Nanjing 南京, referred to as Ning (宁) in short, the ancient city situated in the heartland of lower Yangtze River region in China, has long been a major center of culture, education, research, politics, economy, transport networks and tourism. It is the capital city of Jiangsu province of People's Republic of China and the second largest city in the east China region, with acreage about 6600 square kilometers and a total population of 8,230,000.
Historically, Nanjing his been known as ‘the capital city of the six dynasties’ and ‘a metropolitan city of the ten dynasties’. With its long history, magnificent culture, and rich heritage, Nanjing is a cradle of Chinese civilization, the place where the Yellow River civilization and he Yangtse River civilization have converged.
Lying at the junction of the coastal area of China and the Yangtse River development area, Nanjing is the major city in the Yangtse River Delta region, as well as a major transport and communication hub for China, enabling comprehensive industrial development in this zone. It has a comprehensive, large-capacity transport network, including railways, highways, water transport, air transport and pipeline transport. The Nanjing South Railway Station for high-speed railways is the largest railway hub in Asia.
Nanjing is a major center of industrial production, the key industries being: information technology, petrochemicals, automobiles, and steel. Emerging industries include: Software and software service outsourcing, smart power grids, photovoltaic and wind energy, and rail transport. Nanjing has thus become a city for advanced manufacturing industries, as well as modern service industries. It ranks fifth among the ’50 top cities’ in mainland China.
Being one of the four ancient capitals of China, Nanjing has always been a cultural center attracting intellectuals from all over the country. In Tang and Song dynasties, Nanjing was a place where poets gathered and composed poems in memory of its luxurious past with all the up-and-downs in the history. During Ming and Qing dynasties, the city was the official imperial examination center for the Jiangnan region, again acting as a hub where different thoughts and opinions converged and thrived.
A diverse variety of delicious local food also plays an important role in the culture of Nanjing. Many of the city's local favorite dishes are based on ducks, including Nanjing salted duck, duck blood and vermicelli soup, and duck oil pancake, each with their own story of creation.
The richness of culture in Nanjing have soaked deeply into people’s daily life in this city of wonder, guiding them and encouraging them to enjoy their lives while keeping in pace with the outside world developing at a quickening speed.
Nanjing is the transportation hub in eastern China and the downstream Yangtze River area. Different means of transportation constitute a three-dimensional transport system that includes land, water and air. As in most other Chinese cities, public transportation is the dominant mode of travel of the majority of the citizens. As of October, 2014, Nanjing had five bridges and two tunnels over the Yangtze River, which have connected districts north of the river with the city center on the south bank.
The current economy in Nanjing is basically newly developed industries based on the past. Service industries are dominating, accounting for about 60 percent of the GDP of the city, and financial industry, culture industry and tourism industry are top three of them. Industries of information technology, energy saving and environmental protection, new energy, smart power grid and intelligent equipment manufacturing have become pillar industries.
Partly revised from Wikipedia:Nanjing here.