About this place

Hunan Road (湖南路)

Hunan Road is a great place to check out in the evening. It has great food, clothing stores, entertainment, and a public park attached at the end.  Perhaps most importantly, Hunan Road is home to one of the most jam-packed and diversified food streets in Nanjing: Lion’s Bridge.

In the evening on Hunan road, it easy to forget it the sun has set, as the street seems almost as bright as the daytime. There are neon lights on buildings, arches above the road, and in the “Light Art Tunnel”.  On Fridays and Saturdays the entire street is blocked off to cars in the evening.

Sunning Department Store
 
Hunan Road sign.

Night Market (湖南路夜市)

Update: In May 2007 the night market was shut down!

The night market on Matai Jie competes with the Confucius Temple market for the title of best market in Nanjing. The Hunan Road night market is ideal for finding all sorts of cheap crafts, toys, clothes, DVDs, etc. You will have to visit the market yourself to truly comprehend the wide variety of items and the fact that so many items go in and out of fashion so quickly.

Adjacent to the night market is a tiny street full of small vendors selling delicious treats. There is a small store that sells Meihua Gao (plum blossom cake) that is usually swamped by a crowd of ravenous, hungry patrons clawing for Meihua Gao. There are also many vendors selling various kinds of rou chuan (meat kebabs).

For the more adventurous types, try a taste of stinky toufu or some half-developed chicken embryos still inside the egg. Don’t worry, they taste better than they sound.

Selling food on the street in this manner is actually illegal, so the police will come by once every month or so to shut it down. The vendors, obviously undeterred by random police visits, will again setup shop by the end of the night or at least by the next day.

The night market is close to the west end and north side of Hunan Road.

Citizen’s Square

Citizen’s Square is set is right on the western edge of Hunan Road. You can also access the square through a small passageway that is connected to the night market on Matai Jie.

The square features fountains, small man-made lakes, a playground, and an immense TV screen on a building across the street.  Families come here to play with their kids and couples come here for some public displays of affection. To one side of the square is a McDonalds.

How To Get There

Hunan Road can be reached via the subway at Xuanwu Men station (玄武门, Xuanwu Gate). It is also within walking distance of the Nanjing University’s foreign students dorm (Xiyuan).

The night market is was on Matai Jie, which runs perpendicular to Hunan Road.  To be precise, on one side of Hunan Road the road is called Matai Jie and on the opposite side it is called Hubei Road.