Blogs from Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, Asia - page 4

Hi All, This was my reason for visiting Nanjing. After visiting Unit 731 in Ha'erbin and discovering what the Imperial Japanese army did there and in Manchuria I wanted to visit the Nanjing Memorial Hall to discover what happened here. Nanjing has been the capital of China on two occasions, once in the Ming dynasty and again in1912 when China became a republic.The Imperial Japanese army invaded China in 1937 finally taking the capital in December. The KMT nationalist government had already fled to Chongqing leaving behind an under equipped defensive force. In fact it's said that the gates of the city were locked leaving everyone locked inside. When the city fell orders were given to the soldiers to rape, pillage burn and kill. They were under strict orders to not take any prisoners. Soldiers had ... read more

Hi All, Well our old guidebook has started to show it's age. We managed to get lost today trying to find Nanjing museum and when we did find it it was undergoing some major reconstruction in other words demolished. We did stumble across some cool futuristic buildings. A space-age look shopping centre and Nanjing library. The city is a little confusing as there are trees lining all the streets and it makes them all look the same. We started the day walking to the Zhonghua Gate from our hostel. It is the largest Ming dynasty defensive gate left in China and was constructed in around 1360. A very clever system of dropping doors was used to trap the invaders inside and then the defenders used archers to shoot down on them from above. It must have ... read more

Geo: 32.05, 118.78Yes Halloween is here again.We organised a big party for the school on the Friday night.Lots of scary things.... even the children. Then there was the traditional Duvall Halloween Party.This was the second year in a row. Lots of people, lots of drinking, dancing and eating.Everyone got dressed up. It really was a great night. ... read more

A great sleep last night in the biggest bed I’ve ever slept in. So lovely to wake up and look out over the city. A bit of rain today. The first we’ve had on our China trip. Not to worry. Off to our agent visits by 9.00am. First stop is the EIC agency. The counselors send quite a few students to Australian schools but mostly to Balwyn and Glen Waverley because families in China have relatives who live in these areas. It’s understandable that parents would want to send their students overseas to stay with family. Most of the students who come into the office want to study in America, so we spent some time outlining the positives of choosing Australia for a study experience. The counselors looked quite tired and bored even for so early ... read more

Onsdag: Rivstart på morgonen med gympass, simning oxh sedan sushi-frukost. Dagens spaning är att i Nanjing möter man ungefär lika många bilar som cyklar och elmoppar. Det är en stor skillnad mot Beijing där man under en dag kunde räkna antalet cyklar på fingrarna. Det har varit en mycket spännande dag på ENC där jag tillbringat den mesta tiden med Enfa Zhu, min motsvarighet där. Jag träffade även platschefen, Lars Lönnstig som hastigast. Efter jobbet blev det en trevlig kinesisk middag med våra värdar. Sedan gick vi längs shoppinggatorna i ett område uppkallat efter Konfucius. Där åkte vi även en liten båttur längs kanalerna. Det är möjligt att det fanns olika guider för olika båtar, men vi fick tag i en mycket vältalig en. Tyvärr pratade hon enbart kinesiska. Vi får hoppas att en bild säger ... read more