- Gordon Dumoulin
Amazing roads China | summer shading green slowly giving way to autumn bright gold...
Huanling Road’s graceful plane trees in Nanjing in typical autumn sunlight
with summer shading green slowly giving way to autumn bright gold
The plane trees, sometimes also called phoenix trees are a famous symbol for 南京市 or #Nanjing, capital of #Jiangsu (江苏) province in the east of China. The trees are especially found along the streets around 中山 or Zhongshan scenic area at the foot of the Purple Mountain in the eastern side of the city. This is the area where Dr. Sun Yat-sen (孫中山 Sūn Zhōng Shān, hence the name of the area) is buried in the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum.

Jiangsu province in China

Jiangsu province with capital Nanjing

Dr. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum
The founding father of the Republic of China Sun Yat-sen died in Beijing March 12, 1925 and construction of the mausoleum in Nanjing took place from 1926-1929. In May 1929, Sun Yat-sen’s body was moved from Beijing to Nanjing and he was buried on June 1, 1929 in the Mausoleum. Along the procession route of Sun Yat-sen in Nanjing to the Mausoleum, plane trees were planted for his commemoration. Later on, more streets in Nanjing were lined up with plane trees giving the city today its typical look and ambiance.



Nanjing, literally “capital of the south” (in contrast with Beijing’s literal meaning “capital of the north”) is the second-largest city in East China after #Shanghai (although debatable depending on municipal or urban calculations in comparison with for example #Hangzhou, capital of #Zhejiang province).


Situated in the Yangtze River Delta region, Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having served as the capital of various Chinese dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments dating from the 3rd century to last century, and has thus long been a major center of culture, education, research, politics, economy, transport networks and tourism, with a diverse history and being home to one of the world's largest inland ports.
Nanjing, one of China’s most important cities for over a thousand years, is recognized as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China (中国四大古都). Along with #Beijing, #Xian and #Luoyang.



While the plane trees provide shade in Nanjing’s simmering summers, they provide wonderful dances of light and color in the streets during autumn accompanied with rustling sounds of the leaves by the cooling breeze.


The trees are beloved all year round in Nanjing, creating a nostalgic and historical feel. This except in May and June for many when the yellow ball-like blossoms or catkins drop from the trees. The catkins usually burst with countless tiny fibers irritating skin and can cause allergic reactions. People in Nanjing sometimes wear masks to protect themselves from the abundance of these nearly invisible floating fibers during the spring season.


#china #china2022 #chinaroads #chinanature #ethnicminorities #chineseculture #chinesesociety #5iz #5izchina
Videos source : khanjipeerwala, naturesms IG/Douyin
Picture sources : inf.news, cgtn, wikipedia, xinhua, weibo