At a glance
- Best time
- March–April and October–November
- How long
- 2–3 days
- Getting there
- Lukou International (NKG); Nanjing South (1h05 from Shanghai, 3h30 from Beijing)
- Getting around
- Metro 1/2/3 covers the centre; shuttle buses move you around Purple Mountain
What to see and do
Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum & Ming Xiaoling
392 steps climb to Sun Yat-sen's tomb, while Ming Xiaoling is Zhu Yuanzhang's — its spirit path lined with six kinds of stone beast is the finest Ming carving in the country.
Tip The mausoleum is free but needs a reservation and closes Mondays; walk up the plane-tree avenue from Xiamafang if you can.
Cost Mausoleum free / Ming Xiaoling CNY 70
Confucius Temple & Qinhuai night cruise
The imperial examination hall, Wuyi Lane and lantern-lit pleasure boats crowd one stretch of riverbank — Nanjing at its liveliest.
Tip Take a boat after 19:00 when both banks are lit; the main snack street is touristy, Laomendong is better value.
Cost Cruise about CNY 80
Nanjing Museum
One of China's three great museums, with a full-scale reconstruction of a Republican-era street and the glazed arch from the Porcelain Pagoda.
Tip Free but reserved in advance and weekend slots go fast; the museum closes Monday afternoons.
Cost Free
What to eat
- Salted duck Pale skin, tender meat, served cold — locals call the autumn version osmanthus duck
- Duck-blood vermicelli soup Blood, intestine and fried tofu in one bowl: the local breakfast
- Soup dumplings / pidumian Sip the soup first; pidumian is Nanjing's own fried-pork-skin noodle
Common questions
Is the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum really free, or do I need a booking?
Free does not mean no reservation. The mausoleum area is free but real-name booking is mandatory — without one you cannot enter the core area above the Tianxia Weigong gate. The mausoleum also closes on Mondays for maintenance.
How many days for Nanjing, and when is the best time?
Two to three days, in March to April or October to November.
Booking & tickets
🏛️ Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum (Zhongshan Ling)
Free does not mean no reservation: the mausoleum area is free, but real-name booking is mandatory — without one you cannot enter the core area above the 'Tianxia Weigong' gate. The mausoleum closes on Mondays for maintenance.
What you need to know
- The mausoleum itself is free, with real-name reservation required since 2019. The reservation covers Bo'ai Square and the core area above the 'Tianxia Weigong' gate: the gate, the stele pavilion, the memorial hall and the tomb chamber.
- The area above the gate is open 8:30-17:00 and closes every Monday for maintenance (except on statutory holidays and the anniversaries of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's birth and passing).
- The tomb chamber is open Tuesdays to Fridays only (statutory holidays excepted), and also opens on the anniversaries of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's birth and passing.
- No unified ticket-release time has been published; holiday slots are scarce, so book as early as possible once your dates are fixed.
- Paid attractions in the same park (Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum ¥70 / Linggu Temple ¥35 / Music Stage ¥10 / Meiling Palace ¥30; combined ticket ¥100) are ticketed separately and are not part of the Zhongshan Ling reservation.
- Travel groups book free of charge through the group-booking platform Jiubai Yiyou; the platform does not serve individual visitors.
- Reservation hotline 4009288312; ticketing inquiries 025-84437786.
How to book
-
微信小程序「钟山风景区」/ 订阅号「南京钟山风景区」— WeChat mini program 钟山风景区 (Zhongshan Scenic Area) / WeChat subscription account 南京钟山风景区 (Nanjing Zhongshan Scenic Area)
Passport accepted
Pick Free Reservation Ticket, then the Zhongshan Ling reservation ticket, then a date and time slot. Foreign visitors enter their passport number as the document info; if booking fails or the passport is not an accepted document type, call the reservation hotline for manual help.
-
官网 www.zschina.org.cn（7:00-22:00）— Official website www.zschina.org.cn (7:00-22:00)
Passport accepted
The online booking entry here shares the same ticket quota as the mini program.
-
游客自助服务终端（8:00-17:00）— Self-service kiosks on site (8:00-17:00)
Passport accepted
Book at the self-service machines in the scenic area — the in-person fallback when online channels fail.
Sources
🏺 Nanjing Museum
Free, but every visitor books by real name. Tickets drop daily at 18:00 for the next 7 days and are gone once a day fills up. Foreign visitors can book online themselves with a passport, then complete in-person verification at the Service Center green channel on the day of the visit.
What you need to know
- Admission is free, but every visitor — including anyone entitled to a concession policy and their companions — must book with real name; no third-party booking service is authorized.
- Tickets are released daily at 18:00 for the next 7 days (not including today) through the official WeChat mini program; daily quotas apply and a day closes once it sells out.
- Two entry slots: morning 9:00-13:00 and afternoon 12:00-16:00. Arrive within your slot or you will be refused entry; each document number may enter and exit the museum only once per day, and morning tickets must enter before 13:00.
- Closed Mondays (except statutory holidays; also closed on Lunar New Year's Eve and Lunar New Year's Day). Open 9:00-17:00, last entry at 16:00.
- Minors aged 14 and under cannot book alone: an adult must book a family ticket for them and complete entry verification together with them, bringing at most 3 minors per adult.
- Honor your bookings: with the same document number, 3 unfulfilled bookings within 90 days — including cancelling after booking and not showing up on the day — trigger a 90-day booking ban.
- Reservation inquiries: 025-84807923.
How to book
-
微信小程序「南京博物院」/ 官网预约入口 ticket.njmuseum.com.cn — WeChat mini program 南京博物院 (Nanjing Museum) / official booking site ticket.njmuseum.com.cn
Passport accepted
Choose passport (or Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card) as the document type and book with real-name details. On the day of your visit, take your original passport and the booking confirmation to the green-channel service window at the Service Center to complete entry formalities.
Sources
ℹ️ General Booking Rules in Nanjing
Nanjing's headline free attractions are all 'free does not mean no reservation': real-name booking via the official mini program or WeChat account is the only way in. Passports can be filled in online; if the system stalls, call the hotline or use the on-site manual service window.
What you need to know
- The headline free attractions (Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Nanjing Museum) all run on real-name reservation with no on-site ticket fallback: no reservation means no entry.
- Release rhythms differ: the Nanjing Museum releases tickets daily at 18:00 for the next 7 days; the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum publishes no unified release time but holiday quotas are tight. Book early for both.
- The official reservation systems accept passports and similar documents online. If verification fails or the system only takes ID cards, call the official reservation hotline or book in person at the on-site comprehensive service window.
- Mondays are the standing closure day for Nanjing's memorial venues (both the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and the Nanjing Museum close); statutory holidays usually stay open with larger quotas, so plan itineraries around Mondays.