My East China Trip Part 1: Nanjing
The itinerary for that day was just taking the train, basically nothing to say:
I saw many people from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai carrying large amounts of green beans, tomatoes, and corn;
In the evening, I passed by my school, which could barely count as revisiting old grounds;
I kept receiving text messages from friends updating me on the Olympic competitions;
Early in the morning, I passed through Tai'an and caught a distant view of the majestic Mount Tai.
Starting from Xuzhou, I got off at every station hoping to buy the day's newspaper to learn about the Olympics, but unfortunately, I never succeeded.
Around 1 o'clock, the train crossed the Yangtze River Bridge. Seeing the Yangtze River for the first time, I was quite excited. I switched my camera to video mode and kept recording.
After crossing the bridge, I started preparing to get off. After exiting the station, I saw signs pointing to the subway station and followed them directly. Having prepared well in advance and carrying coins, I easily bought a ticket to Xinjiekou at the vending machine, receiving a coin-sized plastic token.
Nanjing's subway is very new and gives a comfortable feeling. What impressed me most was the final part of the subway announcement: 'We hope everyone lets passengers get off before boarding, offers seats to those in need, and becomes a courteous Nanjing resident' (something like that, I don't remember the exact words).
Arriving at Xinjiekou, I chose an appropriate exit based on my sense of direction, coming out in front of the Jinling Hotel. For the first time, I breathed Nanjing's natural air.
After buying a map, I headed toward the hotel as I had planned. The 7 Days Inn Xinjiekou branch is on Huaqiao Road, and its distance from the subway station was shorter than I had imagined based on my map estimates. Since I had already paid with my credit card in advance, I only needed to provide my ID to get the room card and enter the room. I dropped off my luggage and immediately set out.
Just a short walk away, I boarded the No. 59 bus and got off at Jiangdongmen North Street. As planned, Xiao J was supposed to wait for me there and give me my train ticket. Then I could walk to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre to start the day's itinerary.
After arriving, I contacted Xiao J, but he was busy at work and couldn't come out. So I took a taxi to his workplace to get the ticket, then took the bus back to Jiangdongmen North Street. (The ticket could have been picked up the next day when we rode together, but I was worried that when storing my luggage at the train station early the next morning, they might check my train ticket, so I had to get it in advance.)
Back at Jiangdongmen North Street, I walked in the direction I thought the memorial hall was based on the map. But after walking a while without seeing what I thought should be a conspicuous building, I asked for directions for the first time in Nanjing. The man I asked was very enthusiastic; I only wanted to confirm whether I was going the right way, but he gave me detailed instructions on how to get there.
After walking further, I saw the memorial hall. The overall black architecture gave a very oppressive feeling, which was a successful design—since visitors come here with heavy hearts. After photographing the sculptures in front, I entered the hall area. As mentioned online, I paid 3 yuan per bag to store my backpack and entered the memorial hall with my camera (photography is prohibited, but valuables are not easy to store). I won't describe the interior; during the visit, I felt only sadness and anger. Forgetting the past means betrayal. We can be tolerant and forgiving, but we will never forget that bloody and humiliating history!
After the visit, I exited through the back gate, walked along the memorial hall's wall back to the front bus stop, and took Bus No. 7 to Confucius Temple. There's one thing I must mention: I felt Nanjing's public buses did poorly with stop announcements. The route map was behind the driver, very inconvenient for passengers to check. And although there were voice announcements, the music or broadcast inside never stopped during the announcements, so it was impossible to hear clearly. So even though I had checked which bus to take and where to get off in advance, I still had trouble; I had to keep staring at the bus stop signs outside and frequently ask fellow passengers.
Before arriving at the Confucius Temple stop, I saw the memorial archway and knew that was the main entrance. After getting off, I headed in that direction. On the way, I saw a drink shop and went to buy water. I was shocked by the prices: drinks that cost 3-4 yuan in Harbin were about 8 yuan here (maybe I went to a high-end shop). So I bought a variety I hadn't seen in Harbin to try something new.
When I turned into Gongyuan West Street, I received a call from classmate Y. She asked where I was; she was off work and coming to Confucius Temple to meet me as planned. After telling her my location, I started wandering alone on Gongyuan West Street. The old-style buildings housed the same brand-name stores found in every big city. Since my itinerary had no shopping plans, I didn't enter any stores; I just took photos and looked for the famous snack shops I had noted during my research. First, in a small alley, I found Jiang You Ji—the shopfront was really small, easy to miss if you weren't looking carefully. Then on Gongyuan West Street, I saw Lian Hu Gao Tuan Shop. Without much thought, I bought several pastries (I regretted it immediately; the pastries wrapped in plastic bags couldn't go into my backpack and had to be carried, severely affecting my photography). After visiting the Confucius Temple Grand View Garden, I turned from Zhuangyuan Lane and retraced my steps back to Gongyuan West Street, walking all the way to the Qinhuai River. At the intersection, I saw Qi Fang Ge Restaurant. But its high-end decor seemed far from the feel of a snack shop, so I didn't stop and continued left, heading east. Then I saw Yong He Yuan, another representative snack shop among the 'Eight Wonders of Qinhuai.' It was closer to my idea of a snack shop—cleaner than Jiang You Ji, less fancy than Qi Fang Ge. Although crowded, that's inevitable for a large-scale operation. So I decided to have dinner there. Just then, Y called saying she had arrived. I told her to meet me under the Jiangnan Gongyuan archway. When she came, we entered Yong He Yuan to find seats. As soon as I found a table and turned around, Y was gone. Soon she returned with duck blood vermicelli soup, crab roe soup dumplings, pearl dumplings, and small cornbread. This time I reacted quickly; before she sat down, I ran to the counter and bought crab shell yellow pastries, iron eggs, and steamed dumplings. After setting everything down, my old classmate and I started eating and chatting. Halfway through, I suddenly realized I had forgotten to take pictures of the food! It was too late—the plates were already a mess. The duck blood vermicelli soup and crab roe soup dumplings were good; the crab shell yellow pastries and iron eggs were so-so. My personal expense for this meal was 40 yuan; with Y's share, the total was over 100 yuan.
After dinner, we admired the night scenery of Qinhuai River. The beautiful night view left a deep impression on me. (Since I had planned my itinerary well, I didn't enter any nearby paid attractions.) Then we took a taxi back to the hotel, where I continued to follow the Olympics. The women's volleyball team was reversed by the US, but fortunately Du Jing/Yu Yang and Lu Yong performed well, keeping my mood positive.
As planned, I got up very early the next day. After a quick bite, I packed up and went downstairs to check out. I followed the same route as yesterday back to Xinjiekou station and took the subway to Nanjing Station to store my luggage. At the storage counter, they didn't ask for my train ticket as I had expected.
I took the Tour 1 bus to Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum. I arrived at 7:30, half an hour later than planned. After getting off, I saw street vendors selling maps of the scenic spots and other Jiangsu cities, so I picked some as travel souvenirs and collectibles. Continuing forward, I bought the 80-yuan combo ticket for the entire scenic area (no separate tickets; even though I didn't plan to visit other spots and had no time, I had to buy the combo). I entered the park. Unlike the heaviness of yesterday, today I felt mostly reverence. Since I kept stopping to take photos along the way, the 392 steps that others had warned would be tiring didn't feel that way to me. Another benefit of slow sightseeing was that I could eavesdrop on tour guides' explanations. At historically significant sites like this, without guides, you might miss many details or fail to understand their significance—for example, the meaning of the 392 steps, the different attire of the seated and reclining statues in the memorial hall and the tomb chamber. When I entered the tomb chamber, only one other visitor was there, bowing to the center. I stood behind him, and after he finished, I also bowed to show respect. Just then, a tour group entered, and everyone's eyes turned toward me from all directions around the circular path. I finished my bow under their gaze... After leaving the memorial hall, I went to the west side and saw a small door marked 'Back Garden of the Mausoleum.' I entered and found an exhibition on the construction history. Time was tight, so I just glanced through and left. I wanted to visit the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, so I stayed on the east side of the return path (left side when descending steps). But I didn't see any turn until the Bo'ai Archway, so I gave up. Following the map, I went to the Music Stage attraction, which I thought was on the way out. It turned out to be just a circular lawn with a musical fountain, and it wasn't even on my route out—I wasted time and regretted it. Last night at Confucius Temple, I had used Y's camera, so although I took many photos, the battery didn't show low power, and I forgot to charge it at night. So this morning, shortly after leaving, the battery showed warning, and soon it died and shut down. This severely affected my photo plans, since I would be taking a train to Huangshan tonight and couldn't charge; the remaining battery would have to last nearly 2 days, which seemed unlikely.
After leaving the mausoleum, I walked to the bus stop where I had gotten off, but no bus came. I asked a staff member, who told me that was only the alighting stop; the boarding point was elsewhere. He patiently explained how to walk back, where to turn, and where to catch the bus...
Following his instructions, I took the Tour 2 bus to Zhongshanmen and got off, arriving at my second stop of the day: the Nanjing Museum. Compared to the crowds at Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, this place was nearly deserted. On a weekend day, a free museum with so few visitors—far fewer than even the Heilongjiang Provincial Museum (maybe because that one is in a busy area). This seemed quite inconsistent with its status as one of the seven major museums in mainland China. (Before coming, I had worried about getting a free ticket if I didn't arrive at 9 a.m., and even looked up online booking and asked friends; it turned out I was worrying over nothing.) Due to time constraints, I could only skim through. After more than 2 hours, I left this treasure trove of artifacts with nearly 200 new photos in my camera.
Leaving the museum, I continued on the Tour 2 bus to the Presidential Palace. Perhaps because of the time, there weren't many people on the bus; there were empty seats. I had already visited two sites in a rush. At the ticket counter, I rented an audio guide, thinking I wouldn't have time to eavesdrop on tour groups. I found the layout of the Presidential Palace quite confusing. Despite my strong sense of direction and the map, while visiting the Liangjiang Governor's Exhibition and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Exhibition, I ended up walking from the planned east route to the central route. I had to backtrack to the east route and then continue to the central route via the main halls. Meanwhile, I received two pieces of bad news: first, Xiao J called saying the weather forecast predicted rain for the next three days at Huangshan; second, I contacted Cheng, the owner of Wangxiushan Inn in Huangshan, and learned that the road from Tangkou to Hongcun was still closed, so I would have to go from Hongcun through Tunxi to get back to Tangkou. The western area's water scenery was very beautiful, and the exhibition in Mr. Sun Yat-sen's office building was also wonderful. But I had to cut it short when Y called, saying she was waiting for me at the south gate of Yuhuatai. I hurried through the rest of the exhibition and left the Presidential Palace.
I waited a long time for a Tour 2 bus, but when it came, it was so crowded I could barely squeeze on, so I gave up. As I was checking the bus stop sign for other routes, another Tour 2 bus arrived with hardly any passengers—there were even empty seats. I marveled at the ups and downs: losing time but gaining a seat. Because fewer people got on and off, my bus overtook the previous one, so I didn't lose any time after all.
Arriving at Yuhuatai, I met Y and we began our tour. Although it's also a memorial site for martyrs, the feeling here was different from yesterday's memorial hall—less heavy and angry, since the enemy was internal rather than external. Since we were at Yuhuatai, we had to look for the famous Yuhua stones. But the stones in the so-called 'treasure hunting' pool looked like ordinary river pebbles brought from elsewhere. I was wearing hiking boots for the upcoming climb of Huangshan, so I hesitated and didn't go in the water. Y, however, enthusiastically waded in and searched for a while. In the end, we each took a few stones we were satisfied with as souvenirs.
After exiting the north gate of Yuhuatai, we walked a short distance west to the Zhonghuamen subway station. We had dinner at Xinjiekou, then strolled through the Hunan Road and Shiziqiao area, eventually reaching Xuanwu Lake. From the lake, the new waiting room at Nanjing Station looked very beautiful. Since there was still time before my train, we sat by the lake chatting. Unfortunately, it soon started to rain, so we parted ways and I went to the station. Shortly after I arrived, Xiao J also came. When I boarded the train, I found it was the oldest type of green train car. Even though it was a soft sleeper, there were no electrical outlets, so there was no chance to charge my camera. For tomorrow's sightseeing, I'd have to rely on Xiao J's camera.
Reflections on my two days in Nanjing:
1. The people of Nanjing are incredibly warm-hearted, so warm that I felt embarrassed to ask for directions for fear of troubling them.
2. As a northerner who had never been to the south, the climate was very hard to adapt to. It was overcast during my two days, and my friends said I was lucky to have good weather. But I was sweating profusely all day; my clothes and pants were soaked. I drank 7-8 bottles of water daily and barely needed to use the restroom.
3. The air conditioning on the buses was so strong that I constantly feared catching a cold from the cold air while my clothes were wet. I kept taking cold medicine.
4. The local snacks were delicious, but you need to buy according to your appetite, since you can't store them easily on the road. I ended up throwing away most of the pastries I bought after just a taste.
