Zhonghua City-Gate

(Image source: www.nju.gov.cn)

Zhonghua Gate was originally named Jubao Gate (Treasure Gate). Nanjing City of the Ming Dynasty was extended from the basis of Jinling City. Jubao Gate was the site of the southern gate of Jinling City. Nanjing City wall was rebuilt during the period of 1366-1387. Of all the city gates, Jubao Gate was the best in scale and quality, and this kind of city gate is rarely seen in the world history of city construction. Inside the gate there are three archways, which, together with the walls on the eastern and western sides, form a citadel. As the gate is close to the river, the citadel is situated inside the gate, which can be seen only in Nanjing. There are three more similar city gates: Shicheng (Hanxi) Gate, Sanshan (Shuixi) Gate and Tongji Gate, but they have already been removed. Only Zhonghua Gate still stands erect.

In 1931,its name was changed into Zhonghua City-Gate. Three Chinese characters inscribed by Jiang Kai-shek in person are still visible on the city-gate. Covering an area of 16,512 square meters,the entire castle extends 129 meters from south to north and 118 meters from east to west,with the highest point of the city-wall being 21.45 meters. The city-gate is extremely solid as it was built completely with lime, tung oil and glutinous rice gruel as adhesives.

The castle of Zhonghau City-Gate is marked by strict and regular layout of a unique structure. It is also termed “Pottery-pot Enclosure”as it looks like a pottery pot. It consists of three enclosures and each one has a gate and a sluice. The gate is wrapped with iron on both sides with a groove cut inside for fastening the gate with a bolt. In the era of cold weapons,with the gate and the sluice closed right after enemy troops stormed into the city,they would be trapped in the enclosure. Within the city,27 caves capable of hiding over 3,000 soldiers served to counter-attack enemy troops in ancient times. These caves have become important materials for studying real military installations in ancient China. In 1988,the castle of Zhonghau City-Gate was listed by the State Council as a unit of important cultural relics under national protection.

As the biggest city-enclosure in the world at present, the castle of Zhonghau City-Gate has an important position in the military, history, and the culture and the history of city-construction.

Address: Zhonghua Rd, Qinhuai District

Tel: 0086-025-86625435

Open hours: 8:30-21:00

Ticket price: 34yuan

Traffic: Bus 88/ Zhonghuamennei Stop,Bus 14, 23, 33, 43, 46,81, 87 / Changlelu Stop