Stone City

Stone City

Stone City is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Stone City is located atop the cliffs at the southern end of the corner near the former site of Shitoucheng Primary School’s south wall. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Sun Quan built a fortress on this mountain, historically known as “Stone City,” or simply “Shi Cheng,” meaning “City of Stone Mountain.” Since then, Shi Cheng has also become synonymous with Nanjing. Due to tectonic movements, the steep, upright cliffs of the Stone City section stand firmly along the banks of the Yangtze River. From afar, Qingliang Mountain resembles a crouching tiger, while the Ghost-Face City section looks like the tiger’s raised head. Zhuge Liang described it as “Zhongshan coils like a dragon, Stone City crouches like a tiger—this is the dwelling place of emperors.” Weathering and erosion have transformed the once-smooth rock surface into an uneven, grotesque visage, resembling a terrifying “ghost face.” Above this ghostly face lies a section of brick-built city wall, hence the name Ghost-Face City.

The Stone City section preserves a 20-meter-high, 1,000-meter-long stretch of Ming Dynasty city wall. This part of the wall is among the most magnificent segments of the Ming city wall system. On January 3, 1988, it was designated as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the State Council. During the 2003 urban redevelopment of old Nanjing, municipal governments invested over 100 million yuan in the area’s revitalization. The first phase of construction, covering approximately 75,000 square meters, has been completed, restoring the grandeur of Stone City. Mirror Pond has been reconstructed, bringing back the iconic “Ghost Face Mirroring” landscape. With Stone City as the focal point, the emerging “Stone City Scenic Area” integrates “mountain, water, city, forest, and stone” into a unified whole.