The Purple Mountain area is less a neighbourhood than a green corridor at the city's eastern edge — but it functions as such for visitors, who typically spend a half-day or full day moving between the Ming Xiaoling Tombs, the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Linggu Temple, Plum Blossom Hill, and the Nanjing Museum at the foot of the hill. A tourist bus loops the main sites; a cable car connects the lower slopes to the summit area.
The forested character of the mountain makes it feel removed from the city even though the metro will bring you to its foot in 20 minutes from Xinjiekou. The combination of imperial burial sites, Republican-era monuments, and active temple creates a palimpsest of Chinese history across a single hillside.