Jiangning District 江宁区

History

Jiangning is an old name for Nanjing itself: the city's one-character abbreviation, Ning (宁), comes from it, and so does the Jiang (江) in the name of Jiangsu province. The Daoist master Tao Hongjing (陶弘景) of the Southern and Northern Dynasties came from Taowu (陶吴) in Jiangning.

What to see

Niushou Mountain (牛首山) takes its name from two summits shaped like the horns of an ox. The district government calls it the birthplace of the Niutou school of Chan Buddhism (牛头禅宗), and the Southern Tang tombs (南唐二陵), the tomb of Zheng He (郑和墓), cliff inscriptions and the Hongjue Temple pagoda (弘觉寺塔) all lie on or around it. A newer complex built around a relic described as the parietal bone of the Buddha, with the Usnisa Palace (佛顶宫), pagoda and temple, opened in October 2015.

The Tangshan Hot Spring Resort (汤山温泉旅游度假区), in Nanjing's eastern outskirts, became Nanjing's only national-level tourist resort in October 2015. It also holds two national key heritage sites, the Yangshan stele quarry (阳山碑材) and the Nanjing Man site (南京猿人遗址), the provincially protected hot-spring villa of Chiang Kai-shek (蒋介石温泉别墅), and the Leigong (雷公洞) and Hulu (葫芦洞) karst caves.

At Yangshan (阳山), Zhu Di (朱棣), having seized the throne, ordered three enormous blocks cut from the hillside in 1405 for a stele praising Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋). Together the three pieces measure 75 metres in total height and weigh 26,000 tonnes, and the district government notes that the Chinese record registry Jinisi (基尼斯) lists them as the largest stele blanks.

Food and local products

Local products include Hushu pressed duck (湖熟板鸭), Dongshan old goose (东山老鹅), red-braised duck (红烧麻鸭), Hengxi watermelons (横溪西瓜), Zhougang rosewood furniture (周岗红木), and the gold-leaf crafts and Yunjin brocade (云锦) of Nanjing.

Getting oriented

Nanjing Lukou International Airport is in the district. Jiangning Station is on the Nanjing–Hangzhou high-speed line and Jiangning West Station on the Nanjing–Anqing line, and several metro lines, including 1, 3 and S1, run in from the city.

Highlights

• Niushou Mountain 牛首山: Twin ox-horn summits; birthplace of Niutou Chan; Southern Tang tombs and Zheng He's tomb nearby.
• Tangshan Hot Spring Resort 汤山温泉旅游度假区: Nanjing's only national-level tourist resort since October 2015.
• Yangshan stele quarry 阳山碑材: Three uncut stele blocks begun in 1405, 75 m in total; a national key heritage site.
• Nanjing Man site 南京猿人遗址: National key heritage site in the Tangshan area.