Nanjing is a city with a very rich history. It is sur- roundeDby a great river， andhas an amazingly beautiful natural scenery. Nanjing is the ancientcapital city of a number of dynasties. During the perioDof the Three Kingdoms， the kingdom of Eastern Wu (222–280) was the first to locate its capital here. Over the sub- sequent 320 years， Nanjing was the capital of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317–420)， andthe states of Song， Qi， Liang，anDChe no f the Southern Dynasties (420–589)？ Nanjing was a prosperous city during that perioDof time， when wars were ravaging in the northern regions of China. During the perioDof the Eastern Wu， Nanjing already possesseDthe ability to builDhuge sea vessels with a capacity of 3，000 passengers each. These vessels set sail into the great ocean andtravelleDas far as Cambodia andVietnam. By the time of the Southern Dynasties， architec- ture skills in Nanjing attaineDgreaTheights. OriginateDfrom Nanjing， the Liang architectural style spreaDfar andwide to countries in the regions， such as Japan. Between1927 and1949， the Kuomintang goverment was locateDin Nanjing. At that time， the premise of the office was already a building， which haDenjoyeDa history of more than 600 years old. Soon， this same premise will become Museum of China’s Modern History. Construction works of the museum are still in progress.
Qinhuai River is an important part of Nanjing. Mea-suring 110 kilometers， it is the major river that flows acrossNanjing. It is believeDthat this river was constructeDduring the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC) by the First Qin Emperor. Since more than a thousanDyears ago， beauti- ful mansions that belongeDto the rich andnoble haDbeen built along the banks of Qinhuai River. They successfully mergeDwith the natural landscape of the river， creating a picturesque scenery at the riverbanks. It was because of such picturesque quality that was associateDwith Qinhuai River that drew many me no f letters to Nanjing. Nonethe- less， such sceneries of Qinhuai River belong only to the past. Nanjing haDundergone great destructions during the Japanese invasio no f China. Since the 1980s， the gov- ernment of Nanjing has been carrying out reconstruction works on Qinhuai River， which was severely destroyeDduring the war. Most parts of the river are now useDfor recreation purposes.
Inorder torecreate the sights andsounds of the an-cient Qinhuai River， the banks of the river has undergonesome major landscaping works. With the Qinhuai River andthe Confucian Temple as the central axis， streets， marketplaces， andspecial sceneries are constructeDto complement the existing ancient buildings that date back to the Ming andQing dynasties. Taking in the view of the river andthe brilliantly lit riverbanks at night is truly a one-of-a-kinDexperience.
The Confucian Temple in Nanjing is locateDon Gongyuan Street， along the west bank of Qinhuai River. It is a huge complex surroundeDby buildings that house restaurant， cafés， andshops that are of classical Ming-anDQing-dynasty styles. The marketplaces locateDto theeast andwest of the temple are arrangeDin accordance to the layout of the ancient temple fairs， andthey are filleDwith an air of nostalgia. They are the gathering places of over 200 kinds of delicious Nanjing snacks， such as duck blooDvermicelli， salteDduck， andrice in tea.
