Keywords: Nanjing city wall, Gate of China, Zhonghuamen, pidu noodles, pork rind noodles, Nanjing cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine

About the jubaopen “treasure-gathering basin,” some online sources say that when the Nanjing city wall was being built, for some reason the foundation would always budge, then some mystic advised burying a powerful talisman. “What a convenient excuse to relieve Shen Wansan of his magical jubaopen,” so the Hongwu Emperor thought. Our tour guide told us a similar story, in which the emperor ordered Shen Wansan to contribute his auspicious basin as a good luck charm to be buried at the base of the city wall, so as to bring fortune to Nanjing.
关于聚宝盆，有网站说筑建南京城墙时，地基总是不稳固，后来有位谋士建议埋下某种镇邪宝藏，至此明太祖终于找到正当理由征收沈万三的聚宝盆了。我们的解说员也讲了类似的故事，她说明太祖告知沈万三应该贡献聚宝盆作为应天的镇府之宝。

I don’t know if it’s magical power or just architectural and engineering ingenuity, but the integrity of the ancient City Wall of Nanjing surely is legendary.
或许真是聚宝盆的神奇魔力，或许只是古人的建筑智慧和非凡技艺，反正六百多岁的南京城墙依旧安如磐石，世界上实属罕见。

Name: 易记皮肚面
Add.: 明瓦廊101-103号
Tel.: 025-84214186
Cost (this meal): RMB 25/p
Price (online info): RMB 23/p

Name: 芳婆糕团店
Add.: 王府大街50号 (江苏南京 Nanjing, Jiangsu)
Tel.: 025-84204310
Cost (this meal): RMB 3/p
Price (online info): RMB 13/p

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