Jingjiang Princes' City - Size and Layout

Size and Layout

The Jingjiang Princes'City is magnificent and grandly walled, and once functioned as an 'inner city' occupied by the princes and their families. There are 4 halls, 4 pavilions and 40 other buildings surrounding the main buildings. It occupies a total area of 19.78 hectares (0.08 square miles). The layout of the mansion is, from the south to the north, Imperial Burial Place, Chengyun Palace and Chengyun Gate; from east to west, Imperial Divine Temple and Ancestral Temple. Other buildings are built around the main buildings. All the buildings in Jingjiang Princes'City are decorated with red walls and yellow tiles, which a typical Palace building in China.

There is a 1500-meter long city wall which is built with square bluestones. It is 557.5 meters long from south to north and 336 meters long from east to west. The city wall is 7.92 meters high and has a thickness of 5.5 meters. There are four gates in four directions, which are called “Tiren” (Donghua Gate), “Duanli” (Zhengyang Gate), “Zunyi” (Xihua Gate) and “Guangzhi” (Hougong Gate).

The layout of the city strictly conforms to the rules of the Ming Dynasty. All buildings are arranged on the axis anchored by the Solitary Beauty Peak in the order of, from the south, Duanli Gate (Entrance Gate), Chengyun Gate (Palace Gate), Chengyun Palace (Administration Building), Royal Quarters, Imperial Garden and Guangzhi Gate (Rear Gate). The subsidiary buildings on both sides of the axis are symmetrical.

The local government has done a great job to combine aspects of Guilin's natural beauty, history, traditional architecture and local culture. Now it is a popular tourist destination.