What to do and see in Jiangsu, China: The Best Historic Sites

May 19, 2021 Cedrick Jardin

Jiangsu ( listen (help·info)), formerly romanized as Kiangsu, is an eastern-central coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous and the most densely populated of the 23 provinces of the People's Republic of China. Jiangsu has the highest GDP per capita of Chinese provinces and second-highest GDP of Chinese provinces, after Guangdong. Jiangsu borders Shandong in the north, Anhui to the west, and Zhejiang and Shanghai to the south. Jiangsu has a coastline of over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) along the Yellow Sea, and the Yangtze River passes through the southern part of the province.
Restaurants in Jiangsu

1. Former Residence of Zheng Banqiao

No.7-8 Zhengjia Lane, Xinghua 225700 China
Excellent
100%
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5.0 based on 1 reviews

Former Residence of Zheng Banqiao

2. Sun Yatsen Mausoleum (Zhongshan Ling)

No.2 Sifangcheng, Zhongshanling Road, Xuanwu District, Nanjing 210009 China +86 25 8444 6111 http://en.zschina.org.cn/webpage/index-summer.jsp
Excellent
48%
Good
39%
Satisfactory
12%
Poor
1%
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4.5 based on 1,695 reviews

Sun Yatsen Mausoleum (Zhongshan Ling)

Reviewed By ursbruno - Basel, Switzerland

This is a Mausoleum worth to visit. Beautiful Trees are on both sides. The steps , 392, representing the 392 million people at that time, are well set. From above, you only see the platforms! The coffin is very big for the 159cm Sun Yatsen... It is a miracle, that this Mausoleum survived the Revolutions.

3. Tongli Town

Wujiang District, Suzhou 215217 China +86 512 6331 1140 http://www.tongli.net/
Excellent
47%
Good
41%
Satisfactory
10%
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2%
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4.5 based on 915 reviews

Tongli Town

Reviewed By denisepeterr

You can really get a "feel" of this water town as you walk in and stroll the streets with crafts to witness from clothes, indigo dyed fabric (well, that is what I was interested in), ceramics and on to architecture and people. There is a charm and intimacy as one sees daily living in what is also a well served tourist town.

4. The Lingering Garden

NO. 338 Liuyuan Road, Jinchang Dist, Suzhou 215008 China +86 512 6531 3099 http://www.visitsz.com/scenic-spot-detail.aspx?Id=75
Excellent
51%
Good
36%
Satisfactory
11%
Poor
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4.5 based on 838 reviews

The Lingering Garden

A Brief Description of the Lingering Garden Located at the outer side of the Chang Gate and built in the 21st year of the reign of Wanli under the Ming Dynasty (AD 1593), the Lingering Garden is reputed to be one of the four most famous gardens of China. In 1961 it was listed from the very first as cultural relics of national importance. Since 1997 it has been inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage List. The Lingering Garden, covering 23,310 sq.m., is divided into the middle, eastern, western and northern parts. The middle part features fascinating landscapes and waterscapes. The eastern part is noted for its architectural beauties and limestone rockeries. The northern part is famed for its beautiful bonsai garden. And the western part boasts the mountain forest scenery and the delights of wilderness. Celebrated for its superb handling of architectural space and spatial relations, the Lingering Garden serves as a fine specimen of ancient Chinese garden and landscape design and reputably tops all the well-known gardens in Suzhou. The Lingering Garden provides English tour guide for free every hour since 2017. You can also choose to pay for a professional English guide with different guiding route or a guiding machine. Hope that during your short stay here, you can not only satisfy your eyes, but also experience the real Chinese culture and have a better understanding of our philosophy.

Reviewed By BillPNo1 - Friendswood, United States

On our entire trip to China, The Lingering Gardens at Suzhou, was one of the most memorable places we visited. The extent of the Lingering Gardens is difficult to describe. The Gardens, seemingly, went on and on and there was another lovely fascinating sight around each corner of the winding paths. Meticulously groomed, cleaned (constantly) and maintained, the whole Gardens were beautiful, whether you were looking at rock gardens, winding paths, ponds or fish pools, little bridges, or flowering plants, trees, and shrubs! How could so many things still be in bloom in November? I think my favorite things were the extensive bonzai tree collection in their area. All old (ancient?) and perfectly groomed, they seemed like silent sentinels of the past left for us to view and appreciate now in modern times. Even the bathrooms were works of art and the finest examples of WC's that we saw anywhere during our trip! The entire group decided that the Lingering Gardens WC's were Five-Star! DO NOT miss a visit to the Lingering Gardens if you are anywhere in the area. They are exquisite and I wish that we had several days to more fully explore the Gardens than the too short time that our group tour schedule allowed. The Lingering Gardens was definitely as high as the Great Wall and Terra Cotta Warriors in my esteem!

5. Xiaoling Tomb of Ming Dynasty

Wengzhong Road, Xuanwu District, Nanjing 210018 China +86 25 8444 6111 http://zschina.nanjing.gov.cn/mxljq
Excellent
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4.5 based on 478 reviews

Xiaoling Tomb of Ming Dynasty

Reviewed By deanosaur89 - Edmonton, Canada

We enjoyed walking through the area on the sacred pathway (lined with stone animals and soldiers) on the way to the tomb. The cost to enter is 70 RMB and you can pay 100 RMB to get a discount ticket to see other attractions in the purple mountain area as of March 2021. The gardens are well maintained and there are plenty of signs to point you in the right direction. The ramps to go to the top of the tomb building are a little slippery and uneven so make sure you have good shoes. There are also lots of cats and pollen in this area when we went in March 2021 so you might want to bring your allergy medication just in case. There were also plenty of mosquitoes but they did not bite at all. Lots of places to grab snacks and drinks in the park area - the highlight for us was a Johnsonville sausage trailer! Closest Metro to the main gate was Muxuyuan. To Didi here you can enter "Ming Xiaoling Masoleum Scenic Area - Ticket Office".

6. Xiyuan Temple

Fengqiao Road Gusu District, Suzhou 215000 China +86 512 6534 9545 http://www.jcedu.org/
Excellent
60%
Good
30%
Satisfactory
10%
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4.5 based on 10 reviews

Xiyuan Temple

7. Jiming Temple

No.1 Jiming Temple, Xuanwu District, Nanjing 210008 China +86 25 8360 0842 http://www.jimingsi.net/syjs.asp
Excellent
41%
Good
47%
Satisfactory
11%
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4.5 based on 276 reviews

Jiming Temple

Reviewed By Simioespia - Munich, Germany

The visit costs 10yuan. You will see some different worship stations, nice walk and city views and an impressive Pagoda. Plan a visit to the wall and definitely stop by the temple. Worth it!

8. Western Han Dynasty Terracotta Warriors

Lion Mountain, Eastern Suburb, Xuzhou China http://xuzhou.jiangsu.net/attraction/historic_relic_and_heritage/
Excellent
70%
Good
28%
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4.5 based on 92 reviews

Western Han Dynasty Terracotta Warriors

Reviewed By nottooldtotravel

A bucket list experience. The pits are about a 10 mins walk from the car park but this is easy and pleasant walking with easy access for wheelchair users. It was a cold but pleasant day. Would not like to visit in the summer months as there is very little shade. Was expecting crowds of people but was pleased to find this was not the case. The warriors are standing proud and ready to meet the visitors. there is a small area where you can stand and watch the renovations of this proud army taking place.

9. Nanjing City Wall (Ming City Wall)

Nanjing 210001 China +86 512 6561 0149
Excellent
44%
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4.5 based on 474 reviews

Nanjing City Wall (Ming City Wall)

Reviewed By UOtterTravel - Port Saint Lucie, United States

We took a day trip to Nanjing from Shanghai and saw parts of the wall in multiple locations. It was great to have personal guides who spoke English and could give us the history. We visited shortly after the Chinese New Year/Lantern Festival and many lanterns were still up on the wall. Many were very large, which was surprising to us. We were told that brickmakers from across the country made the bricks and each brick had the maker's mark on it. If a brick arrived broken, the brickmaker had a second chance to make the bricks, and if they arrived broken a second time they were most likely executed.

10. The Memorial of the Nanjing Massacre

No.418 Shuiximen Road, Jianye District west bound Metro Line 2 / Yunjinlu Station Exit 2, Nanjing 210017 China +86 25 8661 2230 http://www.nj1937.org/
Excellent
66%
Good
25%
Satisfactory
7%
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4.5 based on 1,075 reviews

The Memorial of the Nanjing Massacre

Reviewed By tracyl21 - Long Beach, United States

It is very obvious from the people that passed through these exhibits how little foreigners know about the atrocities committed by the Japanese on December 1937 in Nanjing, in their imperialistic drive to conquer Asia. We went during Golden Week when it was a 2-hour wait in line to get into the exhibition hall (Tip: Go early in the morning on a weekday and NOT during Golden Week for a shorter line! Haha) and in that mass of humanity of thousands of people, there were probably less than a dozen Caucasian people. It is appalling to me when non-Chinese people who write 1-Star reviews say things like, "It's like they don't want to forget" and reviewers named "Ninja" say that the account is inaccurate because he learned some history in a class in the UK. You don't think you're extremely biased for the Japanese just from your pen name????? C'mon, this is no place for your inherent Sinophobia (and xenophobia)!! How would you like it if Germany denied the occurrence of the Holocaust? Oh yeah, that's right. There are already factions that do that but thankfully, cooler heads prevail so we can preserve history by steadfastly documenting all the facts so that episodes like the Nanjing Massacre and the Holocaust don't EVER happen again. On multiple occasions as late as 2017, the office of Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has floated the idea of the Nanjing Massacre DENIAL. (Yes, that's the same idiot who nominated the current sitting US President for the Nobel Peace Prize...) Maybe he'll soon float the denial of the Pearl Harbor attack that happened just a few years later in 1941!! If the US didn't possess the atomic bomb, I dare say the Japanese would not have adopted its current pacifist constitution after WWII. Who knows where their imperialistic rampage would have ended up? The exhibit starts with a kind of library shelves setting of thousands of names of known victims, then gets very grim indeed. Yes, this memorial is at times graphic and macabre, to the point of being bone chilling and depressing, but it is an extremely important historical accounting of events. There are multiple interviews with Chinese survivors, diary entries and letters from Japanese soldiers and commanders, as well as accounts from many foreign residents living in Nanjing at the time who sheltered a lot of the refugees. The exhibit ends with a plea for peace as well as a reflecting pool and Peace statue. This is not a place for young children. Admission was free when we went, but I'm not sure if that was only because of Golden Week.

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