Nanjing?
The city core (Fuzimiao/Qinhuai, the Presidential Palace, a stretch of the Ming City Wall) fills 1-2 days on its own. Add a full Purple Mountain day for Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Ming Xiaoling, and Linggu Temple, plus a separate half-day at the Massacre Memorial, and you’re at a solid 3 days. Extend to 4-5 with a Qixia Mountain or Niushou Mountain day, or a Suzhou/Yangzhou high-speed rail trip.
Book These Before You Go
Reserve the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum passport-ID slot as soon as your dates are set, since it’s the one enforced booking on this list. Beyond that, see the Nanjing day trips guide for Qixia and Niushou options, and the full Nanjing travel guide for essentials on visas, payments, and getting around. If you’re mapping out how these sights fit across multiple days, the 3-day Nanjing itinerary follows almost exactly the spine above.
The one thing worth doing differently than most guidebooks suggest: put the Massacre Memorial on its own morning or afternoon, not sandwiched between Fuzimiao and dinner. It deserves the time, and rushing it does the site a disservice.