Nanjing - Jiangsu Province

Lying on the southern bank of the Yangtze, the attractive city of Nanjing has twice been China’s capital, once during the Ming dynasty (14th-17th centuries) and most recently during the early part of the 20th century. Many of the city’s important sites stem from the Ming patronage and their imperial presence may belie the city’s traumatic past. In the West we are probably most acutely aware of the suffering caused during the Japanese occupation of 1937, but throughout its past Nanjing has experienced floods, fires, numerous military occupations and the fury of the Taiping Rebellion, all of which are recorded for posterity in the city’s many museums.