March 27 – April 1, 2026 (6 days, 5 nights) | Yuan Tengfei takes you on a historical and cultural journey through the Ming, Qing, and Republican eras from Nanjing to Yangzhou.

Jiangnan

It is a place that carries the cultural imagery of a thousand years.

This place boasts many beautiful sights.

It attracted many literati

Many famous quotes have been left behind.

Whether it is Nanjing, an important city in history

Yangzhou is still more beautiful in terms of scenery and people.

Or perhaps Zhenjiang, with its beautiful scenery and historical sites.

They all have many stories.

Let our top teacher lead us on a journey to Jiangnan.

Let me tell you these stories

Teacher in charge

Teacher Yuan Tengfei

Hailed by fans as "the best history teacher in history"

1. Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum

The Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is the joint burial site of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty and his empress. It is named "Xiaoling" because Empress Ma was posthumously honored as "Empress Xiaoci Gao" and because she upheld the principle of governing the country through filial piety.

The Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is one of the largest imperial mausoleums in China. Inheriting the tradition of Tang and Song imperial mausoleums being built against mountains, it also pioneered the new system of a circular mound instead of a square tomb. It harmoniously integrates humanity and nature, achieving a perfect unity of heaven and man, and serves as an outstanding example of the fusion of traditional Chinese architectural art and environmental aesthetics.

As the foremost imperial mausoleum of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum represents the highest achievement of early Ming architecture and stone carving art. It directly influenced the form of more than 20 imperial mausoleums of the Ming and Qing dynasties over a period of more than 500 years. The Ming and Qing imperial mausoleums, distributed in Beijing, Hubei, Liaoning, Hebei and other places according to the historical process, were all built according to the regulations and model of the Nanjing Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum. It holds a special position in the development history of Chinese imperial mausoleums and is therefore known as the "First Imperial Mausoleum of the Ming and Qing Dynasties".

2. Nanjing Museum

The Nanjing Museum is one of China's three major museums. Its predecessor was the National Central Museum, which was initiated and built in 1933 by Cai Yuanpei and others. It is the earliest museum established in China and the first large-scale comprehensive museum in China to be invested and built by the state.

As of 2018, the Nanjing Museum possessed 432,768 pieces (sets) of various collections, including 371,032 pieces (sets) of precious cultural relics. It ranked second in China in terms of the number of precious cultural relics, with over two thousand national treasures and first-class national cultural relics. These relics span from the Paleolithic era to the present day, encompassing both national and Jiangsu regional items. They include imperial heirlooms, archaeological finds, and items collected and donated from society. All are precious masterpieces from various dynasties, making it a vast treasure trove of Chinese cultural art.

The collection includes a wide variety of cultural artifacts, such as bronze, jade, ceramics, gold and silver utensils, bamboo, wood, ivory and horn artifacts, lacquerware, silk textiles and embroidery, calligraphy and paintings, seals, stone inscriptions and statues. Each type forms its own historical series, serving as the most direct witness to the development of Chinese civilization over thousands of years.

3. Daming Temple

Daming Temple derives its name from its initial construction during the Daming era (457-464 AD) of Emperor Xiaowu of the Southern Song Dynasty. Over the past 1500 years, the temple's name has changed several times, including "Qiling Temple" and "West Temple" during the Sui Dynasty, and "Chengping" at the end of the Tang Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, to avoid using the characters "Daming," it was temporarily called "Qiling Temple." In the 30th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, the emperor personally inscribed the name "Imperial Inscription: Fajing Temple." In 1980, Daming Temple reverted to its original name.
In the first year of the Renshou era of the Sui Dynasty (601 AD), Emperor Yang Jian, to celebrate his birthday, issued an edict to build 30 pagodas throughout the country to enshrine the Buddha's relics. The temple built the "Qiling Pagoda," a magnificent nine-story structure, hailed as "the most outstanding in China," hence the temple was also known as "Qiling Temple." During the Tang Dynasty, the monk Jianzhen served as abbot of Daming Temple, making it an important ancient temple in the history of Sino-Japanese Buddhist cultural relics relations. In the third year of the Huichang era of the Tang Dynasty (843 AD), the nine-story Qiling Pagoda was destroyed by fire. It was later rebuilt through fundraising by monks, but repeatedly fell into ruin. During the Qingli era of the Northern Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu, then prefect of Yangzhou, built the Pingshan Hall. During the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Xiu, the prefect of Yangzhou, rebuilt Daming Temple, and in the twelfth year of the Chongzhen era, the Imperial Censor Yang Renyuan renovated it again.
During the prosperous reigns of the Kangxi and Qianlong Emperors of the Qing Dynasty, Daming Temple was expanded and became the foremost of the eight famous temples in Yangzhou. In the 30th year of Qianlong's reign (1765), Emperor Qianlong toured Yangzhou and renamed it "Fajing Temple". However, in the 3rd year of Xianfeng's reign (1853), the Taiping Army occupied Yangzhou, and Fajing Temple was destroyed in the war. In the 9th year of Tongzhi's reign (1870), Fajing Temple was rebuilt.

4. Shi Kefa Temple

Shi Kefa was a renowned statesman and anti-Qing hero of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. His courtesy name was Xianzhi, and his pen name was Daolin. He was from Xiangfu County, Henan Province. When the Qing army marched south, Shi Kefa was besieged in Yangzhou. After the city fell, he was killed, and the Qing army massacred the city for ten days. The following year (1646), Shi Kefa's adopted son, Shi Dewei, buried his father's official robes and court tablet at Meihualing, which is now known as the "Cenotaph." A shrine was built outside the Great East Gate in the early Qing dynasty, but it was later destroyed.
In the thirty-seventh year of the Qianlong reign (1772), a shrine was built on the west side of the tomb to worship him. The shrine and the tomb were connected and were commonly known as the Shi Gong Shrine (another account states that it was built by Emperor Qianlong in the thirty-third year of the Qianlong reign (1768) to praise Shi Gong).

5. Presidential Palace

The Presidential Palace in Nanjing, located at 292 Changjiang Road, Xuanwu District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, is the largest and best-preserved architectural complex among China's modern architectural relics. It is also one of the main representatives of Nanjing's Republican-era architecture and an important site in modern Chinese history. Since modern times, the Presidential Palace has repeatedly served as the political and military center of China, the cradle of major events, and a place closely related to many significant Chinese events. Many important figures have been active here.
The Presidential Palace in Nanjing has a history of 600 years, which can be traced back to the Marquis of Guide's Mansion and the Prince of Han's Mansion in the early Ming Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, it was used as the Jiangning Textile Bureau and the Governor-General's Office of Liangjiang. Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong used it as their temporary palace during their southern tours. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established its capital in Nanjing, it built the grand Heavenly King's Palace here. On January 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen took the oath of office as the Provisional President of the Republic of China here and turned it into the Presidential Palace. Later, it became the Presidential Palace of the Nanjing National Government.
The Nanjing Presidential Palace complex covers an area of ​​approximately 90,000 square meters. It combines traditional Jiangnan gardens with architectural remnants of modern Western influences, and is divided into three areas: the central area mainly houses the National Government, the Presidential Palace, and its affiliated institutions; the western area contains Sun Yat-sen's Provisional Presidential Office, Secretariat, West Garden, Sun Yat-sen's living quarters, and General Staff Headquarters; and the eastern area mainly includes the Executive Yuan, the Tao and Lin Ancestral Halls, stables, and the East Garden. It also houses over ten historical artifacts and restored exhibits related to the Presidential Palace, the Nanjing Provisional Government, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the Qing Dynasty's Viceroy of Liangjiang.

6. Zhonghua Gate

Zhonghua Gate, originally called Jubao Gate, is located at the southern end of Zhonghua Road in Qinhuai District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, north of Changgan Bridge. It is one of the thirteen city gates of the Nanjing Ming City Wall and the largest existing city gate in China.
Zhonghua Gate, located on the south side of Nanjing City during the Ming Dynasty, was expanded during the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty on the site of the former south gates of Jiangning Prefecture and Jiankang Prefecture. The construction took 21 years. The gate's foundation consisted of massive stone blocks, and the walls were built with large bricks, reinforced with an adhesive made of glutinous rice juice, lime, and tung oil. In 1931, the Nanjing Nationalist Government renamed it Zhonghua Gate and added Zhonghua East Gate and Zhonghua West Gate to its east and west sides respectively.
The Zhonghua Gate is 118.5 meters wide from east to west and 128 meters long from north to south, covering an area of ​​15,168 square meters. The inner and outer Qinhuai Rivers flow through the gate, with the Changgan Bridge and Zhenhuai Bridge connecting the south and north sides of the gate respectively. The gate is constructed with three barbicans and four arched gates, forming a "目" (eye) shape. Each barbican is connected by a gate gate, and each barbican consists of a main gate tower and three auxiliary gates. Each gate has bolt grooves inside for securing the gate with wooden bolts.
Zhonghua Gate is the best-preserved and most complex fortified barbican in the world, and is known as the "Number One Barbican in the World".

7. City Wall Museum

The Nanjing City Wall Museum, located at No. 1 Laomendongbianying, Qinhuai District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, adjacent to the Zhonghua Gate Wengcheng, is a national first-class museum with a total building area of ​​12,000 square meters. As a specialized museum of the history and culture of ancient Chinese city walls and a venue for the application for World Cultural Heritage status, it is the largest specialized museum of city walls in China.
On August 8, 2018, the Nanjing City Wall Museum broke ground. On December 28, 2021, the Nanjing City Wall Museum opened for trial operation. As of the end of 2019, the Nanjing City Wall Museum had a collection of 1,718 pieces/sets, including 166 pieces/sets of precious cultural relics, held 16 exhibitions and 30 educational activities, and received 2.42 million visitors.

8. Meiling Palace

The former residence of the Chairman of the National Government is located at No. 9 Zhongshan Mausoleum, Xuanwu District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. Commonly known as the Meiling Palace, it was first built in 1931 and served as one of the residences of Chiang Kai-shek, Chairman of the National Government, and his wife Soong Mei-ling in Nanjing. It was hailed as the "First Villa in the Far East." In front of the main building is a black Buick sedan, given to Soong Mei-ling by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s, with the license plate number "Military 00385".
The former residence of the Chairman of the National Government covers an area of ​​80,000 square meters, with a building area of ​​over 2,000 square meters. It consists of a main building, guardhouse, garage, and garden. The main building faces south and is three stories high, with an additional basement. It is a traditional Chinese palace-style building. The overall design of the building resembles a pearl necklace. The eaves of the main building are decorated with more than 1,000 phoenix sculptures, and the 34 white marble railings coincide with Soong Mei-ling's birthday, but the legend of the necklace design lacks historical support [7-8]. The building uses a reinforced concrete structure, integrating a glazed tile roof with Western decorative elements, reflecting the design concept of combining Chinese and Western styles. It is a relatively complete large villa from the Republican era that still exists today.

9. Linggu Temple

Linggu Temple is located in the Linggu Scenic Area, about one kilometer east of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in the Zhongshan Scenic Area, Xuanwu District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. Its ancient names include Kaishan Daocheng, Baogongyuan, Taiping Xingguo Chan Temple, and Jiangshan Temple. Situated on the eastern slope of Zijin Mountain, Linggu Temple is the only one of the more than 70 Southern Dynasties Buddhist temples on Zhongshan Mountain that has survived to the present day. The existing architectural complex is symmetrically laid out, including a screen wall, mountain gate, front hall, main hall, and Guanyin Pavilion. The underground palace of the Xuanzang Temple houses part of the skull relic of the monk Xuanzang. Currently, Master Lingshan serves as the abbot.
The temple was originally built in 515 AD (the 14th year of the Tianjian era of the Southern Liang Dynasty) as Kaishan Temple. After being relocated in 1381 (the 14th year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty), it occupied 500 mu (approximately 33 hectares) and was named Linggu Temple. In 1407 (the 5th year of the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty), Emperor Chengzu of Ming held a grand Buddhist feast at the temple. It underwent several renovations during the Qing Dynasty. During the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty, most of the temple buildings were destroyed by war, leaving only the Beamless Hall. In 1931, the Beamless Hall was converted into a memorial hall for the fallen soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army, and its restoration was completed in 1981. In 1983, it was listed as a key national Buddhist temple in Han Chinese areas. In 2001, the Beamless Hall, as part of the National Revolutionary Army Martyrs' Cemetery, was upgraded to a national key cultural relics protection unit.

10. Tomb of the King of Guangling

The Museum of the Tomb of the King of Guangling of the Han Dynasty is located on the southern edge of the Shugang Ancient City Ruins. The terrain is undulating, the trees lush, and the architecture imposing, making it a mausoleum-style museum integrating cultural relics and gardens. The central exhibition hall displays the tomb of Liu Xu, the first King of Guangling of the Western Han Dynasty. It is an imperial-level "huangchangticou" wooden coffin tomb, grand in scale and rigorous in structure, one of the largest Han Dynasty tombs in China, dating back more than two thousand years. The museum also includes exhibits on the "Tomb of the Queen of Guangling," "Yangzhou in the Han Dynasty," and Han Dynasty entertainment activities.

Assembly/Dissolution

* Meet in Nanjing on March 27, 2026; disband in Zhenjiang on April 1. Please make appropriate arrangements for your itinerary before and after the meeting.

Precautions

* Customer service will contact you 3 weeks in advance after you register. Please keep your WeChat and phone accessible.
* Children under 6 years old are not recommended to participate; minors aged 6-12 must be accompanied by a guardian.

Activity Fees

* The fee includes: meals, accommodation, transportation, and lectures from the time of assembly to the time of dismissal;

* The price does not include: round-trip transportation before and after the meeting, and other expenses not listed.

Worry-free refund policy

* If the event is cancelled due to reasons attributable to the organizer, a full refund will be issued.
* In the event of cancellation due to force majeure, any unused fees will be refunded.
* No refunds will be given if you are unable to attend the event due to personal reasons (spots are transferable). Please do not bid if you mind. Thank you for your understanding.