Upper galleries
Over the river.
钉钉 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 钉钉 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 钉钉 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 钉钉 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 史氏 — CC BY 3.0 · 钉钉 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 钉钉 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 史氏 — CC BY 3.0
A grand tower on Lion Hill in the north-west corner of old Nanjing, looking over the Yangtze, with an unusual story: in 1374 the Hongwu Emperor, founder of the Ming, decided to build a tower on the hill from which he had won a decisive battle before founding his dynasty, named it Yuejiang, «the tower for viewing the river», and ordered his court scholars to each write a «Record of Yuejiang Tower»; Song Lian's essay became famous and entered the classic anthologies of Chinese prose. Then the work stopped, and for more than six centuries it remained «a record without a tower», until it was finally built and completed in 2001. The tower rises in imperial Ming style, with roofs of green and yellow tiles, red columns and white marble balustrades, and from its upper galleries the view runs over the river and the old city wall; some count it among the four great towers of southern China. Beside it stand the old Tianfei Palace and Jinghai Temple, both free to enter. Tickets are CNY 40, and it is open from 8 am to 5.30 pm, with ticket sales ending at 5 pm, per visitor guides.
Over the river.
Green and yellow tiles.
At the hill's foot.
Lion Hill, 202 Jianning Road, Gulou District, north-west of the old city
Because the Hongwu Emperor ordered it in 1374 and scholars wrote essays about it, but building stopped, so the essays stood alone for more than six centuries until the tower was completed in 2001.