Qinhuai River and Confucius Temple

The Qinhuai was the heart of Nanjing's cultural life for centuries, a canal quarter where the Confucius Temple, the imperial examination compound and the pleasure district stood within a few hundred metres of one another. The Jiangnan Examination Hall held over twenty thousand individual cells in which candidates were locked for days to sit the imperial exams; a section survives as a museum with cells reconstructed. The temple has been rebuilt repeatedly, most recently after wartime destruction. In the evening the whole quarter is lit, boats run the canal under painted lanterns, and the Lantern Festival at Chinese New Year fills it to capacity. Street food, particularly Nanjing snacks, is the other draw.

What you actually see

• The examination hall museum - reconstructed cells from the imperial exam compound.
• The Confucius Temple - the rebuilt complex on its historic site.
• The lantern-lit canal - boats and lighting along the Qinhuai after dark.
• The snack streets - Nanjing street food through the quarter.

When to go

March to May and September to November; the Lantern Festival around Chinese New Year is spectacular and impossibly crowded. Evenings are when the quarter works best. Summer heat and humidity are heavy.

Honest expectations

Almost everything here is reconstruction, and the quarter is thoroughly commercial. Evening crowds are dense. Boat rides are short and priced for tourists. The examination museum is the most substantial historic content.

Nearby

The city wall and Zhonghua Gate lie south; the Nanjing Museum is east.