Brief information on Zhonghua Gate  

Zhonghua Gate (Gate of China), also known as Jubao Gate in the Ming Dynasty, is the biggest castle city gate among the 13 city gates in Nanjing ancient city, and is also the best preserved and the most complicated castle in the world. It has been listed in the National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

In 1366, the first emperor of Ming Dyansty, Zhu Yuanzhang, ordered the building of the city walls around its capital, Nanjing. Zhonghua Gate was recently formed then. It stretches 118.5m from east to west, 128mfrom south to north, occupying an area of 15,168 m2 and setting up three enceintes that are connected by four arched doors, the first of which is 21.45 m high. Each enceinte has 13 caves for hiding soldiers and storing up military materials. The enceintes are flanked by two berms, which are fast tracks to transport military materials.

Zhonghua Gate is a magnificent building, with a complicated structure, ingenious design and great originality. construction took 21 years, with materials comprising of mainly large boulder strips and bricks mixed with glutinous rice juices, limes and China wood oil. Each brick is 40-50 cm by 20 m, 10 cm in thickness and weighs 15-20kg. As a result, the Zhonghua Gate is firm enough to stand for six centuries.  

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Zhonghua Gate if you plan to visit Zhonghua Gate and have language problems.

   

Hours: 08:30-18:00
Address: South of Nanjing City
Transportation: Buses: 2,16, 26, 33, 49, 88