At the Ming City Wall Liberation Gate, I captured the most Nanjing-like autumn!

Friends! If you come to Nanjing in autumn, please be sure to set aside half a day for the Ming City Wall Liberation Gate! This is not an isolated attraction, but a "God's eye view" observation deck that packages all the essence of Nanjing's autumn in one go 🍂. Spend 30 yuan to walk on this 600-year-old city wall, and the autumn colors of Jiming Temple, Zifeng Tower, and Xuanwu Lake will unfold beneath your feet. The shock is truly indescribable in words! 📸 Three top photo spots to capture your favorite shots of the year This time I focused on three absolutely unmissable spots, with a 100% success rate for great photos! 1️⃣ Jiming Temple "Glazed Autumn Gold" shot This spot is amazing! Walk up the city wall at the Liberation Gate section and look east. Below are the classic yellow walls and black tiles of Jiming Temple with incense smoke curling up, while the tall ginkgo trees in front of the temple turn brilliantly golden in autumn. Use a telephoto lens to compress the space, framing the ginkgo trees with the temple’s flying eaves and the Medicine Buddha pagoda, like a classical oil painting. The best time is after 3 PM when the sunlight makes the ginkgo glow, warm and sacred. Wear a plain sweater or Hanfu, stand at the city wall battlement, and have a friend shoot from the side—you become the figure in the painting. 2️⃣ Zifeng Tower "Ancient and Modern in One Frame" masterpiece Turn west, where Nanjing’s past and future converge. Use the heavy gray bricks and arched gate of the city wall as a foreground frame, with the sharp-lined modern landmark Zifeng Tower in the distance. This composition cleverly compresses 600 years of history and a modern metropolis into one image, fully capturing the feeling of time and space overlapping! The magic time is the blue hour at sunset (half an hour before and after sunset). The sky turns deep blue, city lights gradually come on, and pressing the shutter creates a cyber Nanjing masterpiece full of stories. 3️⃣ Xuanwu Lake "Mountain, Water, City, Forest" panorama Facing north, the entire autumn scenery of Xuanwu Lake is in full view. Autumn Liangzhou looks like a colorful gem set in the lake. Use a wide-angle lens to include the nearby city wall, the lake in the middle, and the distant Zijin Mountain all together—this is the perfect interpretation of Nanjing’s "mountain, water, city, forest." 🗺️ Lazy person’s essential route & practical tips 🚶 Recommended route: Enter the city wall from the Liberation Gate entrance → first shoot the Jiming Temple ginkgo → then shoot the ancient and modern frame of Zifeng Tower → finally stroll to the Xuanwu Gate section to overlook the lake view → exit the city wall at Xuanwu Gate and enter Xuanwu Lake Park to continue exploring. 🎫 Tickets: Ming City Wall section ticket 30 yuan (very worthwhile!). The park annual pass allows direct entry. ⏰ Best time: Strongly recommend 3 PM to sunset. The light is soft, allowing you to capture front-lit ginkgo and backlit city silhouettes, finishing with a stunning sunset and blue hour. 🚇 Transportation: Take Metro Line 3 or 4 to Jiming Temple Station, Exit 5, then walk about 10 minutes to the Liberation Gate city wall entrance.