Nanjing City Wall hosted a 70-li walk on 18 October
Published on 10/24/2026 at 17:00 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWSRoutes and conservation links
- Nanjing Newspaper Media Group and the City Wall Protection Management Centre staged the walk on 18 October 2026.
- The charity programme linked a 3 km family route with a 35 km circuit through named wall gates.
- The Jiefang Gate to Xuanwu Gate section reopened after restoration on 26 August 2025.
Nanjing City Wall hosted the 2026 70-li charity walk on 18 October 2026, with the route beginning at Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing, China. The Ming city wall is also a working public heritage site, linking historic gates with views across the modern city.
A 70-li charity walk began at Zhonghua Gate
The event was called the Nanjing Bank Around-the-City Walking Walk Nanjing 70 Li. Nanjing Newspaper Media Group and the Nanjing City Wall Protection Management Centre jointly organised it, with Nanjing Newspaper Media Group Development Centre and the Nanjing Internet Culture Association as co-organisers.
The official programme set out two routes. The shorter route covered 3 km from Zhonghua Gate through Yuhua Gate and Wuding Gate to the Dongshui Gate entrance. The longer circuit started and finished at Zhonghua Gate and covered about 35 km through Dongshui Gate, Zhongshan Gate, Taiping Gate, Shence Gate, Yijiang Gate, Dinghuai Gate and Jiqing Gate.
The walk was presented as a non-competitive public charity event rather than a timed race. Its net registration income was assigned to the protection of Nanjing City Wall, connecting participation on 18 October 2026 with the conservation of the structure itself.
The official route announcement names the date, starting point, organisers and two courses. A later report recorded the walk leaving Zhonghua Gate on 18 October, with more than 1,000 participants.
How the October walk traced Nanjing's Ming wall
The wall dates from the Ming period and is more than 600 years old. The walk's longer course therefore joined several gates and sections of the surviving urban fortification, rather than treating Zhonghua Gate as an isolated monument.
Recent restoration has also changed the condition of part of the visitor route. The section between Jiefang Gate and Xuanwu Gate reopened to the public on 26 August 2025 after ten months of works. The restored section is about 1,400 metres long, has an average height of about 20 metres and covers nearly 20,000 square metres.
Work addressed bulging, holes, surface cracks, weathering, the wall-top surface and the water-resistant system. It also included repairs to the Xuanwu Gate wall, gate tower and arch structure, together with the removal of plant-related damage.
The repaired northern line restored a continuous route from Shence Gate to Taiping Gate. That background gives the October walk a specific connection to access: its circuit used the wall's gate network while parts of the northern line had recently returned to public use under the protection centre's care.
The restoration report records the reopening date, dimensions and conservation measures for the Jiefang Gate to Xuanwu Gate section.
Visiting Nanjing City Wall: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- The charity walk took place on 18 October 2026, starting at Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing.
- The programme used a 3 km route to Dongshui Gate and a 35 km circuit returning to Zhonghua Gate; it was a public, non-competitive walk.
- The northern line includes the restored Jiefang Gate to Xuanwu Gate section, which reopened on 26 August 2025 after ten months of works.
- The official language of China is Chinese, and the national currency is the renminbi.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
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Frequently asked questions about Nanjing City Wall
When did the 70-li walk take place at Nanjing City Wall?
The 2026 charity walk began at Zhonghua Gate on 18 October 2026 and used two routes.
What is Nanjing City Wall?
It is a more than 600-year-old Ming-period urban fortification in Nanjing, with surviving gates and public wall sections.
Where is Nanjing City Wall and how do you get there?
The October walk started at Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing and connected several named entrances, including Dongshui Gate, Zhongshan Gate and Taiping Gate.
