Nanjing, China Formerly known in the West as Nanking, Nanjing is the traditional center of cultural, economic and political life in the Yangtze Delta. Nanjing is home to the longest extant city wall in China, the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, famous Buddhist and Confucian temples, and one of Maoist China’s greatest monuments—the first bridge to span the Yangtze. Today Nanjing is the capital of China’s second richest province, Jiangsu, and home to over six million people. Nanjing’s status as a major rail junction and the Yangtze’s second largest port has made the city an industrial center. Its strength in the electronics, automobile and chemical sectors, combined with its natural and social science research institutes, make Nanjing the country’s third-largest scientific and technological hub. The city also excels in higher education; only Beijing and Shanghai have more universities. Nanjing also benefits from its proximity to Shanghai—an eight-lane freeway connects the two cities, and they are only two hours apart by train. With broad tree-lined boulevards and parks, lakes and lawns, Nanjing is regarded as the greenest city in China. As part of the growing urban sprawl, the downtown area is being rebuilt, and people are moving into high-rise apartment buildings in the suburbs, where they shop at big box grocery and hardware stores and, in ever-greater numbers, drive privately owned cars. The number of Western stores is also growing. Students can find many home comforts in Starbucks, Carrefour and even Walmart. Set away from the politics of Beijing and the commercialism in Shanghai, Nanjing offers students and scholars a rich canvas for academic endeavors. The city is a vibrant and exciting place to live and provides many cultural and educational diversions for students during their spare time. The Center, located on the Nanjing University campus, is a five-minute walk from the historical center of Nanjing—Gulou Circle—and a 25-minute walk from the downtown business area of Xinjiekou. Nanjing's north-south metro line runs from the Nanjing railway station in the north, to Gulou Circle, Xinjiekou and onwards to the south of the city.
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