Capital Constructs

The Building of Nanjing (27); Nanjing Railway Ferry

Getting a train onto a ferry is a big deal, even today. Apart from the fact that trains are just plain heavy, they require the building of trestle bridges for the embarking/disembarking of locomotives and carriages. All very well,...

The Building of Nanjing (26); Nanjing South Railway Station

Nanjing South Railway Station perhaps might have never become a reality. And at the heart of the matter was a 3-year-long disagreement between the Ministry of Railways and the Nanjing urban planning authorities.  南京南站可能永远不会成为现实。 事情的核心是铁道部和南京城市规划主管部门之间长达3年的分歧。 It was in December of 1994...

The Building of Nanjing (25); Zhonghua Men

Many will be familiar with the impressive data set accompanying Nanjing’s Zhonghua Men. The biggest citadel on Earth still in existence, capable of housing a garrison of 3,000 soldiers and likely the most complex structure of its time. 许多人都会熟悉南京中华门的令人印象深刻的数据集。 地球上仍然存在的最大的城堡,能够容纳3000名士兵的驻军,可能是当时最复杂的结构。 But...

The Building of Nanjing (24); Purple Mountain Observatory

They were the largest of their kind in the Far East at the time. Today, telescopes far and wide falling under the umbrella of Nanjing Purple Mountain Observatory continue to make significant contributions to astronomical observation. No wonder it...

The Building of Nanjing (23); Meiling Palace

Hearsay has it that the dwelling was a birthday gift from Chiang Kai-shek to his wife, Song Meiling, hence the name. Indeed, there is much to support the claim. With 34 white marble railings, 34 lampposts and Chiang’s proposal...

The Building of Nanjing (22); Former British Embassy

With Nanjing as capital of China prior to Beijing, so too it was home to the embassies of many countries during the Republican era. Some are well preserved, still standing strong to this day and open to the public,...

The Building of Nanjing (21); Jiangsu Grand Theatre

Swan Lake, Macbeth, Tosca, Don Quixote and Cats are among the globally renowned productions to have been staged in the Jiangsu Grand Theatre, known formally as the Jiangsu Centre for the Performing Arts. 《天鹅湖》、《麦克白》、《托斯卡》、《堂吉诃德》和《猫》是江苏大剧院(正式名称为江苏表演艺术中心)上演的全球知名作品之一。 And those well known productions have been...

The Building of Nanjing (20); Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre

In early 2001, China’s General Office of the State Council officially issued the “Letter on Cancellation of the Restriction on the Alternate Hosting of the National Games by Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong”, a decision that quickly received positive responses...

Latest News

Taiwan Minister’s Rare China Trip Highlights One-Way Street Across the Strait

Sunday 20 September saw Taiwan's Labour Minister Hung Sun-han board a flight to Nanjing, to become the first cabinet-level...

Baby on Board in High Speed Train Emergency Delivered by Urologist into Nanjing

Mid-journey between Shanghai and Nanjing, a routine high-speed train service turned into an improvised delivery room, when a lady...

Iranians in China become more Visible than Countable

These things often start, not with a statistic, but with a voice; Persian heard in a lift, a WeChat...

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