As many of you would know, every major Chinese city used to be enclosed in massive stone walls to protect them from invading armies. After historical events such as globalisation made the walls somewhat redundant, it was up to the individual cities to decide what to do with the stone monoliths surrounding them. Different cities did different things; for example, Wuhan all but destroyed its wall, whereas Xi’an’s wall was kept intact, and now serves as a tourist attraction. Here in Nanjing, huge sections of the wall remain in various parts of the city, and Zhonghua Gate, the southernmost gate in Nanjing, is reportedly special due to it being the largest city wall gate in all of China (remember Nanjing – which translates as “south capital” – was the country’s capital until 1950).
The route I took to get there was via the Metro line to the Zhonghuamen station (Nanjing really has a world-class Metro system, it’s great), and the gate is about a half hour walk from there, and along the way you pass the Cemetery for Fallen Revolutionary Martyrs, which I didn’t know was so close to where I was going (so stay tuned for a review of this).
So you could easily dedicate a full day to explore this whole area. Back to Zhonghua Gate…what’s meant by the words “large gate” is that Zhonghuamen is basically a military stronghold; it’s a huge medieval-style courtyard divided into three sections by overhead walkways, and, apparently, it hides twenty-seven “caves” that can hold up to 3,000 soldiers during wartime, or vast amounts of supplies during non-turbulent times (You can find a few of these cavernous corridors – one of which has a wall lined with what look like cannonballs the size of basketballs, so what they were launched from is beyond me).
Bookending the entire complex are two “horse paths” (ma dao – ??), which are paths that horses can use to get to the top of the fortress quickly in case of sudden attack. From a military viewpoint, it’s simple but effective, and today these “horse paths” are lined with life-sized fibreglass soldiers, clad in the military uniforms of the day, and all proudly sporting Ming (?) flags. I’m guessing these fibreglass statues are major photo fodder during the holiday seasons….but on this cold January day, I had the place almost all to myself.
Of course, there’s the multilingual introduction board, and this informs you that the gate was commissioned by Zhu Yuanzhang (the founder of the Ming dynasty), it took twenty years to build, and was finished in 1386. It gives all its measurements, finishing by saying that its total area is 15,168 square metres (there’s some amusing Chinglish on this introduction board, in fact, there’s quite a bit around this complex, for instance a sign on the staircase advising you “Careful watch your stairs”). While walking up, down and around the gate, you can definitely feel a medieval atmosphere around you, even despite the fact that you can see and hear a sprawling modern metropolis just outside.
So what’s actually there to see and do, I hear you ask (yes, I heard you)? Well there’s few things, but to be honest the main attraction is the atmosphere that the structure itself gives. If you’re after non-stop entertainment, look elsewhere…even though this place has some information halls, shops, bonsai gardens, hidden chambers, and even a small archery range (very curious, but yes – ten yuan for six shots), the main reason you’re here is to see some Chinese history.
This place is quality over quantity, which is actually refreshing, because quite a few things in China, it could be argued, are the opposite. One thing I found interesting about this place is that costs 25 yuan to get in – I guess in Nanjing terms that’s cheap, but Jiming Temple is just ten, and there’s debatably more to see there (the most expensive place I’ve been to in China is Zhongshan tomb here in Nanjing, which is 80 kuai – even Xi’an’s Terracotta Warriors were only 65). In fact, come to think of it, maybe the reason they don’t make this whole place just public space is that people would nick off with the fibreglass soldiers. This is not to say that it’s not worth a visit, though. If you’re in the area – for instance, the Martyr’s Cemetery or Confucius Temple are both very close – this is definitely worth a couple of hours of your time, especially if you’re interested in medieval Chinese military history.
