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Published: July 15th 2012
Our second week with our families in Zhenjiang seems to have flown past! Naturally, I am quite behind on posting this (again!), but for a very good reason, I think: We’ve been incredibly busy!!! Just as during our first week here, each of the parents took a day to share their city and those nearby with us while our sisters attended their school.
On Monday morning Stephanie’s father picked the four of us up around 8:00, announcing that today we would explore Nanjing! We were very excited! It was just less than an hour-long drive to the city and many people from Zhenjiang (including Stephanie and Megan’s dads) work there, living in small Nanjing apartments during the week and returning to their homes in Zhenjiang on weekends. Yet although our first stop was within the boundaries of the second-largest city in China, it was far from the well-known commercial center. The Linggu Scenic Area of Zongshan Mountain National Park was a beautiful forested area, filled with scores of important locations in Chinese history. Our first destination was the Ming Tombs, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We hiked along the flat rock path to the tomb, passing under impressive, grand archways,
A Giant Surprise!
At the Ming Tombsand especially enjoying the enormous stone animal statues on each side! From here, we made our way to the Beamless Hall, a tall, long stone architectural wonder which lacks the traditional wooden post built to support the center of most ancient Chinese buildings, and finally, a nine-story pagoda (the tallest one we've visited so far!) upon a hill. It was quite a hike, but it offered a fantastic view of both the city and the mountains and nice, cool air! From here we made our way downtown, stopping just outside as something blocked our path: The Wall of Nanjing! Built in twenty-one years at the start of the Ming dynasty, the wall has been well-preserved, and continues to surround and protect the former-capital city. We climbed all around, exploring the vast stone structure. Thankfully it was not half as steep as the Great Wall, but it provided a beautiful view of the city once again! Yet before we knew it we set off again, this time passing through the main entrance gate to visit the Temple of Confucius. The temple area was bright and beautiful, with a lake to one side and busy open shops to the other. As it
turned out very little of the original teaching and examination rooms (which I had hoped so much to see!) remained, however we enjoyed spending the evening in the cool outside air, passing through shops until we at had to head home as it began to rain.
Tuesday was equally busy and exciting, as the four of us spent the day with my new cousins and their friends (I think)! I add this note of uncertainty as I confess just how difficult it can sometimes be to understand exactly where we are going and who we are meeting each day! It is not that we cannot communicate with our host families, but rather, when we meet new people the last thing we want to ask is “So, um, who are you and how are we related?”! Nonetheless, it was great to meet and spend the day with everyone, and we all piled into two cars and crossed the great Taizhou Bridge over the Yantze River! The small, rural island we visited was beautiful! We looked back at Zhenjiang to find a colorful jumble of wildlife and business, with impressive barges and ports along the river revealing the heart of the
Zhenjiang’s commercial industry while the river banks remained full of tall grass and families of white geese. Mid-way through the morning we stopped to rest at a small apartment home (possibly belonging to my grandparents, although I’m not sure. . .) on the island and helped make dumplings again—we are absolute experts now!! Following Chinese tradition, as guests we were treated to lunch first, then we waited while the rest of the family ate once we had finished. In the afternoon we continued with our family to visit the Taizhou Bridge museum and later headed to a high school which opened their doors for us to play table tennis! It was quite hot as the air conditioning was off for the summer, but still loads of fun and a great way to get to know my family!
The next morning we were each astounded when a small bus pulled up to take us for the day! It was Michelle’s parents, her Aunt, and her two little cousins, taking us to Chunqiu Amusement Land. We were all very surprised and incredibly excited! After an hour-long drive to reach the park we headed right in, determined to jump aboard all of
The Wall of Nanjing
You can see Stephanie's father, our tour guide for the day, too! the terrifying, stomach-churning, spinning rides there were (well, Michelle and Megan were, at least!). And then Michelle’s father unveiled his strict schedule for performances we could not miss. The initial disappointment did not last long, though, as the shows were amazing (and air conditioned!)!! We watched traditional Chinese dancing with long, flowing sleeves, bronze bells, and wooden shoes, and a live performance of a well-known Chinese love story, then best of all, a ride which brought you up to an IMAX-like screen which offered a beautiful aerial tour of the most well-known places in China! We were so excited to experience so much of Chinese culture firsthand! Almost equally impressive was our lunch. Sorry, Disneyland, but I don’t think even your over-priced finest dining could stand up to this!!! We all shared platters of rice, vegetables, meats, seafood, and fruit, sitting around a beautiful white-clothed table. And of course after a three-course lunch is the time to hit the rides, right? I stuck to the Merry-go-Round while the other girls visited about four other rides before we got a surprise phone call: We had to head back to Zhenjiang. The Director of Foreign Affairs (he permitted us to call him
John) requested to meet with us and to give us a tour of the Zhenjiang Cultural Museum this evening. We were sad to leave the rides all so soon, but it was very interesting to visit the museum, filled with incredible art works all depicting the Legend of the White Snake, and it was wonderful to meet with John and hear his perspective and reasoning for issues both in China and in America!
Thursday was a day of rest with Stephanie’s mother, and we relaxed at her home in the morning then went swimming throughout the afternoon. Friday was just the opposite of swimming: Fishing! Megan’s father picked us up early and we headed back to visit Nanjing once more, this time stopping at a beautiful lake where we were given an adorable little lake-house and, of course, fishing poles. We spent hours watching and waiting, playing I Spy and making up stories as we waited, and in the end Michelle, Stephanie, and Megan’s father together must have caught at least twelve fish! As the afternoon came to a close we had one more stop to make: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen’s Mausoleum. Returning to Zongshan Mountain National Park we visited
the burial place of the George Washington-like “Father of Democracy” in China. It was beautiful, though a very hot hike up (392 stairs!), so on the way down Megan, Stephanie, and Michelle chose to use the stair ramps as a slide!!! Unfortunately they denied me the privilege of taking photos of their backsides as they reached the bottom of the staircase. . .
Saturday we were up and going again as Michelle’s father picked us up, handing us a note he had written to help explain our activities for the day! It was so very thoughtful, and just as it explained, we headed to Nanshan (the South Mountain) to meet Michelle’s mother, two family friends and their daughters, and a translator who would accompany us. The hike was beautiful, with absolutely perfect weather as we explored the cool forest. Coming down from the mountain we hopped in the car once again, this time headed to a more rural area to try our hand at picking peaches! The peaches were wonderful, organically grown on a hillside covered in trees. Each peach was hand-covered by a paper bag to protect it from insects, and the farmer taught us to open the
RAIN! (An almost daily occurance.)
My sister asked me yesterday if it was as hot in Tempe as it is in Zhenjiang. I glanced at her, fanning herself miserably in what was probably less than 90 degree weather (although it is humid) and decided not to scare her too much. "Umm. . . It is quite a bit warmer, but not as humid," I replied. She and her friend looked up in horror. "I think you might die!" Her friend half-joked. I am thinking it might be worth investing in a few of those tiny hand-held fans. . . bag just a bit, look for any pink skin, and pull! Working together we quickly filled one basket with more than enough for us to bring the peaches home to our families. The kind farmers also let us sample our pickings! Although their home did not have running water, they had buckets filled with clean water which they scooped out to wash then peel the peaches and serve them to us. By far these were the best peaches I have ever tried!!!
Sunday was the day of our sisters’ final exams, so our parents shared the responsibility of caring for us one last day. My mother picked us all up around 8:30 and we took a ferry North across the Yangtze River together to Zhenjiang’s historical neighboring city, Yangzhou. Here we visited the museum of the Eight Eccentric Artists and spent the afternoon wandering around the Slender West Lake gardens, full of color, beautiful landscaping, and traditional Chinese buildings. I will certainly miss the lively gardens filled with flowers and bamboo when I return to the desert!!! As evening came it began to drizzle and we made our way to the old Yangzhou town center, an expansive complex of
stone buildings now filled with decorative souvenir shops. It was lovely to wander through the town, in spite of the rain! As our second week in Zhenjiang comes to a close I feel so comfortable and at home in this beautiful city. I cannot wait for the next two weeks to come!
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