Xianlin University City (Chinese: 仙林大学城; pinyin: Xiān Lín Dà Xué Chéng), colloquially known as Xianlin (lit. 'Fairy Forest'), is a community in Nanjing, China, featuring a number of leading higher education institutions.[1] It is located in the middle of Qixia District and to the northeast of Purple Mountain, 15 kilometers (approx. 9 miles) from Xinjiekou, the central business area of the city. Planned in 1995 and established in 2002, Xianlin is the earliest university city in China, followed by other famous higher education hubs like Songjiang University City and Guangzhou University City. Xianlin is the home to 12 higher education institutions, such as Nanjing University, Nanjing Normal University, and Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, enabling them to share academic resources conveniently.