The most practical travel guide for Jiangsu in China

👃 6:32 AM at Zhongshan Mausoleum - The morning mist carries whispers of camphor trees and ambition. Elderly tai chi practitioners move like shadows through the marble memorial archway, their silk sleeves fluttering against stone carvings of sun motifs. This is where modern China's dreams were etched in granite. 👅 7:15 AM along Qinhuai River - Steam rises from hidden alley kitchens where fourth-generation vendors shape lotus-leaf-wrapped glutinous rice. Follow the scent of candied osmanthus to Laomendong's breakfast stalls, where Nanjing's soul resides in a bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup. 👂 5:48 PM on Shouxihu Lake - As the last pleasure boat returns to dock, the lake surface becomes a liquid mirror reflecting willow patterns. Listen for the faint clatter of mahjong tiles from waterside teahouses - Yangzhou's aristocrats may be gone, but their leisure rituals endure. Your journey begins at NKG Airport's Terminal 2, where the 11:30 AM shuttle becomes a movin...

Dawn breaks over Xuanwu Lake like spilled ink on rice paper. Joggers trace the willow-lined shore, their breaths forming tiny clouds that mingle with mist rising from the water. By 7 AM, the scent of freshly fried jianbing crepes guides office workers to unmarked stalls near Gulou Square - the true breakfast club where porcelain spoons clink against steaming bowls of duck blood vermicelli soup. At high noon, sunlight filters through plane trees along Heping Road, dappling art students sketching the Byzantine arches of Sacred Heart Cathedral. Their mentor, a silver-haired calligrapher, pauses to demonstrate how to capture the "qiyun" (spirit resonance) of these Franco-Chinese walls that survived both war and revolution. When twilight gilds Qinhuai River's lanterns, tea masters at Laomendong's hidden courtyards begin their daily ritual - pouring jasmine-scented water from copper kettles held at shoulder height, creating arcs of liquid amber that catch the last crimson...