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Jiangsu province: Yihe Road Historical and Cultural Block in Nanjing

Updated: Nov 25, 2019 chinadaily.com.cn Print
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Yihe Road Historical and Cultural Block in Nanjing
颐和路历史文化街区

As the capital city of the Republic of China (1912-49), Nanjing has retained a large number of old Republican buildings and a well-preserved building complex built at that time still stands in the area of Yihe Road and Ninghai Road. [Photo/IC]

In the 1920s and 1930s, during the Republic of China period, more than 200 high-end residences were built, which were later turned into garden villas for many embassies, dignitaries and foreigners.

They were constructed in accordance with the "Capital Plan" at that time, known as the City Plan of Nanking, China's earliest urban planning document that was meant to modernize restructuring of the then capital city of Nanjing in 1927.

As there are many old embassies and consulates in this area, including the former site of the Marshall Mansion, the former site of the Wang Jingwei Mansion, and the former site of the US Embassy to the Republic of China, it is also known as the "Embassy District" or the "Mansion District".

Wang Jingwei was a high-ranking KMT official, who was most noted for breaking with Chiang Kai-Shek and forming a Japanese-supported collaborationist government in Nanjing.

Yihe Road carries half the history of the Republic of China. [Photo/IC]

Many beautifully constructed residences and mansions with Republican style are located in the Yihe Road Historical and Cultural Block in Nanjing, the current capital city of eastern China's Jiangsu province. The area is made even more elegant by the platanus trees on both sides of the road.

Professor Chang Jiahui of Southeast University in the early years was authorized by the Republican government to purchase the trees in Paris and transplant them along Yihe Road.

Every year on April, the grounds in the area are covered by light yellow and dark yellow from the countless leaves falling from the swaying trees. [Photo/IC]

Noteworthy buildings and locations:
The Soviet embassy, the Philippine embassy, the Australian embassy, the former site of the Wang Jingwei Mansion, and the former site of the Marshall Mansion

 

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