Sunday, April 18, 2010

Weekend in Nanjing

After weeks of wanting to, we finally made it to Nanjing for the weekend. Nanjing, which literally translates to "South Capital," is full of history, some of it tragic. Yesterday afternoon, we set out for a long walk through the city, stopping for people-watching and coffee breaks along the way (see the dueling Costa Coffee vs. Starbucks stores in the photo album.) Our walk took us to a portion of the old city walls, built during the Ming Dynasty. What was left was open for wandering around and felt very untouched (especially the incredibly steep stairs leading down to the road!) From there, we headed up to Purple Mountain, home of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's mausoleum. Viewed by many Chinese as the founder of modern China, he's interred in a marble tomb 300 long steps up the mountain. Not a bad view for a resting place! We finished that night off with some delicious Korean food.

Today, we enjoyed our hotel breakfast buffet (now the third time since being in China that I've had cereal and milk. Yum. Also, they sprinkled a little cinnamon on the cappuccinos. Excellent.) Following that, we visited the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre, a difficult but essential stop on any city tour. Nanjing was invaded by Japanese soldiers in 1937 and over the period of a couple of weeks, 300,000 Chinese were killed. The museum pays tribute to them and also is home to a mass grave of thousands of the victims. Though the museum eludes to the difficult history between the two countries, it does urge visitors to work for lasting peace. From there... off to the train station and back to real life.

More pictures here: http://hsinchina.shutterfly.com/4420.

3 comments:

  1. I love the pictures ... and, by the way, you both look great in that white hat ...did you buy it?

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  2. Ha! No, we didn't buy the white hat. That was Jeff's idea for a "Who wore it best?" contest. Unfortunately, I didn't fully understand the rules until after the fact or I would have brought my A-game.

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  3. I know this is maybe too late to comment on the white hat competion BUT - (Yes, Jeff I love you) Carrie so won the contest! I'm pretty sure there will be a re-match, (If Jeff has his way:) XOXO Mom

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