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Xiamafang Ruins Park

Buildings and structures in NanjingParks in Nanjing

The Xiamafang Ruins Park (simplified Chinese: 下马坊遗址公园; traditional Chinese: 下馬坊遺址公園; pinyin: Xiàmǎfāng Yízhǐ Gōngyuán) is located at the southern foot of Purple Mountain in Xuanwu District, Nanjing. The name of the park comes from the Ming Tomb. The Ming Tomb is the tomb burying Ming Taizu (朱元璋) and his queen together. Ming Taizu appointed Xiaoling Guard (a military guard institution protecting the Ming Tomb professionally) there to garrison it from interference. In ancient times, officials coming here to call on the Ming Tomb were required to dismount in order to keep the tomb solemn and respectful. As a result, the park got its name. Consequently, Xiamafang is the starting point of the Ming Tomb. The park opened to the public since the National Day in 2007. 600 years ago, the area was a forbidden territory. Stationed there were 5600 royal soldiers selected by Ming Taizu to guard the catacomb truthfully for himself. Visitors can find the signs of the history of the Xiaoling Guard everywhere in the park. As it were, the park is the essence of evaporation of the history.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Xiamafang Ruins Park (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Xiamafang Ruins Park
中山门大街, Xuanwu District 孝陵卫街道

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N 32.0394 ° E 118.8456 °
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中山门大街
210095 Xuanwu District, 孝陵卫街道
Jiangsu, China
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Meiling Palace
Meiling Palace

Meiling Palace (Chinese: 美齡宮, aka Meiling Villa and Meiling Gong) is a large villa in Nanjing, China, built by the chairman of the Chinese National Government, Chiang Kai-Shek, for his wife, Soong Meiling. It is known formally as the National Government Chairman Residence (Chinese: 国民政府主席官邸).The villa is located below Purple Mountain, about 6 km from Nanjing's city centre in the Zhongshan Mountain Scenic Area. It is the largest villa in Nanjing, with a floor area of more than 2,000 m2.Meiling Palace was completed in 1934, as a residence for the chairman of the Chinese National Government. Chiang Kai-Shek gave the mansion to his wife on her birthday, 4 March, and the couple moved there in summer 1936. Later it was used as a base for officials visiting the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, located nearby. After the end of the war between China and Japan in 1946, the National Government moved back to Nanjing and Chiang Kai-Shek used this villa as his official residence. The exterior of the villa was built in a traditional Chinese style with double eaves and a roof of green glazed tiles. There are more than a thousand phoenixes carved on the roof tiles. The Chinese artist Chen Zhifo (1896–1962) painted the eaves with birds and flowers. Viewed from above, the trees surrounding the villa are in the form of a necklace. The interior was in a western style. The building has two main storeys, a basement, and a mezzanine between the first and second floors. In the basement, there is an exhibition of paintings by Soong Meiling. On the second floor, there is a private chapel.