Former Site of Nanjing Post Office

Former Site of Nanjing Post Office

The former site of the Nanjing Post Office is a protected cultural heritage site of Jiangsu Province.

The former site of the Nanjing Post Office is located at No. 110 Jiankang Road, Qinhuai District, Nanjing, at the intersection of Taiping South Road and Jiankang Road. It is the oldest existing post office in Nanjing, an important postal heritage site preserved from the Republican era, and one of the representative works of Western classical architecture introduced to China in the 1920s. The former site of the Nanjing Post Office was first built in the ninth year of the Republic of China (1920), officially completed and opened in the twelfth year of the Republic of China (1923), and renamed Jiankang Road Postal Sub-Office in the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China (1935). It is now a protected cultural heritage site of Jiangsu Province.

Historical Development

On the first day of the first lunar month in the twenty-third year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (February 2, 1897), the establishment of the Nanjing Postal Sub-Office on Gongyuan Street marked the beginning of the postal service in Nanjing.

In the twenty-fifth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1899), after Nanjing was opened as a treaty port, the postal service developed rapidly, with post offices expanding from the urban area to Jurong, Pukou, Lishui, and Liuhe.

In December of the ninth year of the Republic of China (1920), the Nanjing General Post Office purchased a plot of land measuring 1,112 square meters at the original site of the Nanjing Post Office on Gongyuan Street (now No. 15 Jinling Road, No. 110 Jiankang Road) for 5,244 Dragon Dollars.

In the eleventh year of the Republic of China (1922), the Jiangsu Provincial Postal Administration built a new postal sub-office on Qiwang Street (now No. 146 Jiankang Road), known as the Qiwang Street Sub-Office. A two-story steel-concrete structure business building was constructed, with a floor area of 1,319.61 square meters, at a total cost of 198,111.84 Yuan.

In January of the twelfth year of the Republic of China (1923), the new building was completed and opened, named the Qiwang Street Postal Sub-Office, which was the largest postal sub-office in Nanjing at the time.

In the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China (1935), Qiwang Street was widened into a modern road and renamed Jiankang Road after the name of Nanjing during the Six Dynasties period. The Qiwang Street Sub-Office was accordingly renamed the Jiankang Road Postal Sub-Office, a name that remained in use until the end of 2000.

In December of the twenty-sixth year of the Republic of China (1937), the Japanese army occupied Nanjing, causing the post office to temporarily cease operations, but it resumed business the following year.

In April of the thirty-fifth year of the Republic of China (1946), a model post office was established, equipped with comprehensive facilities including pens, ink, forms, and a glue machine, setting an example for postal service operations.

For a considerable period after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Confucius Temple Post Office was designated as Nanjing’s Postal Office No. 1, known as the “First Postal Office of Nanjing,” and used the “1 (Branch)” numbering postmark for a long time. In the 1970s and 1980s, it switched to using the postal code “210001” postmark.

In 1950, a newspaper and periodical retail point was set up, along with services for mail-order, telephone reservations, and retail sales of newspapers and magazines.

Between 1950 and 1953, savings services, noon-time remittance services, and air remittance draft services were successively introduced.

In 1960, the Neiqiao Post and Telecommunications Office was established as a branch.

In August 1966, the Guanghuamen Post and Telecommunications Office was established as a branch.

In 1978, the Guanghuamen Post and Telecommunications Office was upgraded to a postal sub-office and separated from this office.

In 1985, the Jiankang Road Postal and Telecommunications Sub-Office converted the newspaper and periodical retail point into a newspaper and periodical retail department, which operated independently and was responsible for its own profits and losses.

In 1995, the Dazhongqiao Post and Telecommunications Office was established as a branch.

In March 1997, the office began handling telephone bill collection services. By the end of the year, the office (including its two subordinate post and telecommunications offices, Neiqiao and Dazhongqiao, with a total of 91 employees) had postal revenue of 5.0541 million Yuan and telecom revenue of 341,500 Yuan.

On January 1, 2001, the Jiankang Road Postal Sub-Office was renamed the Confucius Temple Post Office, a name that has been used ever since.

On February 4, 2015, the Confucius Temple Post Office reopened for trial operations and officially reopened after the Spring Festival. The overall layout was inspired by the style of old Republican-era post offices, and many historical photos of old Nanjing Republican-era post offices were referenced.

Confucius Temple Community: Located in the Confucius Temple tourist scenic area, the community covers an area of 0.38 square kilometers, with 2,221 households and a total population of 6,174. The area includes attractions such as the Zhanyuan Garden, Juxing Pavilion, Nanjing Qifangge Halal Restaurant, Confucius Temple specialty snacks, lantern festival viewing from Zhonghua Gate to Dongshuiguan, and the Qinhuai River scenic belt. There are also four educational institutions in the area: Confucius Temple Primary School, Zhonghua Middle School, Finance and Economics School, and Aerospace Cadre Management College. Local establishments include Zhuangyuanlou Hotel, Jiankang Hotel, Shanghai Hotel, City Inn, the Third Fire Brigade, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Memorial Hall, Weihao Electric, and the Telecom Building... More details about Confucius Temple Community++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Protected Cultural Heritage Sites of Jiangsu Province