Nanjing by Mike

Nanjing

the harmony city

by Mike (LISHD1103)

Name of the palce:Nanjing
Location : Asia, China

Introduction

 Nanjing (Chinese: 南京; pinyin: Nánjīng; Wade–Giles: Nan-ching) is the capital of Jiangsu province in eastern China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions. Its present name means "Southern Capital" and was widely romanized as Nankin and Nanking until the Pinyin language reform, after which Nanjing was gradually adopted as the standard spelling of the city's name in most languages that use the Roman alphabet.
Located in the lower Yangtze River drainage basin and Yangtze River Delta economic zone, Nanjing has long been one of China's most important cities. It is recognized as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. It was the capital of Sun Quan's Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period and the capital of the Republic of China prior to its flight to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War. Nanjing is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure, enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly less than that of a province. Nanjing has long been a national centre of education, research, transport networks and tourism. The city will host the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.
With an urban population of over seven million (2011), Nanjing is the second-largest commercial centre in the East China region after Shanghai. It has been ranked seventh in the evaluation of "Cities with Strongest Comprehensive Strength" issued by the National Statistics Bureau, and second in the evaluation of cities with most sustainable development potential in the Yangtze River Delta. It has also been awarded the title of 2008 Habitat Scroll of Honour of China, Special UN Habitat Scroll of Honour Award and National Civilized City.

History

The first emperor of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang (the Hongwu Emperor) who overthrew the Yuan Dynasty rebuilt this city and made it the dynastic capital in 1368. He constructed what was the longest city wall in the world at that time. It took 200,000 laborers 21 years to finish the project. The present-day city wall of Nanjing was mainly built during that time^， and it is the longest surviving city wall in the world.
Nanjing remained the capital of the Ming Empire until 1421, when the third emperor of the dynasty, Zhu Di (the Yongle Emperor), relocated the capital to Beijing. It is believed that Nanjing was the largest city in the world from 1358 to 1425 with a population of 487,000 in 1400^.
Besides the city wall, other famous Ming-era structures in the city included the famous Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum and Porcelain Tower, although the latter was destroyed by the Taipings in the 19th century.
A monument to the huge human cost of some of the gigantic construction projects of the early Ming is the Yangshan Quarry (located some 10 km (6 mi) east of the walled city an Ming Xiaoling), where a gigantic stele, cut on the orders of the Yongle Emperor, lies abandoned, just as it was left 600 years ago when it was understood it was impossible to move or erect it^.
As the center of the empire, early-Ming Nanjing had worldwide connections: it was home of the eunuch admiral Zheng He, who went to sail the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and it was visited by foreign dignitaries, such as a king from Borneo (Boni 渤泥), who died during his visit to China in 1408. The king's tomb, with a spirit way and a tortoise stele, was discovered in Yuhuatai District (south of the walled city) in 1958, and has been restored.

In 1937, Japan again invaded China, beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War (often considered a theatre of World War II). Their troops occupied Nanjing in December and carried out the systematic and brutal Nanking massacre (the "Rape of Nanking"). The total death toll, including estimates made by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal, was between 300,000 and 350,000. The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall was built in 1985 to commemorate this event.

Food

Nanjing steamed duck cutlets