Jingjiang Wangcheng City, Solitary Beauty Peak & Jingjiang Princes’ Palace

As an old say goes, visit the entire Wangcheng City to know Guilin, Jingjiang Wangcheng City is the best preserved royal palace and Ming city wall in China. Jingjiang Princes’ Palace as the residence of Jingjiang Princes was first built in 1372 in Ming dynasty, 34 years earlier than the Forbidden City in Beijing. It’s situated near Li River and in the center of Guilin city at that time, occupying a nice location. The Solitary Beauty Peak in the area is a major attraction in Guilin city. When you climb to the top of the mountain, the beautiful scenery of the city can be grabbed into your eyes.

Facts

- In Chinese: 独秀峰 & 靖江王城

- Address: No. 1 Wangcheng Road, Xiufeng District, Guilin

- Opening time:

07:30 – 18:00 (spring & autumn);

07:30 – 18:30 (summer);

08:00 – 18:00 (winter)

- Best time to visit: afternoon

- Entrance fee: RMB100 (Solitary Beauty Peak and Jingjiang Princes’ Palace included)

jingjiang wangcheng

What to See?

Solitary Beauty Peak & Jingjiang Princes’ Palace Scenic Area was the palace of Zhu Shouqian and his generations, Jingjiang Princes, a vassal state in the Ming dynasty, and has a history of more than 600 years with the living of 14 princes. It’s a magnificent architecture group with rich historical relics and wonderful natural scenery. It makes up one of the parts of Guilin’s history and culture.

Solitary Beauty Peak

Solitary Beauty Peak is known as “the pillar on the earth of south China”, which is called the natural backer of the palace backyard. The peak is located in the central axis coordinate line of the north and south of the city; the palaces were arranged neatly on both sides, so that the peak has an exclusive momentum of nobility.

It’s also the commanding height of the entire Wangcheng City. Overlook from the top of the mountain, you can do as the princes did to glance over the city on your feet. There is an authentic work of cliff-side carvings on the Reading Rock, which was carved in South Song dynasty. With the words of “Guilin's scenery is the best in the world”, it made Guilin famous in ancient China. Other than this, you can find plenty of rock carvings in the mountain, where you can appreciate Chinese calligraphy.

duxiu peak

Jingjiang Wangcheng City

As a royal palace, though it’s not so significant as the Forbidden City, Jingjiang Wangcheng City is also a precious Ming palace listed into nation key cultural relics protection units.

History

The city was first built in 1372 and completed in 1392. In this large and well-decorated castle, 14 generations of Jingjiang Prines lived in succession until the Ming dynasty fell and the Qing army occupied this place, lasting 280 years.

The Jingjiang Wang City was changed into Examination Hall in feudal China. Hence it became the largest imperial examination venue in the southwest of China. Four top scholars, 585 scholars came from here, it can be said that it’s the hometown of the outstanding people and a lucky place for learners. At present, in the scenic area, the examination halls are preserved and the scenes are reproduced, so that visitors can experience the feeling of the ancient examination by themselves.

jingjiang princes palace

In 1912, Dr. Sun Yat-sen vowed to go on the expedition to the north, and his headquarters were located at the foot of the Solitary Beauty Peak in Guilin. In order to commemorate this indomitable great revolutionary pioneer, people build a monument near the crescent pool on the foot of the mountain specially. In the period of the Republic of China, Jingjiang Wangcheng City is the seat of the government of Guangxi Province and the home of the leaders of the Guangxi branch, like Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi.

And now, because of its rich cultural and historical significance, a part of it is the campus of Guangxi Normal University. You can see the students having classes here.

Construction

The city is 556 meters long from north to south, 355 meters wide from east to west, covers an area of about 200,000 square meters, and its city walls are nearly 8 meters high. There are several gates, palaces, harems and gardens consisting a gorgeous royal architecture group.

The design of the whole city adopts symmetrical structure. The Chengyun Gate and Chengyun Place, a place for discussing official business, stands in the axle wire showing the authority of royalty. Ancestral temples of ruling house were built on the left, the agency places were on the right, with guarded momentum.