Nanjing - Day 88 & 89

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Another quick trip on the CRH bullet train and we arrived in the City of Nanjing. Nanjing served as the first capital of the Ming Dynasty and the capital during other historic periods as well. On our first day we visited Sun Yat Sen's Mausoleum and the Mingxiaoling Mausoleum (founder of the Ming Dynasty) located in the Purple Mountains. Sun Yat Sen is regarded as the National Father of Modern China and was explained to us as the "George Washington" of China. Probably becuase he was the first president of the Republic of China in 1912. His presidency was short lived but his mausoleum won't be going anywhere for a very long time... To get to the Mingxiaoling Mausoleum we walked through the "sacred way" which is a path with large statues of elephants, camels, horses, etc. on either side of the pathway. The Mausoleum was basically a fortress and we learned they were buried with treasures in addition to their servants whom were still alive at the time of burial.

The next day we had a meeting with the Planning officials from the City. Again this was a great experience to sit down with the representatives from the government. The director gave a brief welcome and introduction and that was follwed by a powerpoint overview of the planning process given by one of the senior planners. Planning for cities in China is very complex. There is so much to consider - huge population, environmental factors, the growing number of cars etc.

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Photos

View & Smog
No not fog...smog!