What's the must-see thing in Nanjing?

Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum sits on the southern slope of Zijin Shan, Nanjing's Purple Mountain. The 392-step staircase runs through cypress and pine, and on humid September mornings it smells of damp bark and wet granite. At the top, the Sacrificial Hall has a blue-glazed roof in the Kuomintang colour and a 4.6-metre seated marble statue of Sun Yat-sen. His sarcophagus is not under that statue: it lies in a circular domed crypt behind the hall, below a marble effigy of him lying down. Book the timed slot through the Zhongshan Scenic Area WeChat account, entering your passport number when you reserve. By 10am, tour coaches are unloading at the Xiamafang car parks, which makes the 8:30am opening worth the early alarm. September humidity in Nanjing sits around 75 to 85 percent, so carry water. Take Metro Line 2 to Xiamafang station; from there it's a 15-minute walk, or ¥10 on the Zhongshan Scenic Area tourist bus.

Ming Xiaoling is a 20-minute walk west of the Sun Yat-sen site, on the same mountain. Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor, founded the Ming Dynasty in 1368 and made Nanjing his capital. He was buried here in 1398 beside Empress Ma, and UNESCO added the tomb to its World Heritage list in 2003. The Sacred Way leading to the tomb is the reason to come. Twelve pairs of stone animals line it, in six kinds: lions, xiezhi, camels, elephants, qilin, and horses, followed by four pairs of military and civil officials. All were carved in the 1380s. The elephants are weathered smooth, moss fills the joints of the grey stone, and the old tree canopy keeps the path several degrees cooler than the open hillside. Tickets cost ¥70, booked through the same Zhongshan Scenic Area WeChat account. The grounds close at 6:30pm, with last entry at 5pm. Starting at 8:30am, allow three to four hours for this tomb and Sun Yat-sen's together.

The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre sits on Shuixi Men Street in Jianye district, west of the city centre. Expanded in 2007, it opened more than two decades earlier on the Jiangdongmen site. Wu Weishan's bronze figures fill the outdoor sculpture garden; the number 300,000 is cut into the stone wall at the entrance. Inside, the concrete galleries stay cold even in September. The photographs, testimony, and burial pit demand at least 90 minutes done properly. Admission is free, but you must reserve a slot with your passport number through the museum's official WeChat account or website and bring the passport to the gate. Hours run 8:30am to 5pm, last entry at 4:30pm. Like Sun Yat-sen's tomb, the Memorial Hall closes Mondays except on public holidays. Tuesday through Friday mornings are the quietest. The week of the 13 December ceremony brings heavy security and large crowds. Take Metro Line 2 to Yunjin Road station, the same line that serves Purple Mountain.

On a first visit, spend the morning on Purple Mountain, lunch in the Fuzimiao quarter on the Qinhuai River, and see the Memorial in the afternoon. Both sites close Mondays, so run this plan Tuesday through Sunday. Fuzimiao is about 6km south of Purple Mountain. On Gongyuan Jie, the shopfronts smell of rendered duck fat. A plate of Nanjing salted duck at the stalls costs ¥30 to 50, around $4 to $7; a bowl of duck-blood vermicelli soup is the standard partner. The mausoleum stairs and the Sacred Way will tire your legs, and the Memorial's galleries are easier to face on a full stomach. With a second day, the Presidential Palace on Changjiang Lu comes fourth. Sun Yat-sen took office there as provisional president on 1 January 1912.