Xuanwu Lake and the Presidential Palace in Half a Day
Decide whether Xuanwu Lake and the Presidential Palace can share your half-day. One has a hard closing time and the other is an open-ended walk, so do the timed sight first and let the lakeside absorb whatever time remains.
The short answer
Morning on Changjiang Road, afternoon at the lake. Lines 2/3 Daxinggong exit 5 → about 250 m to the Presidential Palace at No. 288, 2 hours → Meiyuan New Village or the Jiangsu Art Museum, both a short walk → Line 3 from Daxinggong to Jimingsi → Jiming Temple → the Ming wall at Jiefangmen, 1.4 km along the top to Xuanwumen → down into Xuanwu Lake for the evening. The 1912 block is dinner afterwards.
Only the Presidential Palace must be booked: ¥35, timed real-name tickets on the 南京总统府 WeChat mini-program and nowhere else. Its ticket page names only Chinese ID cards, so with a passport ring 025-84578888 before you go. The wall is ¥30 at the entrance, the lake is free, and Meiyuan and the art museum are free tickets at the door.
The Presidential Palace, Meiyuan New Village, the Jiangsu Art Museum and the Six Dynasties Museum are all closed, except when a public holiday falls on the Monday. The wall (open all year) and the lake are not: do the Jiming-wall-lake afternoon and keep Changjiang Road for another day.
Last entries catch people: the palace 17:00 until 14 October and 16:00 after, the art museum 16:30, Meiyuan's free tickets 17:00. The wall has no shade, so walk it late afternoon, or in the evening from Jiefangmen (17:00-22:00 April-October); the lake is best in the evening, and a July afternoon there is hard going.
Cherry season: the avenue is Jimingsi Road below the temple gate, a public street — no ticket needed for the trees — and the traffic police close or one-way the roads around it according to crowds. Take Line 3 or 4 to Jimingsi; do not come by taxi.
Side by sideEach cell ends with the date of the notice it was checked against
Swipe sideways; the first column stays put
Presidential Palace
南京总统府Open the place →- What you see · how long
- The compound three governments used — Qing viceroys, the Taiping king from 1853, the Republic from 1912 to 1949: late-Qing and Republican office buildings round a garden with a lake. Allow 2 hours · 2026-09-18
- Ticket
- ¥35 per visit; half price 60-69 and students, free at 70 and over; unused tickets refundable within 7 days · 2026-09-24
- Hours · closed days
- 1 March-14 October 8:30-18:00, last entry 17:00; 15 October-February 8:30-17:00, last entry 16:00; closed Mondays except public holidays · 2026-09-18
- Booking & passport
- Timed real-name tickets on the 南京总统府 WeChat mini-program only; no third-party sellers. The ticket page asks for a Chinese ID card and never says how a passport holder books — ring 025-84578888 before you go · 2026-09-24
- Metro, exit, walk
- Lines 2/3 Daxinggong, exit 5, then about 250 m along Changjiang Road to No. 288, the visitor entrance · 2026-09-24
- When to go · crowds
- With 2 hours inside, arrive by 15:00 in summer and 14:00 in winter. Holiday hours change — check the notices page before a public holiday · 2026-09-18
- Don't get this wrong
- The gate tower you photograph (No. 292) stopped being a way in in December 2024 and has been under scaffolding since 15 August 2026 — enter at No. 288, 100 m west. The Zichao Building has been closed since 27 May 2025. Not the Ming Palace ruins, 2 km east · 2026-07-31
Meiyuan New Village Memorial
梅园新村纪念馆Open the place →- What you see · how long
- The three houses where Zhou Enlai's Communist delegation lived and negotiated with the Nationalist government, May 1946-March 1947 — start at No. 30 — plus a text-heavy exhibition hall; 30 minutes in the houses is enough · 2026-09-24
- Ticket
- Free; free tickets handed out on site until 17:00 · 2026-09-24
- Hours · closed days
- Tuesday-Sunday 9:00-17:30, free tickets until 17:00; closed Mondays, open on public-holiday Mondays; holiday hours are longer and posted on its WeChat official account · 2026-09-24
- Booking & passport
- No booking requirement published; ID requirement not published — bring your passport · 2026-09-24
- Metro, exit, walk
- From Daxinggong (Lines 2/3) walk east past the Six Dynasties Museum; the entrance is at 18-1 Hanfu Street · 2026-09-24
- When to go · crowds
- Crowd levels not published. A short walk from the Presidential Palace via Changjiang Road — both close Mondays · 2026-09-24
- Don't get this wrong
- Meiyuan New Village is also the name of the street and neighbourhood; the memorial is at 18-1 Hanfu Street · 2026-09-24
Jiangsu Art Museum
江苏省美术馆Open the place →- What you see · how long
- Rotating exhibitions from nearly 14,000 works in the 2010 building at 333 Changjiang Road; the 1936 National Art Gallery, the building worth seeing for the architecture, is its exhibition hall at No. 266 · 2026-09-24
- Ticket
- Free, both buildings; free tickets issued at the door · 2026-09-24
- Hours · closed days
- Tuesday-Sunday 09:00-17:00, last entry 16:30; closed Mondays except public holidays; may close at short notice, posted on its WeChat official account · 2026-09-24
- Booking & passport
- No booking for individuals, but you swipe a document at the door for a free ticket: 'ID card, social security card or other valid document'. The passport route is not spelled out — ring 025-89610810 · 2026-09-24
- Metro, exit, walk
- Lines 2/3 Daxinggong; a five-minute walk from the Presidential Palace along Changjiang Road · 2026-09-24
- When to go · crowds
- Free admission runs on free tickets and the museum may cap numbers when busy. Last entry 16:30 catches people who arrive after a long lunch · 2026-09-24
- Don't get this wrong
- Two addresses, one museum, different shows: 333 is the 2010 gallery, 266 the 1936 hall, less than 500 metres west. Not the Deji Art Museum, a paid private museum on the eighth floor of a Xinjiekou mall · 2026-09-24
Ming City Wall at Taicheng (Jiefangmen)
明城墙台城段（解放门）Open the place →- What you see · how long
- The Ming wall along the south shore of Xuanwu Lake: from Jiefangmen the lake on one side, Purple Mountain ahead. Walk one way — Jiefangmen to Xuanwumen is 1.4 km along the lake; an hour or two with no shade · 2026-01-07
- Ticket
- ¥30 full, ¥15 half for the whole northern section; free under 18 and 70 and over; evening ticket at Jiefangmen · 2026-01-07
- Hours · closed days
- Daily 8:30-17:00 at all six entrances; evenings only from Jiefangmen, 17:00-22:00 April-October (last ticket 21:30), 17:00-21:00 November-March; open all year · 2026-01-07
- Booking & passport
- Ticket at any of the six wall entrances; no booking published; no ID published for full price, concessions with valid ID. The Trip.com wall listing we saw was the southern stretch, not this one · 2026-09-24
- Metro, exit, walk
- Lines 3/4 Jimingsi; the Jiefangmen stairway is a few minutes behind Jiming Temple · 2026-09-24
- When to go · crowds
- No shade: go late afternoon, or in the evening from Jiefangmen when only that stretch is open. Free wall day: 13 June 2026 · 2026-01-07
- Don't get this wrong
- The wall you walk is Ming, borrowing a Six Dynasties name — Taicheng is not a palace site, and not the Ming Palace, about 3 km south-east. The Zhonghua Gate section in the south is a separate ticket and walk · 2026-09-24
Xuanwu Lake
玄武湖Open the place →- What you see · how long
- A 5.13 sq km lake park inside the city, the Ming wall along its west shore and Purple Mountain to the east — a place to walk and sit rather than to see things; the island 'museums' are small halls · 2026-09-24
- Ticket
- Free since 2010. Electric boats ¥130-200 per boat per hour; the ferry from the Nanjing Station pier to Liangzhou is ¥20 one way · 2026-09-24
- Hours · closed days
- Lakeside road 24 hours; the five islands 6:00-22:00 April-October, 6:00-21:00 November-March; the island halls 9:00-16:30, closed the last Tuesday of the month · 2025-08-25
- Booking & passport
- None · 2026-09-24
- Metro, exit, walk
- Line 1 Xuanwumen for the main gate; Lines 3/4 Jimingsi for the Taicheng side; the north shore is across the road from Nanjing Station · 2026-09-24
- When to go · crowds
- Big, flat and short of shade — a July afternoon is hard going; come in the evening. Daily capacity 180,000, with a live count on the park's home page — check it on a holiday · 2026-09-24
- Don't get this wrong
- Xuanwumen is the lake's main gate, a Line 1 station and one of the wall's ticketed stairways, not the lake itself. And xuanwulake.com is not the park's site — that is xuanwuhu.net · 2026-09-24
| Compare | Presidential Palace | Meiyuan New Village Memorial | Jiangsu Art Museum | Ming City Wall at Taicheng (Jiefangmen) | Xuanwu Lake |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you see · how long | The compound three governments used — Qing viceroys, the Taiping king from 1853, the Republic from 1912 to 1949: late-Qing and Republican office buildings round a garden with a lake. Allow 2 hours · 2026-09-18 | The three houses where Zhou Enlai's Communist delegation lived and negotiated with the Nationalist government, May 1946-March 1947 — start at No. 30 — plus a text-heavy exhibition hall; 30 minutes in the houses is enough · 2026-09-24 | Rotating exhibitions from nearly 14,000 works in the 2010 building at 333 Changjiang Road; the 1936 National Art Gallery, the building worth seeing for the architecture, is its exhibition hall at No. 266 · 2026-09-24 | The Ming wall along the south shore of Xuanwu Lake: from Jiefangmen the lake on one side, Purple Mountain ahead. Walk one way — Jiefangmen to Xuanwumen is 1.4 km along the lake; an hour or two with no shade · 2026-01-07 | A 5.13 sq km lake park inside the city, the Ming wall along its west shore and Purple Mountain to the east — a place to walk and sit rather than to see things; the island 'museums' are small halls · 2026-09-24 |
| Ticket | ¥35 per visit; half price 60-69 and students, free at 70 and over; unused tickets refundable within 7 days · 2026-09-24 | Free; free tickets handed out on site until 17:00 · 2026-09-24 | Free, both buildings; free tickets issued at the door · 2026-09-24 | ¥30 full, ¥15 half for the whole northern section; free under 18 and 70 and over; evening ticket at Jiefangmen · 2026-01-07 | Free since 2010. Electric boats ¥130-200 per boat per hour; the ferry from the Nanjing Station pier to Liangzhou is ¥20 one way · 2026-09-24 |
| Hours · closed days | 1 March-14 October 8:30-18:00, last entry 17:00; 15 October-February 8:30-17:00, last entry 16:00; closed Mondays except public holidays · 2026-09-18 | Tuesday-Sunday 9:00-17:30, free tickets until 17:00; closed Mondays, open on public-holiday Mondays; holiday hours are longer and posted on its WeChat official account · 2026-09-24 | Tuesday-Sunday 09:00-17:00, last entry 16:30; closed Mondays except public holidays; may close at short notice, posted on its WeChat official account · 2026-09-24 | Daily 8:30-17:00 at all six entrances; evenings only from Jiefangmen, 17:00-22:00 April-October (last ticket 21:30), 17:00-21:00 November-March; open all year · 2026-01-07 | Lakeside road 24 hours; the five islands 6:00-22:00 April-October, 6:00-21:00 November-March; the island halls 9:00-16:30, closed the last Tuesday of the month · 2025-08-25 |
| Booking & passport | Timed real-name tickets on the 南京总统府 WeChat mini-program only; no third-party sellers. The ticket page asks for a Chinese ID card and never says how a passport holder books — ring 025-84578888 before you go · 2026-09-24 | No booking requirement published; ID requirement not published — bring your passport · 2026-09-24 | No booking for individuals, but you swipe a document at the door for a free ticket: 'ID card, social security card or other valid document'. The passport route is not spelled out — ring 025-89610810 · 2026-09-24 | Ticket at any of the six wall entrances; no booking published; no ID published for full price, concessions with valid ID. The Trip.com wall listing we saw was the southern stretch, not this one · 2026-09-24 | None · 2026-09-24 |
| Metro, exit, walk | Lines 2/3 Daxinggong, exit 5, then about 250 m along Changjiang Road to No. 288, the visitor entrance · 2026-09-24 | From Daxinggong (Lines 2/3) walk east past the Six Dynasties Museum; the entrance is at 18-1 Hanfu Street · 2026-09-24 | Lines 2/3 Daxinggong; a five-minute walk from the Presidential Palace along Changjiang Road · 2026-09-24 | Lines 3/4 Jimingsi; the Jiefangmen stairway is a few minutes behind Jiming Temple · 2026-09-24 | Line 1 Xuanwumen for the main gate; Lines 3/4 Jimingsi for the Taicheng side; the north shore is across the road from Nanjing Station · 2026-09-24 |
| When to go · crowds | With 2 hours inside, arrive by 15:00 in summer and 14:00 in winter. Holiday hours change — check the notices page before a public holiday · 2026-09-18 | Crowd levels not published. A short walk from the Presidential Palace via Changjiang Road — both close Mondays · 2026-09-24 | Free admission runs on free tickets and the museum may cap numbers when busy. Last entry 16:30 catches people who arrive after a long lunch · 2026-09-24 | No shade: go late afternoon, or in the evening from Jiefangmen when only that stretch is open. Free wall day: 13 June 2026 · 2026-01-07 | Big, flat and short of shade — a July afternoon is hard going; come in the evening. Daily capacity 180,000, with a live count on the park's home page — check it on a holiday · 2026-09-24 |
| Don't get this wrong | The gate tower you photograph (No. 292) stopped being a way in in December 2024 and has been under scaffolding since 15 August 2026 — enter at No. 288, 100 m west. The Zichao Building has been closed since 27 May 2025. Not the Ming Palace ruins, 2 km east · 2026-07-31 | Meiyuan New Village is also the name of the street and neighbourhood; the memorial is at 18-1 Hanfu Street · 2026-09-24 | Two addresses, one museum, different shows: 333 is the 2010 gallery, 266 the 1936 hall, less than 500 metres west. Not the Deji Art Museum, a paid private museum on the eighth floor of a Xinjiekou mall · 2026-09-24 | The wall you walk is Ming, borrowing a Six Dynasties name — Taicheng is not a palace site, and not the Ming Palace, about 3 km south-east. The Zhonghua Gate section in the south is a separate ticket and walk · 2026-09-24 | Xuanwumen is the lake's main gate, a Line 1 station and one of the wall's ticketed stairways, not the lake itself. And xuanwulake.com is not the park's site — that is xuanwuhu.net · 2026-09-24 |
Jiming Temple (draft entry)：Draft entry: a working nunnery on the hill above the lake, rebuilt from the 1980s, pagoda 1990; ¥10 incense ticket (price cap), 7:00-17:30 per platforms; e-ticket on its WeChat official account, or a paper ticket at the Old Gate window, where platform guides say foreign visitors register with a passport. In late March the cherry avenue is Jimingsi Road outside the gate — free — and the police close it to traffic: come by Lines 3/4. Jiefangmen is a few minutes behind it. 30 minutes on the way to the wall.
Six Dynasties Museum：At 302 Changjiang Road, about 200 m east of the palace: ¥30, Tuesday-Sunday 9:00-17:30, ticket sales end 17:00, no booking published — the one place to see Nanjing's Six Dynasties layer indoors. Which Nanjing museum to put first is its own decision page. a Changjiang Road afternoon instead of the lake. → See “Which Nanjing Museum First?”
1912 Block (draft entry)：Draft entry: the 2004 bar-and-restaurant block wrapping the palace's west side, grey brick in Republican costume — only a handful of the buildings are genuinely Republican-era. Not part of the museum; come in the evening, after the Changjiang Road museums have closed. dinner after the museums.
The rest of the Ming wall：Taicheng is one of several separate walks: about 22 km of wall is open from 25 stairways, 15 ticketed and 10 free, each stretch with its own ticket — the Zhonghua Gate barbican in the south is ¥50. One stretch is enough on a first visit. a second wall walk on another day.
One by one
Presidential Palace
南京总统府The one ticket on this page that takes work: a campus of offices and a garden rather than a palace, but the only place the Republic's government still stands. Sort the ticket before you cross town — WeChat only, Chinese ID on the page, phone first with a passport — and come in the morning. The real loss right now is the closed Zichao Building, not the scaffolded gate. For the morning, first, not on a Monday.
Open the place →Meiyuan New Village Memorial
梅园新村纪念馆The other side of the Presidential Palace's story, told from one side and mostly in Chinese: small houses and a text-heavy hall. Worth 30 minutes straight after the palace if the 1946-47 negotiations mean something to you; otherwise pick the art museum. For straight after the palace, if the negotiations interest you.
Open the place →Jiangsu Art Museum
江苏省美术馆One of the easiest good hours in central Nanjing — free, no booking, five minutes from the palace. Check what is on in each building before choosing a door; the one question for a foreign visitor is whether the reader at the door takes a passport, which nothing published answers either way. For after the palace, instead of or as well as Meiyuan.
Open the place →Ming City Wall at Taicheng (Jiefangmen)
明城墙台城段（解放门）The best view on this page and the link between the temple and the lake: ¥30 for a walk of an hour or two above the water with Purple Mountain ahead. Walk it one way from Jiefangmen and come down at Xuanwumen into the park, late in the day. For late afternoon, between Jiming Temple and the lake.
Open the place →Xuanwu Lake
玄武湖The city's big walk and the end of the day: free, open late, best in spring and autumn and in the evening, and the place the wall walk comes down into. Do not come for the island halls, and skip a midsummer afternoon. For the end of the afternoon, into the evening.
Open the place →