City guide · Jiangxi

Nanchang travel guide: Tengwang Pavilion, the August 1st sights and how to eat Gan food

Jiangxi's 'hero city' on the Gan River — one great Tang pavilion, a 160-metre Ferris wheel, and the best claypot soup you will eat in China.

Known forTengwang Pavilion · August 1st · claypot soup
Typical spend¥500–900 for two days
Ideal length2 days
PaceEasy — one tower, one square, long noodle breakfasts

Plan this trip Nanchang tours

Reviewed by our Beijing team Updated 2026-10-10

The short version

Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi and the city where the People's Liberation Army was founded in 1927. Give it 2 days: one for Tengwang Pavilion, the Gan riverfront and the August 1st square and memorial, one for the old-town lakes, pagodas and the Bada Shanren gardens, with a half-day for the Meiling hills. Add a 3rd day for Lake Poyang and its winter birds — November is the peak. It is a genuine two-day city, not a railway stopover.

Two days for the city; a third for Lake Poyang and the Meiling hills.
Tengwang Pavilion costs ¥50 and is the single sight worth building a day around.
Nanchang Star, at 160 m, was the world's second-tallest Ferris wheel when it opened.
The local breakfast — rice noodles and a claypot soup — costs about ¥15 and is non-negotiable.
Best months are March–May and September–November; summer tops 40°C and winter dips near -10°C.

City guide

First impressions

Photographs from the coast, and what other travellers wrote afterwards.

Tengwang Pavilion above the Gan River at dusk

August 1st Square and the memorial tower

The Nanchang Star Ferris wheel on the Honggutan riverfront

Breakfast: mixed rice noodles and a charcoal claypot soup

Walking this city, my head was full of red memory and revolutionary warmth — the square, the memorial tower, the old buildings still telling the story.
Traveller note — 'A Victory Journey: Nanchang'

Nanchang makes the most of its water. With the Gan River in view, it turns a big city into a garden city, and the pavilion over the river is where you feel it.
Traveller note — 'Beneath Tengwang Pavilion, Flowers Bloom'

Nanchang is a river city that never learned to show off, and it is better for it. It sits where the Gan River runs down to Lake Poyang, in the north of Jiangxi, and its two famous things could not be more different in mood: a Tang-dynasty poetry pavilion on the water, and a square built to remember a revolution.

That revolution is what Nanchang is really known for. On 1 August 1927 the Communist uprising here became the founding moment of the People's Liberation Army, and the city has worn the name 'hero city' ever since. The memorial tower on August 1st Square is the one sight that no other city can claim or copy.

Around those two poles is a compact old city worth a slow day: the lakes and islets of Baihuazhou, the leaning brick pagoda of Shengjin, the temple of Youmin, and out in the southern suburbs the gardens and gallery of Bada Shanren, the Ming prince turned painter whose ink brushwork is among the most prized in Chinese art.

And underneath it all is the food. Nanchang runs on Gan cooking — genuinely, seriously spicy — and on the roadside claypot-soup shops that open before dawn. A bowl of cold rice noodles and a charcoal-braised jar of soup is the local breakfast, eaten by roughly eight in ten people in the city every single morning.

Nanchang

Don't leave without

Seven things that are worth rearranging a day for.

Climb Tengwang Pavilion late in the day and read the view, not just the poem
Eat the local breakfast: mixed rice noodles plus a claypot soup
Stand under the August 1st memorial tower at dusk, when it lights up
Ride the Nanchang Star wheel over the Gan River at sunset
Wander Baihuazhou's islets in the morning, when the lake is still
Find the Bada Shanren gardens in the southern suburbs
If it is November, go out to Lake Poyang for the birds

Highlights

What not to miss in Nanchang

Tengwang Pavilion

The 'first tower west of the Yangtze', first raised in the Tang dynasty and rebuilt 29 times, standing nine storeys above the Gan River. One poem by Wang Bo made it immortal — climb to the top for the view the poem describes.

August 1st Square and the Uprising Memorial

The city's emotional core: a 53.6-metre memorial tower on what was once China's second-largest square, and a memorial hall in a 1924 hotel building that tells the story of the 1927 uprising.

Nanchang Star Ferris Wheel

A 160-metre wheel on the Gan River in the new Honggutan district, with 60 glass cabins and 30-minute rotations. Taller than the London Eye when it opened, and still the city's best sunset viewpoint.

Lake Poyang and its birds

China's largest freshwater lake, an hour out, becomes a staging ground for hundreds of thousands of overwintering birds from November. Wucheng is the usual access point; November is the peak month.

Claypot soup and mixed rice noodles

The signature breakfast — a charcoal-braised claypot of soup beside a bowl of cold-tossed rice noodles. Roughly eight in ten locals eat it every morning, and it costs about ¥15.

Meiling, the 'little Lushan'

A forested hill district 30 km west of the city, the birthplace of classical Chinese music theory and a popular summer escape. A half-day of real hills when the city gets too hot.

Suggested itineraries

Two days in the city, and a six-day Jiangxi loop

The two-day plan stays in and around the city. The six-day route spins out to Lushan, Jingdezhen and Wuyuan, all reached by high-speed rail or road.

Two days in Nanchang

2 days

Enough for the two things Nanchang is known for, plus a day of old-town gardens and food.

Day 1

Pavilion, riverfront and the August 1st sights

Start at Tengwang Pavilion and climb to the top floor for the Gan River view, then walk the riverfront. Eat lunch in the downtown area or near Baihuazhou.
In the afternoon, go to August 1st Square for the memorial tower and the Uprising Memorial Hall next door. Finish with dinner on Ruzi Road or at Hama Street, the city's scruffy, brilliant food lane.

Stops: Tengwang PavilionGan RiverAugust 1st SquareUprising Memorial HallRuzi Road
Day 2

Old-town lakes, pagodas and a half-day in the hills

Work through the old city: the islets and bridges of Baihuazhou on East Lake, then Shengjin Pagoda and Youmin Temple. Lunch on the food streets around the centre.
Choose one for the afternoon: the Bada Shanren Memorial gardens in the southern suburbs, or the Meiling hills to the west. If it is November and you have a third day, swap this for Lake Poyang.

Stops: BaihuazhouShengjin PagodaYoumin TempleBada Shanren MemorialMeiling

Six days: Nanchang, Lushan, Jingdezhen and Wuyuan

6 days

The full northern-Jiangxi route, stitching the city onto the province's famous names.

Day 1

Nanchang

Use the two-day city plan and compress it: Tengwang Pavilion, the August 1st sights and the old town in a single full day.

Stops: Tengwang PavilionAugust 1st SquareBaihuazhou
Days 2–3

Lushan

Head to Lushan, the mountain that made Chinese landscape poetry. Day one is the Jinxiu Valley and the Great Heavenly Pond, day two the Hanpo Pass, the Five Old Men Peaks and the Three-Step Waterfall.
Stay on the mountain top, where the old villa quarter sits in the clouds — it is a genuinely different world from the plain below.

Stops: Jinxiu ValleyGreat Heavenly PondHanpo PassFive Old Men PeaksThree-Step Waterfall
Days 4–6

Jingdezhen and Wuyuan

Move on to Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital: the ceramic history museum, the ancient kiln museums, and the old town of Fuliang. Then continue to Wuyuan for its Hui villages and terraced rapeseed.
In Wuyuan, work through Moon Bay, Likeng and Wangkou on day one, and Sixi, Yancun and the Rainbow Bridge on day two, then return. Both towns are on the high-speed network back to Nanchang.

Stops: JingdezhenFuliangWuyuanMoon BayLikengRainbow Bridge

Sights

The places worth your time

Ticket prices in China change without much notice. Treat these as a guide and confirm on arrival.

Landmark · ¥50

Tengwang Pavilion

The 'first tower west of the Yangtze' and one of the three great towers of southern China, built in the Tang dynasty and rebuilt 29 times over its life — the present nine-storey hall dates from 1989. Inside, each floor carries a theme, from a marble relief of Wang Bo composing his famous preface to a hall of Jiangxi worthies; the fifth-floor balcony is the best look-out.

Ticket: ¥50
Hours: 07:30–18:00 (Apr–early Oct); 08:00–17:30 in winter
Where: Gan River east bank, Donghu district
Getting there: Buses 7, 8 and 26 to Tengwang Pavilion stop
Time needed: 1.5 hours

Tip Go in the late afternoon and give the top floor twenty minutes — the poem is about the light on the water at dusk, and that is when the view matches it. The pavilion is reconstructed, not ancient; enjoy it for the idea rather than the fabric.

History · Free square

August 1st Square and the Uprising Memorial

Nanchang's memorial square and tower, marking the 1927 uprising that founded the People's Liberation Army. The 53.6-metre tower was completed in 1979, its top formed by a giant rifle and a flag; the free memorial hall around the corner occupies the 1924 building where the uprising was planned.

Ticket: Square free; memorial hall free
Hours: Square open all day; hall 08:00–17:30, closed Mondays
Where: Central Nanchang, Donghu district
Getting there: Buses 2, 6, 10, 11 and more to August 1st Square
Time needed: 1–1.5 hours

Tip Come at dusk, when the tower is lit and the square fills with locals out walking. The memorial hall is the part with real content — allow it an hour and bring your passport, as some exhibits are ticketed separately.

Viewpoint · ¥50

Nanchang Star Ferris Wheel

A 160-metre Ferris wheel on the Gan River in the new Honggutan district, with a 153-metre wheel, 60 glass cabins and room for about 360 passengers at once. When it opened it was the second tallest in the world, taller than the London Eye, and it has been the city's landmark ever since.

Ticket: ¥50
Hours: 08:30–11:30 and 14:30–22:30
Where: Honggutan riverside, by the Binjiang amusement park
Getting there: Buses 3 and 4 to the Zhongda bus depot, then walk
Time needed: 45 minutes

Tip Time it for sunset, when you get the river, the old town and the pavilion all in one turn. The wheel is on the opposite bank from the historic sights, so pair it with dinner in Honggutan rather than coming back across town twice.

Lake park · Free

Baihuazhou (Hundred Flowers Islets)

Three small islands in the middle of East Lake, joined to the shore by the winding Jiuqu Bridge and the Su Weng causeway — the whole East Lake area takes the name. It has been a beauty spot since the Tang dynasty, with pavilions, a stone-carving gallery and the old academy and painting-society halls that once stood here.

Ticket: Free
Hours: Open all day
Where: East Lake, central Nanchang
Getting there: Buses 3 and 7 to Baihuazhou stop
Time needed: 1 hour

Tip Come early, before the city warms up, and walk the causeway slowly — this is one of the few genuinely quiet corners of central Nanchang, and locals treat it as their garden.

Pagoda · ¥20

Shengjin Pagoda

A brick-and-timber pagoda first built around 904–907 AD, set in its own small temple complex in the west of the city. It is the tallest surviving ancient structure in Nanchang, and each of its seven storeys carries a wind-bell tuned to a different note, so that a breeze rings the tower in a seven-note scale.

Ticket: ¥20
Hours: 08:00–18:30
Where: Shengjin Pagoda Street, Xihu district
Getting there: Buses 18, 206, 219, 221, 225, 230 and more to Shengjin Pagoda
Time needed: 1 hour

Tip The pagoda is the draw, but the temple and its grounds are peaceful and rarely crowded. Combine it with a walk to nearby Hama Street for food, which is five minutes away.

Temple · ¥10

Youmin Temple

The only wholly intact temple left inside Nanchang, founded in the Liang dynasty and rebuilt many times since. Its front hall holds a large collection of Buddha figures and a drum-shaped vessel decorated with more than ninety small images; the rear hall's great bronze Buddha is the temple's prized piece.

Ticket: ¥10
Hours: 09:00–18:00
Where: Mindé Road, central Nanchang
Getting there: Buses 27, 30 and 230 to Youmin Temple stop
Time needed: 45 minutes

Tip It is small and quick, so treat it as part of a walking loop with Baihuazhou and the centre rather than a destination in itself. Go quietly — it is a working temple, not a museum.

Art · ¥40

Bada Shanren Memorial

The memorial and gardens of Bada Shanren, the Ming prince who became a monk-painter and one of the most admired ink artists in Chinese history. The site, at Qingyunpu in the southern suburbs, is a Jiangnan garden with a lake, bamboo and a stele corridor of carved reproductions of his work, plus the halls of the old Taoist temple that stood here long before him.

Ticket: ¥40
Hours: 08:00–18:00
Where: Qingyunpu, about 7.5 km south of the centre
Getting there: Tourist bus line 2, buses 20, 115, 203 and 224
Time needed: 1.5 hours

Tip This is a place for anyone with even a passing interest in Chinese painting — the setting is lovely and almost empty on weekdays. If you have only one free afternoon, choose between this and Meiling; they are in opposite directions.

Eating

What Nanchang tastes like

Gan cooking is spicy — really spicy, more than most of eastern China. Order widely, share, and ask for 'bu yao la' if you need it mild.

Mixed rice noodles (banfen)

The city's other signature. White, fine, firm rice noodles tossed cold with soy, chilli, pickles and peanuts — resilient enough that they never go soft. The default breakfast when paired with claypot soup.

Claypot soup (waguantang)

A small earthenware jar of soup, sealed and slow-braised over charcoal inside a larger pot until the flavour is deep and the broth is clear. It is the reason locals say 'one jar of soup, the freshest thing under heaven'.

Stone-street fried dough twists

A hundred-year-old local snack: hand-twisted, deep-fried dough, crisp and light, made to a precise recipe with the oil held at the right heat. Sweet, flaky and made to travel.

Stir-fried river reed with cured pork (lihao chao larou)

'Poyang's weed, Nanchang's treasure' — the tender stems of a reed that grows in the lake, stir-fried with cured pork. Crisp, savoury and one of the defining dishes of the city.

Braised and roasted snacks

Walk any Nanchang street and you will find braised-and-roast shops with queues out the door — soy-braised meats, ducks and offal, sold by weight, eaten with rice or with beer. Excellent and cheap.

Gan cuisine at large

Beyond the snacks, the regional cooking runs to chopped-chilli fish head, braised duck, bamboo-shoot dishes and claypot braises, matched with local rice wines. Expect heat, freshness and a heavy hand with the chilli.

Where to eat

Restaurants and stalls worth the address

Phone numbers are local landlines; add +86 and drop the leading 0 if calling from abroad.

Gan cooking · Mid-range

0791 Gan Cuisine Concept

A local favourite named after Nanchang's own dialling code, and one of the best places to meet real Gan cooking. The chopped-chilli fish head is generous and the stir-fried river reed is fragrant; the room is smart enough to bring guests. Around ¥61 a head.

Order: Chopped-chilli fish head, lihao with cured pork
Where: 55 Fuzhou Road, Donghu district
Phone: 0791-86263333

Claypot soup · Cheap

Longlaowu Soup Shop

An old-name soup shop that locals recommend without hesitation. The point is the claypot soup — many kinds, all properly made — with good noodles on the side and a few small plates to round it out. Around ¥17 a head, which is the entire appeal.

Order: Claypot soup, noodles, side dishes
Where: 203 Zhanqian West Road, Xihu district
Phone: 0791-86419102

Gan cooking · No MSG

Yijue Braised Dishes

A restaurant built almost entirely on braised dishes, cooked at low heat with a rich stock instead of MSG, so the ingredients speak for themselves. Pleasant room, thoughtful music, and a menu that rewards slow eating. Around ¥49 a head.

Order: Braised dishes, seasonal greens
Where: 77 Jiangda South Road, Qingshanhu district
Phone: 0791-88311777

Late-night · Cheap

Zhou's Snails and Crayfish

Snails and beer are the soul of a Nanchang night, and this old shop does both properly: sweet-spiced river snails, crayfish and clams, plus cold cucumber and lotus-root plates. The clams are the lazy person's choice — no shelling, no toothpicks. Around ¥40 a head.

Order: River snails, crayfish, clams
Where: 88 Qianjin Road, Xihu district

Food streets · All evening

Hama Street and Ruzi Road

Two of the city's great eating streets. Hama Street — 'Frog Street' — is the grassroots classic, where you eat snails and stir-fried noodles with a cold beer; Ruzi Road is the longer, older strip, running from one end of the district to the other, Gan first and everything else after.

Where: Hama Street (Donghu); Ruzi Road (Xihu)
Best for: Evening food crawls, beer and snacks

Sleeping

Where to stay

Nanchang is not a first-tier city, so hotels are cheap. The Bayi Square area is the most convenient; the Honggutan riverfront has the views; the railway-station cluster is the budget fallback.

Boutique · from ¥127

Nanchang Spring Story Boutique Hotel

A design-led hotel built along the Qingshan Lake shore, with floor-to-ceiling windows onto the water. Aimed at a younger, style-conscious crowd, with rooms that play up light and quiet. Good value if you want a lake view without a luxury price.

Price: Rooms from ¥127
Where: 4F, 55 Hubin East Road, Qingshanhu district
Phone: 0791-88388388

Budget · from ¥78

Haiyou Hotel (Bayi Square)

A well-run budget hotel right in the Bayi Square business district, a 5–8 minute walk from the square, the exhibition hall and Ruzi Road's restaurants, and 15 minutes on foot from the railway station. The value-for-money pick if location matters more than luxury.

Price: Rooms from ¥78
Where: 8 Yongshu Road, Xihu district
Phone: 0791-86258000

Established · from ¥348

Jiangxi Hotel

A 45-year-old business hotel on August 1st Avenue, in the middle of the city's commercial and cultural district. Restaurants on site cover Gan, Cantonese and Hangzhou cooking, which makes it a comfortable, unfussy base for travellers who want a bit of room to breathe.

Price: Rooms from ¥348
Where: 368 Bayi Avenue, Donghu district
Phone: 0791-86206666

Budget chain · from ¥137

7 Days Inn (Railway Station Square)

A familiar chain hotel directly in front of Nanchang station, one step from the airport-bus stop. It is a transport hub rather than a scenic base, but it is cheap, predictable and handy for an early train or flight.

Price: Rooms from ¥137
Where: 91 Zhanqian Road, Xihu district
Phone: 0791-82175666

Mid-range · from ¥148

Milan Holiday Hotel

A mid-range hotel near both the station and the bus terminal, with an on-site café and a kitchen that turns out a wide menu. Quiet despite its central spot, and a sound choice if you are using Nanchang as a railway hub.

Price: Rooms from ¥148
Where: 5 Tianyou Road, Xihu district
Phone: 0791-86166666

Getting around

Arriving, and moving about

The metro now covers the airport, both railway stations and the main sights. Buses are ¥1 and taxis rarely break ¥10 inside the centre.

By air

Nanchang Changbei International Airport (KHN) sits 23 km north of the centre, with a dense domestic network and international routes across East and Southeast Asia.

Airport: Nanchang Changbei International (KHN)
To the centre: Airport bus 1 or 2 for ¥10, about 40 minutes; taxi ¥80–100
Note: The airport bus stops at both the railway station and the downtown area

By rail

Nanchang is a major junction on the Beijing–Kowloon line. Nanchang West takes the high-speed services, while the older Nanchang station sits in the city centre.

Nanchang West: High-speed lines to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Changsha, Wuhan
Nanchang Station: Central, on the traditional north–south line
To Huangshan: About 3 hours by high-speed rail

For the old town, the pavilion and the August 1st sights, Nanchang station is the closer and more convenient arrival — but it is a smaller, busier, older station. Check which one your ticket names before you book onward plans.

Metro & bus

The metro links the airport, both railway stations and the central sights, with bilingual signs and announcements. The city's bus network runs at ¥1 a ride, or ¥2 on double-deckers and air-conditioned routes.

Metro: Covers the airport, both stations and the centre
Bus fare: ¥1 standard; ¥2 for double-decker / air-conditioned
Coverage: City-wide, with dedicated tourist bus lines

Taxis

Plenty of taxis and honest meters. Fares start at about ¥6 for the first 2 km, then around ¥1.9 per km, with a 20% night surcharge from 23:00 to 05:00. Crossing the city centre rarely costs more than ¥10.

Flagfall: About ¥6 for 2 km
Night rate: 20% surcharge, 23:00–05:00
Note: Ride-hailing apps work well and often beat the queue

Long-distance coaches

Nanchang has eight intercity bus stations; the main long-distance terminal on August 1st Avenue serves provincial and cross-province routes, while smaller stations cover the surrounding counties.

Main terminal: Nanchang Long-Distance Bus Station, 161 Bayi Avenue
Useful for: Jingdezhen, Wuyuan and the Jiangxi counties
Note: Coach travel is slower than the high-speed rail, so check both

Shopping

What to take home

The main shopping streets are Zhongshan, Shengli, Mindé, Xiangshan and August 1st Avenue, with the old-style Wan Shou Gong and Women's streets the best for small goods.

Jiangxi fans

Folding fans made with local bamboo ribs and paper or silk faces, finished so that rain will not soak them and sun will not warp them. Light, cheap and genuinely well made — a classic Jiangxi gift.

Porcelain plate portraits

A Nanchang speciality going back generations: photographic or painted portraits fired onto porcelain, with fine tones and a strong contrast. Commission one, or take a finished piece home.

Anyi loquat

The fruit of a district west of the city, grown for over 2,000 years. Eaten fresh or made into wine, jam and the famous loquat syrup sold as a throat remedy.

Grape-shaped douchi

A fermented black bean aged until it wrinkles and darkens, named for looking like raisins. Sold as an appetising condiment and used in local cooking — a small, tasty, very-Jiangxi souvenir.

Practical

The numbers to save

Staffed English help is not guaranteed. Save these before you need them.

Emergency (police / ambulance / fire)	110 · 120 · 119
Nanchang First Hospital	128 Xiangshan North Road, Donghu district · 0791-88862299
Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital	152 Aiguo Road · 0791-86895550
Post office	Nanchang Post Office, 70 Luoyang Road · postcode 330000
Tourism bureau	118 Xinfu Road, Donghu district · 0791-8609110
Cash & cards	WeChat Pay and Alipay accepted almost everywhere; carry ¥1 coins for buses
Tipping	Not expected and often politely refused — do not add a tip to the bill
Visa	Many nationalities now enter China visa-free for short stays — confirm your passport's status before booking

Tips

Small things that save a trip

Come in spring or autumn, not summer

Nanchang is one of China's 'four furnace' cities: July and August routinely hit 40°C with heavy humidity, and winter nights fall near -10°C. March to May and September to November are the seasons that make the city pleasant.

Say 'bu yao la' before you order

Gan cuisine is genuinely fiery — more so than most Chinese food you have met. If you cannot take heat, tell the kitchen clearly and early rather than discovering it after the first bite.

Eat the breakfast, not just the dinner

Nanchang's real signature is its morning: cold rice noodles with a charcoal claypot soup. Roughly eight in ten locals eat it daily, and the shops that do it best open before dawn and sell out.

Book Lake Poyang around November

The lake is a world-class birdwatching site, but only in the cold months — the birds arrive from November and peak that month. Outside that window it is just a big lake, and the shore is cold and windy even then.

Check which station your train uses

Nanchang West handles the high-speed services and is far from the centre; the older Nanchang station is downtown and closer to the sights. They are not interchangeable, and the trip between them is a real taxi ride.

Give Tengwang Pavilion the late afternoon

It is a 1989 reconstruction, not an ancient building — so go for the view and the poem, and go when the light is right. Dusk from the top floor is the moment the place lives up to its 1,300-year reputation.

Background

Why Nanchang looks like this

Geography and climate

Nanchang sits in the north of Jiangxi, where the Gan River and the Fu River come together before draining into Lake Poyang and on to the Yangtze. The city proper covers about 7,400 km², of which almost a third is water — rivers, lakes and marsh — which is why Nanchang calls itself an 'eastern water city' and why its centre is so green.

The climate is humid subtropical: hot, wet summers and cool, dry winters. Summer routinely tops 40°C and is one of the hottest in China; winter is dry and clear but can fall close to -10°C at night. The best windows are spring and autumn, and November brings the migratory birds to Lake Poyang.

History

Nanchang has been a settlement for thousands of years, but it enters the record in 202 BC, when the Han general Guan Ying was posted here and built a walled town — the 'Guan Ying city' that began Nanchang's history. The name itself is aspirational: 'the prosperity of the south', taken from a phrase about extending Han power into the southern lands.

Through the centuries it was known as Yuzhang in the Han and Hongdu in the Sui and Tang, a provincial and prefectural seat on the great river routes. It is a city of poets and pavilions as much as of soldiers — the Tang poet Wang Bo's preface, written for a banquet at Tengwang Pavilion, is one of the most famous pieces of prose in the language, and it is why the pavilion is known to every Chinese schoolchild.

The modern identity was forged on 1 August 1927, when Communist forces rose in Nanchang in the first armed action of the Chinese Civil War — the event that founded the People's Liberation Army. The city became 'the place where the army flag was raised', and the memorial tower and hall on August 1st Square are its memorial. That date, and that name, still define how Nanchang sees itself.

Travel with them

Nanchang on screen and in print

Not guides — films, books and music that show the city the way the people in it see it.

Film

August 1st

2007

A historical drama that follows Zhou Enlai from Shanghai to Nanchang as the 1927 uprising is assembled, and then plays out its aftermath. It is the clearest screen telling of the event that gave the city its name, shot with a scale that matches the subject.

Book

Guwen Guanzhi

Ed. Wu Chucai and Wu Tiaohou, Qing dynasty

The classic anthology of Chinese prose, and the reason Wang Bo's 'Preface to Tengwang Pavilion' is on every literate Chinese reader's shelf. Read the preface before you climb the pavilion and the view upstairs changes completely.

Music

Nanchang 2006

Yu Mingtao

A deep-voiced dialect rap track written for and about the city — local slang, local landmarks, a distinctly Nanchang swagger. It is the sound of the city talking about itself, and a good way to hear what the local accent does.

The questions visitors ask us most about Nanchang, answered plainly.

Frequently asked questions

Prices and practical details are reviewed every month by our Beijing team and updated the day a rule changes.

How many days do I need in Nanchang?

Two days for the city: day one for Tengwang Pavilion, the riverfront and the August 1st square and memorial; day two for Baihuazhou, Shengjin Pagoda, Youmin Temple and the Bada Shanren gardens, with a half-day for Meiling. A third day is what lets you add Lake Poyang for the birds, or continue to Lushan, Jingdezhen and Wuyuan.

What is the best time to visit Nanchang?

Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November). Summer is genuinely punishing — Nanchang is one of China's 'four furnace' cities, with highs near 40°C and heavy humidity — and winter is cold and dry, with nights close to -10°C. November is the exception worth planning around, because it is peak month for the Poyang Lake bird migration.

Is Nanchang worth visiting?

Yes, with two days of its own. Tengwang Pavilion is one of the three great towers of southern China, the August 1st sights are unlike anywhere else in the country, the old-town gardens and pagodas are genuinely pleasant, and the Gan food is reason enough on its own. It is also the handiest base for Lake Poyang and for Jingdezhen.

What should I eat in Nanchang?

Start with the breakfast: mixed rice noodles (banfen) with a charcoal-braised claypot soup (waguantang). Then work through stir-fried river reed (lihao) with cured pork, the local braised and roast snacks, and the wider Gan repertoire — which is hot. If you cannot take spice, say 'bu yao la' clearly, and expect the cook to take it as a personal challenge.

How do I get to Lake Poyang from Nanchang?

The lake is about an hour north of the city and Wucheng is the standard access point, reachable by direct bus or cruise in season. A car or a guided day trip is the easiest option, and you want it in the cold months — the birds arrive from November and peak that month, and the lake shore is windy and exposed. Bring layers and binoculars.

Is Tengwang Pavilion worth the ticket?

Yes, if you go with the right expectations. It is a modern reconstruction of a pavilion rebuilt 29 times — the current nine-storey hall dates from 1989 — not an ancient original. What you are buying is the view over the Gan River from the top floor and the sheer weight of a single Tang poem, Wang Bo's preface, that has kept the place famous for 1,300 years.

Can I get around Nanchang without Chinese?

Mostly. The metro covers the airport, both railway stations and the main sights with bilingual signage, buses are flat ¥1, and taxis are cheap and metered. English is thin at ticket desks and in restaurants, so a translation app helps. For Lake Poyang, Meiling and Jingdezhen, a driver-guide turns a fiddly day into an easy one.

Plan this trip

Prefer it arranged for you?

The same places, with a driver, an English-speaking guide and the tickets already bought.

Nanchang Jiangxi · 0 tours Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi and the city where the People's Liberation Army was founded in 1927 — a 2,200-year-old river port whose Tang-dynast

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Dalian City guide · 15 tours The Northern Pearl — China's most romantic coastal city.

Shenyang City guide · 12 tours Where the Qing dynasty began — an imperial palace, a warlord's mansion and the cheapest good food in the northeast.

Changbai Mountain City guide · 12 tours A volcano on the North Korean border, a jade-green crater lake at 2,189 m, and hot springs on the way down.

Kunming City guide · 12 tours China's Spring City — a mild plateau capital of flowers, markets and the Stone Forest, with gulls on the lake in winter.

Dali City guide · 12 tours A walled Bai town between a 4,000 m mountain and a great lake — wind, flowers, snow and moon, and life at a slower speed.

Shuhe City guide · 12 tours The quiet version of Lijiang — a Tea Horse Road village of canals, stone bridges and slow afternoons, 4 km from the crowds.

Lijiang City guide · 12 tours A UNESCO Naxi old town of canals and cobbles beneath a 5,596 m snow mountain — the cultural heart of north-west Yunnan.

Xiamen City guide · 12 tours A subtropical island city of temples, fishing-village lanes and the best street food in Fujian — with the car-free islet of Gulangyu a 20-minute ferry away.

Gulangyu City guide · 12 tours A car-free island of colonial villas, pianos and cats, twenty minutes off Xiamen — and the one place where the trick is simply to stay the night.

Fuzhou City guide · 12 tours A 2,200-year-old capital of banyan trees and mountains-within-the-city, where the Ming lanes of Sanfang Qixiang meet the dockyard that built China's modern navy.

Lugu Lake City guide · 12 tours A 2,680 m lake on the Yunnan–Sichuan border, home to China's last matrilineal people, pig-trough canoes and a great deal of doing nothing.

Xishuangbanna City guide · 12 tours China's tropical south — rainforest, wild elephants, Dai villages and the Mekong, wrapped around the gateway city of Jinghong.

Shangri-La City guide · 12 tours A Tibetan town at 3,300 m in Yunnan's Diqing prefecture — monasteries, grassland, prayer wheels and cold thin air.

Hefei City guide · 12 tours Anhui's 2,000-year-old capital: the hometown of China's model judge, a moat-turned-garden ring, and the fast rail gateway to Huangshan.

Hongcun City guide · 12 tours A 900-year-old Hui village laid out as an ox, with water running to every door and a mirror-still crescent pond at its heart.

Wuhan City guide · 12 tours Three towns, two rivers and the best breakfast in China — a huge, blunt river city of bridges, lakes and cheap, brilliant street food.

Changsha City guide · 12 tours Hunan's loud, young capital: a 3,000-year-old city that eats chilli-hot food, stays up all night and treats foot massage as a civic duty.

Fenghuang Ancient Town City guide · 12 tours The stilt-house river town of Shen Congwen's 'Border Town' — glowing lanterns, stepping stones and the best two nights in western Hunan.

Lushan City guide · 12 tours A cloud-wrapped granite mountain with a Victorian hill station on top, waterfalls in three tiers, and the mist that Su Shi said you could never see through.

Wuyuan City guide · 12 tours China's 'most beautiful countryside' — dozens of white-walled Huizhou villages strung along streams and terraced into the hills, and two weeks a year of gold.

Mount Heng (Hengshan, Hunan) City guide · 12 tours The South Great Peak: a pilgrimage mountain of 72 summits where the temples run all the way to the top, and the sunrise over the cloud sea is the whole point.

Huangshan City guide · 12 tours Yellow Mountain: 82 granite peaks of twisted pines and grotesque rock, a sea of cloud that changes by the hour, and hot springs at the foot.

Wudang Mountain City guide · 12 tours The Taoist first mountain of China — a gilded bronze hall on a 1,612 m summit, temples hung off cliff faces, and the birthplace of tai chi.

Luoyang City guide · 12 tours Thirteen dynasties, 100,000 Buddhas carved into a river cliff, China's first Buddhist temple — and a whole city that turns peony-pink every April.

Yuntai Mountain City guide · 12 tours A UNESCO geopark in Henan where red-stone gorges squeeze a river to a slot, a 314 m waterfall drops in one plunge, and every path leads to another pool.

Rizhao City guide · 12 tours A low-key Shandong beach town where the sun rises straight out of the Yellow Sea, the sand runs 60 km and a seafood dinner costs less than a coffee in Shanghai.

Yantai City guide · 12 tours A northern Shandong port of fairy-tale cliffs, wine cellars and long golden beaches — where emperors once hunted the elixir of life and China's wine industry still begins.

Lianyungang City guide · 12 tours A working Jiangsu port with a myth in the middle of it — the Flower-Fruit Mountain of Journey to the West, a sea causeway to a big island beach, and some of the cheapest seafood on the coast.

Sanqing Mountain City guide · 12 tours A vertical forest of granite pillars in Jiangxi — the Python Out of the Mountain, the Goddess of the East Sea, two cable cars and a cliff-hugging walkway at 1,660 metres.

Tianjin City guide · 12 tours Beijing's port city next door — a river of 24 bridges, 2,000 colonial villas, and the best street breakfast in northern China.

Datong City guide · 12 tours A frontier capital of carved Buddhas — the Yungang Grottoes, a temple pinned to a cliff, and the oldest wooden tower in China.

Taiyuan City guide · 12 tours Shanxi's provincial capital and noodle heartland — the spring of Jinci, two Ming pagodas, and a museum that explains the whole province.

Pingyao City guide · 12 tours China's best-preserved ancient walled town — a Ming wall, the first Chinese bank, and two temples of painted clay just outside the gates.

Wutai Mountain City guide · 12 tours China's foremost Buddhist mountain — fifty-plus temples in one valley, crowned by five flat-topped peaks up to 3,058 m.

Hulunbuir City guide · 12 tours China's finest grassland — a 263,000 km² sweep of steppe, birch forest and border river, best driven with the windows down.

The Forbidden City City guide · 12 tours Beijing's 600-year imperial palace — 8,700 rooms behind a 72-hectare wall, and the largest surviving wooden palace complex on earth.

Sanya City guide · 12 tours China's only true winter-sun coast — four very different bays, a coral island and a 108 m sea Buddha, all at 18° north.

Haikou City guide · 12 tours Hainan's capital is the island's living city — 600-year-old arcade streets, a volcanic village, and a morning-tea-to-midnight food culture.

Beihai City guide · 12 tours 24 km of fine white sand on one side, a volcanic island of coral and lava on the other — plus a 19th-century arcade old street in between.

Nanning City guide · 12 tours Guangxi's green capital is a gateway to Detian Falls, Beihai and Vietnam — and a genuinely excellent food city if you let it slow you down.

Guangxi City guide · 12 tours One autonomous region, a dozen landscapes — limestone peaks and rice terraces in the north, a Vietnam border and a warm gulf coast in the south.

Huizhou City guide · 12 tours A free West Lake, a Taoist mountain and 200 km of white-sand coast — the Pearl River Delta's most underrated weekend.

Beidaihe City guide · 12 tours Northern China's classic beach escape — one sunrise headland, 10 km of calm swimming water, and a bird flyway overhead twice a year.

Shanhaiguan City guide · 12 tours The town where the Great Wall stops being a rumour of mountains and walks into the Bohai Sea.

Baiyangdian City guide · 12 tours The biggest freshwater lake on the North China Plain — and almost none of it can be reached except by boat.

Qinhuangdao City guide · 12 tours 126 km of Bohai coast in one municipality — a working port, two famous resorts, and the only desert dunes that meet this sea.

Yesanpo City guide · 12 tours Gorge country where the Taihang and Yan ranges collide — 52.5 km of canyon walls, a cave that spits fish, and a river to fall off.

Zhuhai City guide · 12 tours The delta's slow city: a 28 km promenade, 146 islands, oysters fattened where the river meets the sea.

Wuyi Mountain City guide · 12 tours Nine bends of clear water, red sandstone cliffs, and the tea that made a mountain's name.

Jiuzhaigou City guide · 12 tours 108 mineral-blue lakes in one 55 km valley — the place that ruins water everywhere else for you.

Mount Siguniang City guide · 12 tours Four snow peaks, three valleys, and the friendliest 5,000 m mountain in China to stand on top of.

Hailuogou City guide · 12 tours A glacier that comes down to 2,850 m, hot springs in the forest, and Gongga Shan filling the sky above both.

Daocheng Yading City guide · 12 tours Three 6,000 m sacred peaks, glacial lakes at 4,600 m and twenty hours of road — the hardest, highest payoff in Sichuan.

Shunan Bamboo Sea City guide · 12 tours Seventy thousand mu of bamboo over twenty-eight hills, a red sandstone corridor under a closed green roof, and a banquet made entirely of bamboo.

Dujiangyan City guide · 12 tours Not a monument but a machine: three pieces of engineering with no dam, still doing their job after 2,270 years.

Qingcheng Mountain City guide · 12 tours The mountain where Daoism was organised, and the one Chengdu escapes to when the basin turns into an oven.

Qingdao City guide · 12 tours Red-tiled roofs, cold beer and a granite mountain that walks straight into the sea — the easiest good time on the Yellow Sea.

Mount Tai City guide · 12 tours 1,545 metres, 6,290 stone steps and three thousand years of emperors — the one mountain in China that is also a document.

Jinan City guide · 12 tours A provincial capital with 700 springs under the pavement — people still queue at the spouts to fill their kettles.

Weihai City guide · 12 tours 1,000 km of clean coast, a free bathing beach, the island where the Beiyang Fleet died — and thousands of wild swans every winter.

Qufu City guide · 12 tours One family, two thousand years of steles, and a ¥150 pass that covers the lot — the easiest serious day trip in Shandong.

Penglai City guide · 12 tours China's immortals' coast — a Song-dynasty naval harbour you can walk for free, a mythology nobody ever found, and the ferry to 32 islands.

Changdao City guide · 12 tours 32 islands, one causeway, a ¥150 land pass, tens of thousands of gulls and nowhere you can drive — the place where everything happens by boat.

Nanjing City guide · 12 tours Capital of six dynasties, capital of the Republic, and the city that eats more duck than anywhere else on earth.

Suzhou City guide · 12 tours Two thousand five hundred years of canals, sixty surviving gardens, and a city that shuts its gates at half past five.

Zhouzhuang City guide · 12 tours Nine hundred years, fourteen bridges, one ticket — and a town that only makes sense before eight in the morning.

Tongli City guide · 12 tours Fifteen canals, seven islets, forty-nine bridges — and a town that still gets up at dawn because it lives here.

Wuxi City guide · 12 tours Taihu on one side, a Grand Buddha on the next hill, and ribs sweet enough to argue about — the most underrated city on the Yangtze delta.

Yangzhou City guide · 12 tours A city built by salt merchants who had more money than restraint — gardens, a narrow lake, and the best breakfast in China.

Zhenjiang City guide · 12 tours Three hills, one ferry landing, and an unreasonable share of Chinese literature — the Yangtze city people drive past.

Changzhou City guide · 12 tours A 2,500-year-old canal city that built a dinosaur park and refuses to apologise for it.

Wuzhen City guide · 12 tours A town that is two towns: the older, quieter East Zone and the lit-up West Zone you sleep inside.

Xitang City guide · 12 tours Nine canals, 122 lanes, one long roofed corridor — and a town that still works for a living.

Hangzhou City guide · 12 tours A lake in the middle of a city, a tea village in the hills, and two thousand years of getting the mood right.

Xixi Wetland City guide · 12 tours Ten square kilometres of marsh inside Hangzhou, and the only way into half of it is a boat.

Ningbo City guide · 12 tours A 7,000-year-old port with Asia's oldest private library, a free waterfront 20 years older than Shanghai's, and the best seafood before the islands.

Mount Putuo City guide · 12 tours A Buddhist island with no cars, three great temples and a ¥10 lunch that is the point of the place.

Qiandao Lake City guide · 12 tours A thousand islands that did not exist sixty years ago, and the cleanest big-lake water in China.

Shaoxing City guide · 12 tours Two and a half thousand years of water-town China, and Lu Xun's house is free.

Zhoushan City guide · 12 tours 1,390 islands, one road bridge in, and a harbour that lands more fish than almost anywhere on earth.

Hengdian City guide · 12 tours A backlot the size of a town, where the palaces are copies and the film crews are real.

Yandang Mountain City guide · 12 tours A volcano that weathering turned into scenery — 500-odd sights of peak, cave and waterfall across eight scenic areas.

Zhejiang City guide · 12 tours One small, mountainous, absurdly rich province that holds a lake, two canal towns, a Buddhist island and a dead volcano.

Hong Kong Outlying Islands City guide · 12 tours Two hundred-odd islands, half an hour of ferry from the financial district, and not a car on three of them.

Hong Kong Shopping City guide · 12 tours A duty-free port where the tag starts lower, two citywide sale seasons knock a third off, and every mall sits on an MTR exit.

Macao City guide · 12 tours Four hundred years of Portuguese streets, a fake Venice under a painted sky, and the best egg tart in Asia.

Urumqi City guide · 12 tours The city furthest from the sea, with a snow range on its doorstep and dinner starting at nine.

Hong Kong SAR, China City guide · 11 tours A harbour skyline you already know by heart, dim sum trolleys at dawn, and 260 islands an hour from the neon.

Taiwan, China City guide · 11 tours Night-market alleys, high-mountain railways, and a coastline that changes character every hundred kilometres.

Qinghai Lake City guide · 12 tours A 4,400 sq km inland sea at 3,200 m, ringed by rapeseed gold, prayer flags and the best cycling road in China.

Mount Emei City guide · 11 tours A 3,099-metre Buddhist summit you can reach by cable car before lunch — and a mountain full of monkeys that will absolutely rob you.

Beijing City guide · 11 tours Six centuries of imperial red walls, a Great Wall you can climb before lunch, and the best roast duck on earth.

Taipei City guide · 11 tours A 24-hour bookstore, a night market that never stops sizzling, and a city that apologises when you bump into it.

North Xinjiang City guide · 11 tours Alpine lakes the colour of poured enamel, a village of log cabins under birch trees, and the last tear the Atlantic ever sheds.

Lanzhou City guide · 11 tours A city split in half by the Yellow River, where beef noodles are a breakfast ritual and the Silk Road still runs through the streets.

Mount Hua City guide · 11 tours Five granite peaks, one plank road bolted to a cliff face, and a sunrise that justifies the 2am start.

Dunhuang City guide · 11 tours A desert oasis where Buddhist cave art survived a thousand years and a crescent lake refused to dry up.

Gannan City guide · 11 tours 433 kilometres of the Yellow River's first bend, a 3.5 km prayer-wheel circuit, and Tibetan grasslands almost nobody has commercialised yet.

Sichuan–Tibet Highway City guide · 11 tours 2,142 kilometres of cliff-edge switchbacks, four of China's most beautiful mountains, and a road the Tibetans walk on their knees.

Kangding City guide · 11 tours The town that gave Asia its most famous love song, a 7,556m sacred peak on its doorstep, and the last real Tibetan town before the road climbs to Lhasa.

Lhasa City guide · 12 tours A city of prayer wheels and butter lamps at 3,700 metres, where the sun shines 3,000 hours a year and the world's highest palace watches over it all.

Nyingchi City guide · 11 tours Tibet's greenest corner — peach blossom valleys, a 7,782 m peak that hides from almost everyone, and the world's deepest canyon.

Namtso City guide · 11 tours A 1,920-square-kilometre sheet of impossible blue at 4,718 metres, ringed by snow peaks and prayer flags.

Chongqing City guide · 12 tours A vertical city of fog, cable cars and cliff-side stilt houses, where the火锅 never stops boiling and the night skyline outshines Hong Kong.

Qiandongnan City guide · 11 tours A thousand Miao households stacked up a mountainside, drum towers and wind-rain bridges in Dong villages, and a 600-year-old Ming garrison town on the road to Guiyang.

Libo City guide · 11 tours Emerald rivers threading through karst peaks, a 600-metre forest growing out of a riverbed, and China's largest wild plum grove.

Guiyang City guide · 11 tours China's summer capital at 1,100 metres, where the nights run on sour fish soup, street-side barbecue and mahjong that never quite stops.

Zhenyuan City guide · 11 tours A 2,000-year-old river town where the Wuyang River carves an S through the mountains and every lane hides a story.

Huangguoshu City guide · 11 tours Asia's biggest waterfall, and the only one on earth you can walk behind, above and around — plus 600-year-old Ming dynasty villages a short drive away.

Harbin City guide · 11 tours Minus 30 degrees, a frozen river you can walk across, and a cathedral built by Russians who never went home.

Yunnan City guide · 11 tours Snow mountains, tropical rainforest, twenty-five minorities and a plate of rice noodles — all in one province.

Shanghai City guide · 11 tours A 1920s waterfront of colonial banks facing a science-fiction skyline, soup dumplings you eat with a straw, and 20 million people moving like clockwork.

Zhangjiajie City guide · 11 tours Three thousand sandstone pillars straight out of Avatar, a glass skywalk bolted to a cliff, and a cable car that leaves from downtown.

Guangzhou City guide · 11 tours A 2,200-year-old trading port where dim sum is a religion, colonial islands sit beside 600-metre towers, and the food never stops.

Guilin City guide · 11 tours Karst peaks rising straight out of a green river, rice terraces carved into mountainsides, and the best bowl of noodles you'll eat in China.

Shenzhen City guide · 11 tours A fishing village that became a megacity in forty years — and it still has 500-year-old banyans, empty beaches and dim sum worth the border crossing.

Chengdu City guide · 11 tours A 3,000-year-old city where the schedule is tea, mahjong and hotpot — and the pandas are just the opening act.

Xinjiang City guide · 11 tours Snow peaks, grassland, desert and oasis — one-sixth of China, and the longest road you will ever ride.

Xi'an City guide · 14 tours Thirteen dynasties of emperors, a terracotta army buried for 2,200 years, and a walled city you can cycle in 100 minutes.

Qinghai City guide · 11 tours China's high-altitude blue heart: a salt lake you can walk on, a 3,200-metre sea, and yak butter tea at the roof of the world.

Tibet City guide · 11 tours A plateau the size of Western Europe where the sky starts at your feet, prayer flags carry the wind, and the roads run past 8,000-metre peaks.

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Two days for the city; a third for Lake Poyang and the Meiling hills.
Tengwang Pavilion costs ¥50 and is the single sight worth building a day around.
Nanchang Star, at 160 m, was the world's second-tallest Ferris wheel when it opened.

Nanchang travel guide: Tengwang Pavilion, the August 1st sights and how to eat Gan food

Tengwang Pavilion

August 1st Square and the Uprising Memorial

Nanchang Star Ferris Wheel

Lake Poyang and its birds

Claypot soup and mixed rice noodles

Meiling, the 'little Lushan'

Pavilion, riverfront and the August 1st sights

Old-town lakes, pagodas and a half-day in the hills

Nanchang

Lushan

Jingdezhen and Wuyuan

Tengwang Pavilion

August 1st Square and the Uprising Memorial

Nanchang Star Ferris Wheel

Baihuazhou (Hundred Flowers Islets)

Shengjin Pagoda

Youmin Temple

Bada Shanren Memorial

Mixed rice noodles (banfen)

Claypot soup (waguantang)

Stone-street fried dough twists

Stir-fried river reed with cured pork (lihao chao larou)

Braised and roasted snacks

Gan cuisine at large

0791 Gan Cuisine Concept

Longlaowu Soup Shop

Yijue Braised Dishes

Zhou's Snails and Crayfish

Hama Street and Ruzi Road

Nanchang Spring Story Boutique Hotel

Haiyou Hotel (Bayi Square)

Jiangxi Hotel

7 Days Inn (Railway Station Square)

Milan Holiday Hotel

Jiangxi fans

Porcelain plate portraits

Anyi loquat

Grape-shaped douchi

Come in spring or autumn, not summer

Say 'bu yao la' before you order

Eat the breakfast, not just the dinner

Book Lake Poyang around November

Check which station your train uses

Give Tengwang Pavilion the late afternoon

Geography and climate

History

August 1st

Guwen Guanzhi

Nanchang 2006

Frequently asked questions

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Nanchang trips and tickets

More city guides

Combine Nanchang with

Sort out before you fly

Understand the place

Tell us your dates.We'll do the rest.

Tell us your dates.
We'll do the rest.