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Published: February 6th 2006
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Nanjing
Market at the Confucius Temple i spent the last 3 dasy in Nanjing and it was certainly an adventure. We went to Nanjing to visit Josh, a friend from High School. But on a more selfish note, it was getting very cold in Beijing and we wanted to escape as far south as we could get and that was Nanjing. Almost ended up being too far because it's the end of a country wide vacation and everyone was trying to get back to somewhere... we almost ended up not able to get back to Beijing. We didn't have our passports so flying wasn't an option (good to know). But Josh worked his miracle and got us tickets on a sleeper train back to Beijing so it was on to exploring Nanjing.
We started off with lunch at which Caroline bravely ordered duck blood soup with wontons. I tried a very very small little bit and was utterly unimpressed. it was pretty flavourless and not really my kind of eating. But that's ok cause there were other things too. Then we went to xuanwu lake park and rented a paddle boat to go around the lake. there were some very cool UFO looking boats but they were
Nanjing Tea House
we got a lesson on Chinese Tea all out on the lake. Turned out later they were motorized and and closed in more so we were doubly jealous as we paddled around in the wind. We also saw the Ming City walls which is the longest city wall ever built and is in pretty good conditio (built in 1366-1386 by over 200,000 labourers according to the LP). Of course, we didn't have our guide book on us so we didn't know that until just now.
That evening we went to see Kunju Opera. Josh works at the Theatre that puts on the shows so we got there early and watched the actors do their hair and make-up. It was really interesting and very complex. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera on me for that. The show itself was interesting but would have been better if I'd understood any of it and if the room had been heated. I guess i haven't mentioned yet but though Nanjing is warmer than Beijing, almost nowhere is heated so you get pretty cold sitting somewhere too long. Also joining us for the Opera and for the rest of the weekend was a Vancouverite named Ian who is a family acquiantance of
Chinese Opera
This picture doesn't do it justice... the make up and hair is very elaborate Josh's family and who is just starting two months in China (Shanghai). Anyway, after the show we went out to a very nice teahouse and played cards... a popular passtime here it seems.
The next days started with a lovely hot bowl of congee and was spent wandering around the markets by the Confusius Temple. It seems no one actually goes to the temple.. just to the markets. There was also a dog market which I was a little nervous about not knowing if it's selling pets or food or what. Turns out they are selling dogs for pets (cute puppies and huge adult dogs as well). The conditions were pretty depressing and the animals didn't seem very happy but it was interesting to see. That night it was back to the opera for another cold sitting and then out to what seemed to be a foreigner's bar where we heard Leonard Cohen all night.
Sunday we went out to see the Yangtse River were it flows through Nanjing. It was snowing pretty heavily (very pretty) so the visibility was very low... and we were taken to see it from this bridge and told it wouldn't take all that long.
Nanjing in the snow
This slow paced city seems even slower under some snow It turned out that this bridge is 4.5 km long and one of the longest in China. Again... didn't have our guide book with us so didn't know and kept walking and walking until we ran out of time nad went back to Josh's and to the train station.
This is getting very long but I can't finish without a quick mention of the sleeper trains here. We were fortunate to get hard sleepers on the train instead of seats or having to stand (as many people do). There is access to hot water the whole time so everyone brings tea and noodle soups with them (we added hot chocolate to that) so it can be quite enjoyable and cozy. But it's amazing how loud people can snore and how easily they can ignore the fact that everyone around them is trying to sleep. And until a certain time they blast music and cheesy looking movies. It's quite an experience and hard to get much sleep but we were so happy to have gotten on the train and not be standing that we got over it. There were also many rounds of crazy eights (card game for anyone who doesn't
Nanjing - Bridge over the Yangtze
In a dream-like haze we walked and walked and walked and couldn't find the end of the bridge know).
And on that note I'll end. I'm heading to Guangzhou tomorrow morning were it's currently 25 degrees!!! very exciting...
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Yael
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train ride
You forgot to mention that the train ride was 17 hours long - it gives the story in a whole new perspective...