Founded during the Yuan dynasty,
NANNING was only a medium-sized market town until European traders opened a river route from Wuzhou in the early twentieth century, starting a period of rapid growth which saw the city supplanting Guilin as the provincial capital. Largely untouched by the civil war and Japanese invasion, it became a centre of supply and command during the
Vietnam War , when the
Nanning-Hanoi rail line was used to transport arms shipments via the border town of Pingxiang, 160km away. Nanning saw particularly vicious street fighting after these weapons were looted by rival Red Guard factions during the Cultural Revolution. The military returned for a decade when China and Vietnam came to blows in 1979, but following the resumption of cross-border traffic in the 1990s the city is beginning to capitalize on trade agreements with its neighbour.
Today, Nanning is a bright, easy-going place with a mild boom town atmosphere and mix of leafy boulevards, modern architecture and handful of narrow, colonial-era streets. Amongst all this you'll find good shopping, decent food, a museum strong on regional archeology, and both international and domestic transport connections: in particular, the nearby open border with Vietnam to the west means that Nanning is the first - or final - taste of China for an increasing number of independent travellers.
The City
To get the feel of Nanning's bustle, try wandering around the crowded markets and lanes either west or southeast of Chaoyang Lu among the remnants of the city's colonial architecture. Along with chickens, ducks, turtles and frogs, there's a mouthwatering variety of perfumed
tropical fruit , and the city has some of China's best
longan (a bit like a spherical lychee).
Chaoyang Lu itself is mostly modern, full of late-opening department stores overflowing with shoes and clothing, all colourfully lit up with fairy lights at night. Halfway along at the corner of Renmin Dong Lu,
Chaoyang Square is a nice area of tidy paving, park benches and shady trees, popular with
tai ji enthusiasts, chess players, amateur musicians, groups dancing to country and western tunes, and anyone after a breath of air in the summer heat. West from here and parallel with Chaoyang Lu,
Xining Lu and its offshoots sport the city's most attractive older facades, all lit with red lanterns around the lunar New Year.
Better still are the waters and woodland of Renmin Park (¥2), a couple of square kilometres of green about a twenty-minute walk east of the train station on Renmin Dong Lu. Stone causeways zigzag across the lake between islets inhabited by willows and chess players, while on the eastern side, steps ascend to Zhenning Fort , a defensive structure built in 1917 to house a 6" German naval cannon - a serious piece of firepower in such a commanding position, with clear views of the whole city. The tropical plants garden (¥2) below has a medicinal herb plot and a carefully constructed undergrowth of philodendrons, palms, heliconias and giant "elephant-ear" taro, bird nest ferns and cycads - its private recesses are very popular with young couples. A few kilometres southwest at the #2 bus terminus, Nanhu Park (¥2) is worth a look during the annual fifth-month dragon-boat festivals (usually early June), when a quarter of a million people turn up to watch this colourful and thoroughly joyful event. At other times the park is simply a peaceful retreat, a huge, broad stretch of canal crossed by a white humpbacked bridge.
