What should I avoid in Nanjing?

Most first-timers head straight to the Fuzimiao pedestrian district for its lit-up Qinhuai River canal and rows of snack vendors, but food prices run 2-3× above city average. Nanjing salted duck (yanshuiya) at the tourist-facing stalls costs ¥80-120 per portion, roughly double what Jinling or Han Fu Chun charge at their city-center branches. Duck blood vermicelli soup, Nanjing's other signature dish, costs ¥35-45 at Fuzimiao and arrives as MSG-heavy broth with rubbery blood cubes. Walk 15 minutes north to Shiziqiao Food Street and the same soup costs ¥18-22, the broth tastes of slow-cooked duck bone, and the blood has that silky, custard-soft texture that makes the dish worth ordering. The Fuzimiao canal is fine for 20 minutes of photos around 7pm, when the red lanterns reflect off the water. Stay for dinner and you'll spend ¥150-200 per person for mediocre food in a crowd of phone-flashlight selfie traffic.

The "practice my English" tea-ceremony scam runs strong around Xinjiekou intersection and near the pedestrian entrance to Xuanwu Lake Park. A young pair, usually in their 20s, will approach you asking to practice English or take a photo. The conversation steers toward a "traditional tea house" a few blocks away, and the bill arrives at ¥800-1,500 per person, around $120-220 at current exchange rates. Refuse and keep walking toward Deji Plaza on the same block. At Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, unlicensed guides wait near the bottom of the 392-step granite staircase, offering "historical tours" for ¥200-300. The official audio guide from the ticket office costs ¥20, and the WeChat mini-program has free English narration. Those unofficial guides tend to rush you through in 40 minutes and skip Linggu Temple, which sits a 10-minute walk east and is included in the ¥100 combination ticket.

Nanjing earned its "Four Furnaces" reputation honestly. July and August bring wet, heavy heat that regularly pushes past 38°C with humidity above 80%, the kind of thick air that fogs your glasses the moment you step out of a metro station. The climb to Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum on Zijin Shan in that weather is a miserable slog. Visit between late March and early May, or mid-September through November. That said, September still carries afternoon thunderstorms that blow in fast off the Yangtze. The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall on Shuiximen Dajie has no shade in the outdoor monument area, and summer crowds can mean 30-40 minute waits at the entrance. December through February brings 0-5°C temperatures with a damp cold that cuts through layers, because few buildings south of the Yangtze have central heating.

The Ming Palace ruins on Zhongshan East Road disappoint most visitors expecting an imperial complex. What remains are a dozen stone column bases, a few carved balustrades, and the grassy field where Fengtian Hall once stood. Budget 20 minutes, not the half-day some guides suggest. Avoid taxis from Nanjing South Railway Station's arrival hall, where drivers routinely refuse the meter and quote flat fares of ¥100-150 for trips that should cost ¥40-60. Walk to the official queue on Level 1, or take Metro Line 1 or Line 3 from the lower level. The metro runs until 23:00 and costs ¥2-9 per ride. Solo-traveler safety sits at 6.8 out of 10 (see the TTDI Solo-Safety Index), though pickpocketing picks up on Metro Line 1 during evening rush between Xinjiekou and Nanjing Station. Nanjing's LGBTQ+ friendliness scores 2.5 out of 10 (sourced from TTDI's editorial rubric), and same-sex couples will likely draw stares outside the 1912 Bar District near the Presidential Palace. Don't buy "authentic" rain-flower pebbles from vendors outside Yuhuatai Memorial Park, as the ¥30-50 stones are dyed quartz that bleeds color within a week.