Nanjing, China

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is connected to Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and other major Chinese cities by rail, road, air and river-boat. There are regular scheduled flights to Hong Kong.

Nanjing is the political, economic - with heavy industry of prime importance - and cultural center of the province of Jiangsu. For centuries the city has been famous for its velvets, silks and brocades. Important agricultural products from the surrounding area include rice, cereals, fruit, vegetables and tea. Nanjing University is famous both in China and abroad.

Nanjing's appearance changed radically in the 1990s. More and more hyper-modern tower blocks along dead straight multiple-lane carriageways dominate the cityscape. In the old town (Fuzimiao Quarter), however, you can still find the old leafy alleys, with their dense canopy of trees that Nanjing was famous for once; the traditional one- or two-story buildings have also been preserved or reconstructed.

The area around Nanjing was already settled over 5000 years ago. In 495 BC, at the time of the Warring Kingdoms, an armaments foundry was established here, around which a town gradually developed, going on to become the capital of the Wu Empire (220-280). In later centuries there was a succession of dynasties: the Eastern Jin, (Liu) Song, Qi, Liang and Chen. In 1368, the first Ming Emperor made Nanjing the political center of the whole empire for the first time. It was at this time that the town assumed its gigantic size which can still be gleaned today from the remains of the city walls. Even when the capital was moved to Beijing in 1421, the town, for the first time under its present name of Nanjing (southern capital), held on to its economic and cultural importance.

In 1842 Nanjing saw the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing which signaled the end of the first of the Opium Wars and introduced a period during which China became increasingly dominant internationally.

In 1853, the Taiping Rebels made their base in Nanjing; the rebellion was crushed and the old Ming town which had survived until then was completely destroyed in the process. Its reconstruction took many years. In 1912 the Chinese Republic was declared in Nanjing, and from 1928 to 1937 the National government was based here. In 1937, Japanese troops occupied the city and massacred 100,000 people.

In 1949 the People's Liberation Army conquered Nanjing, which was declared capital of the province of Jiangsu three years later.