China Travel Forum

[Kailon]

Hello
as the end of my travel in China ,I'm planning on going to Nanjing for two days next week. I want to see the museum about the Japanese invasion, but I was wondering if anyone has any recomendations of things to see in the city (and the prices, if you know it). Also, any favourite restaurants (both Chinese and Western)?
I was also considering going to Suzhou for a day. I was wondering if it is worth going to in December? I would like to go to one or two of the gardens. Again, any other recommendations for places to go/eat in Suzhou would be great!
Thanks!

[indyshiu]

Hi there.
Just came back from Nanjing tour. Took the train up from Shanghai. Booked a room on elong at the Huaying Hotel in Xinjiekou.It was quite comfortable and worth the 350RMB. Best part were the street food carts across the street. I didn't catch the name of them, but there were these delicious fried egg and meat patties for 2 kuai which was breakfast every morning.
Since the sights are spread out, we took taxis most of the time. The meters start at 8RMB.
We arrived early Fri afternoon and went to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. We queued up for the line but didn't pay any admission fee. There were donation boxes about, but no one collected anything at the entrance. Then we headed to the "Zhonghua Men Chengbao" which is the biggest and best preserved of the city wall's original gates. It was quite impressive and you can see a bit of the wall along the river whcih is nice. Admission was 15RMB, I think.
We had lunch at Bella Napoli which was lovely. Owned by an Italian, the restaurant has a wood-fired oven. Pizzas were great. Its at Zhongshan Dong Lu 75 and HongWu Lu.
Second day, we headed to the sights on the Purple Gold Mountain, to see Dr. Sun Yat Sen's mausoleum and the Ming Filial Tomb. There is a bus, #9 I think, that goes from Xinjiekou to the mountain, but we took a taxi for 22RMB. Since we planned on spending most of the day there, we bought the combined admission ticket for 80RMB, which allows entrance to the main three sights (the two aforementioned + the Linggu Temple. A la carte, the admission prices are: Tomb--50RMB, Mausoleum--40RMB, Temple--15RMB.
There is supposedly a shuttle bus that runs between the three main sights, but we never saw one so we just took a taxi to/from each site (8RMB). There are lots of other things to see in the park, which I was surprised at since all the guidebooks only list the top 3. It was quite nice to be out of the city and walk around in tranquility among the hills and trees.
That night we went to the Fuzimiao area and attempted to get dinner at WanQing Lou for their famous 16 course dish meal. These are small dishes of appetizers and meat. We got there at 6:00pm and were told there were no tables available (we don't speak Mandarin so we were unable to find out how long a wait would be without a reservation). The food looked great though. We headed over to a restaurant that was recommended at 135 Pingjiangfu Lu (just north of the shopping area at Fuzimiao) and had a pretty good meal. They have different food sections: dim sum, cold appetizers, vegetables, casseroles, seafood. You take your card and walk over to each station and pick out your dinner. Then they bring the cooked food to your table. Dinner for two + 1 beer and 1 soda cost 64RMB.
Sunday morning, we went to the Drum Tower. Not much to see at the actual Drum Tower or the Bell Tower across the way. No admission fee for either. We did some snacking on Dashiba Jie, off of Hunan Lu. We took the Metro back up to the railway station which was a piece of cake. It cost 2RMB and was not overly crowded. There is only one metro line, but it heads north/south on Zhongshan Lu, so you can take it to Hunan Lu, Gulou (drum tower), Xinjiekou, etc...
HTH

[Nancy Chen]

in Nanjing I can recommend some place to visit:
1. Japanese Massacre Museum
2. Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum (also the Sun-Yet-Sen museum about a 15 minute walk from the Mausoleum is also interesting).
3. Chairlift up Mount Zijin or Mount Purple Gold (there is also an observatory half way up)
4. Confucius Temple (fuzi miao) precinct (paddle boats on Qin Huai River, temple, touristy purchases)
5. Drum Tower (located immediately north of Nanjing University). Bell Tower located above a McDonalds about a 10 minute walk to the north.
6. Presidential Palace/Museum (interesting as there is a range of different architectural styles -traditional to contemporary). Located about 15 minute walk east of Main Branch of the Bank of China.
7. Nanjing City Wall – one of the few examples of a non-rectangular wall in China
8. Ming Tombs also known as Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum (near Mausoleum – note: you can buy a pass which allows access to attractions at Purple Mountain).
9. Chaotian Palace
Local maps can be bought for about 5rmb...Otherwise try your luck in getting a free map from one of the western hotels.
Restaurants - there are heaps....just look for the busy ones. There are good dumpling restaurants north of the drum tower. Also try and get a famous local vegetable dish called luhao. It is afantastic vegetable to eat and looks a little like thin aspargarus stems.
Western foods can be bought in the streets between Nanjing University and Nanjing Normal University - immediately west of Nanjing Uni.

Suzhou:
1. Cold Mountain Temple
2. Garden of the Humble Administrator (impressive and well laid out traditional garden)
3. Garden of the Master of Nets .
4. Tiger Hill Pagoda – Interesting as it has a significant lean
5. Temple of Mystery (in Suzhou Bazaar precinct)
There are also touristy items in the buildings within the gardens. Also possible to climb the pagoda – timber structure and an interesting climb. Also there is a stone bridge (name can’t remember) which can be seen from Coyne Gate.
9. water town in proximity to Suzhou.