The Ming Palace, also known as the "Forbidden City of Nanjing", was the 14th-century imperial palace of the early Ming dynasty, when Nanjing was the capital of China.
The Meridian Gate (front gate) of the Ming Palace, viewed from the northern (inner) side.
The Meridian Gate viewed from the southern, outer side
Column bases
Inside the Meridian Gate park
Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu province in eastern China. It is a sub-provincial city, and a megacity. The city has 11 districts, an administrative area of 6,600 km2 (2,500 sq mi), and a population of 9,423,400 as of 2021.
Situated in the Yangtze River Delta region, Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having served as the capital of various Chinese dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments dating from the 3rd century to 1949, and has thus long been a major center of culture, education, research, politics, economy, transport networks and tourism, being the home to one of the world's largest inland ports. The city 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 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 Honor of China, Special UN Habitat Scroll of Honor Award and National Civilized City. Nanjing is also considered a Beta city classification, together with Chongqing, Hangzhou and Tianjin by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and ranked as one of the world's top 100 cities in the Global Financial Centres Index.
Purple Mountain or Zijin Shan, located to the east of the walled city of Nanjing, is the origin of the nickname "Jinling". The water in the front is Xuanwu Lake
A bixie sculpture at Xiao Xiu's tomb (AD 518). Stone sculpture of the southern dynasties is widely considered as the city's icon.
The Śarīra pagoda in Qixia Temple. It was built in AD 601 and rebuilt in the 10th century.
Second half section of the "Night Revels of Han Xizai" (韓熙載夜宴圖) by the Southern Tang painter Gu Hongzhong, 10th century, showed a banquet in Yuhuatai District, Nanjing.