03/11/2026
Where Nanjing’s Past Stands in Red Walls and Yellow Tiles 🍂
Most people picture Nanjing as a busy modern city. But if you walk into Chaotian Palace (朝天宫), time slows down.
With its vermilion walls, sweeping roofs, and yellow-glazed tiles, this is the most complete ancient palatial complex in the Jiangnan region. Built on Ming-era foundations and later shaped into a Qing Confucian temple, it now holds the Nanjing Municipal Museum — and every courtyard whispers 2,500 years of history.
Nanjing didn’t start as a “capital.” It began as a small riverside settlement by the Yangtze (扬子江) — a place of fishing boats, river mist, and quiet streets. Then in 229 AD, Sun Quan made it the capital of Eastern Wu. From that moment, the little river town rose into Jiankang, and became the heart of six dynasties: Wu, Eastern Jin, Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen. That’s why we call it the “Six Dynasties Ancient Capital.” 🐉
Inside the same palace-museum, you’ll find one of China’s most legendary porcelain pieces:
the Yuan-dynasty blue-and-white vase depicting “Xiao He Chasing Han Xin Under the Moon.”
(Made in Jingdezhen, unearthed from the tomb of Ming general Mu Ying.)
It’s not just beautiful — it’s priceless. The vase is on the national list of cultural relics prohibited from leaving China. You literally cannot see this anywhere else in the world except right here in Nanjing.
☕ Come for the architecture.
🏛 Stay for the dynasty stories.
💎 Leave humbled by a 700-year-old moonlit chase painted in cobalt blue.
📍 Chaotian Palace, Qinhuai District
🎟 Open daily (Nanjing Municipal Museum)
Nanjing
