March to May for the plane-tree canopy; November for the Stone Elephant Road autumn · Balanced · Easy
Nanjing is the imperial capital that most first trips skip: the Mausoleum avenue under plane trees, a Ming emperor’s tomb in the purple hills, a Ming city wall you can walk, and a museum quarter the size of a small town. Five days runs Nanjing at three nights — the right count for the wall, the tomb and the Confucian quarter without rushing — then puts you on the 80-minute high-speed train to Shanghai for the Bund and the French Concession lanes.
