China Guide
Jiangsu and Zhejiang
Zijin Shan
Address: About 3km east of Xinjiekou (bus #9 from Xinjiekou or bus #20 from Gulou)
Named after the colour of its rocks, Zijin Shan (Purple Gold Mountain) has traditionally been a cool and shady spot to escape the furnace heat of Nanjing's summer, with fragrant woods and stretches of long grass, but also here are the three most visited sites in Nanjing. Of these, the centrepiece, right in the middle of the hill, is Zhongshan Ling, the magnificent mausoleum of China's first president, Sun Yatsen. To the east of Zhongshan Ling is the Linggu Si complex, and to the west are the ancient Ming Xiaoling, tombs of the Ming emperors who ruled China from Nanjing.