Saturday, May 19, 2007

Nanjing

What a difference a blue sky makes.

I’ve just come back to my room after a wonderful long (6 or 7 mile) walk across the City of Nanjing. This is a terrific place, prosperous and full of energy and life. The walk was a bit of an adventure, as I only had a very rough street map with no English on it (just Chinese characters). I think I’ve invented a new sport called “urban orienteering”— navigating a city using the angles of the streets, the direction of the sun, and the location of rivers, canals, and landmarks. Nanjing is the perfect city for playing this game. The dry, sunny 80 degree weather and blue skies certainly helped.

The day began leisurely. Breakfast in the hotel was pretty awful—you ask for coffee and get a glass of hot water and packet of Nescafe instant. The meal consists of a rice gruel pronounced “Con-jhee” accompanied by different Chinese condiments (pickled ginger, green beans, etc.). At 10 AM, we met in the lobby and were met by a tour guide named “Ya-Ya” (a sophomore at Nanjing Univeristy). This girl had overdosed on happy pills—she was like a character (or caricature) from a movie. If she was any more perky I think her head would have exploded. After we boarded the bus, she sang a Chinese song to us and told us a little about Nanjing. The bus made its way across the City into a vast and very beautiful park called Purple Mountain. Lovely cedar trees, grassy lawns, forests, and flowering plum trees. Lots of cool looking attractions and tour buses everywhere.

After about 20 minutes, we arrived at the Mausoleum of Sun Yat Sen. This is an extraordinary and imposing monument that sits high on a hill overlooking the City. You approach it via very wide stairs that go on and on forever, sort of like Sacre Coeur in Paris but about five times higher. The mausoleum structure is very grand and impressive, surrounded by formal gardens and sitting/reflecting areas. From the top, you get a nice view out over the city and the surrounding park. There’s some historical information on Sun Yat Sen and the construction of the monument. The place was absolutely mobbed, and we were told that Chinese tourists view the site as a sort of national shrine.

Our group re-assembled at the base of the monument after about 90 minutes, got back on the bus and returned to the City. We made a short stop at the ancient City wall and canal, disembarked to take photos, and then continued back to the pedestrian area where we’re staying. We had a group lunch at a “dumpling” fast food place, which was pretty good. The afternoon was “free time.”

I chose to go walking, heading into the labyrinth of alleys and narrow streets near the hotel, with my sights set on the Central Business District. After about an hour, I came to a very wide boulevard which I managed to locate on my Chinese map. I followed it a few blocks and came to a subway station. The subway just opened a few months ago and is so new that the stations still have “new car smell.” After two stops, I got off and went up to the street. I was in a really busy downtown shopping district with a huge underground mall, tons of department stores, skyscrapers, and a gigantic urban plaza with thousands of people strolling, laughing, shopping, and having fun. The atmosphere reminded me of Times Square—very different than what I was expecting. Then again, Nanjing does have five million people, so maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised.

It’s hard to contemplate the horrors that happened in this city just 70 years ago when it was invaded by the Japanese. More than 300,000 people were slaughtered (the “Rape of Nanjing”) and the City was occupied by a brutal regime for several years. It’s also hard to envision that Nanjing is 5,000 years old. There are ancient ruins in various places around the City, and so much more we won’t get to see during our short visit.

I actually found a Starbucks Coffee on my walk—right in the center of the city. No one spoke English, but I managed to get my coffee fix. When I walked out the door, much to my surprise I saw a second Starbucks on the other side of the street. Run! It’s coming!

I walked for several more miles, and then headed back in the direction I came from. One thing I observed is that I was the only Caucasian person for virtually the entire walk, and I did get a fair number of stares. People seemed very curious and friendly, and I never sensed any hostility or discomfort.

It is now 7:20 PM on Saturday evening. The streets outside are just packed with people and I can hear live music and singing from my hotel room. I am going to get some dinner (I don’t know where everyone else is) and probably make it an early night.

Tomorrow morning our flight to Xi’An is at 8 AM, and we’ve been told to meet in the lobby at 5:45 AM. UGH.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Couldn't help but laugh at "ask for coffee and get a glass of hot water and packet of Nescafe instant."
This reminded me of my experience in Europe in the 90's. I soon learned that by requesting "brewed coffee" one would get dripped/percolated coffee folks are familiar with in the US.
Somehow, Nescafe is considered "expensive" in many countries -- it is frequently served at many hotels and establishments around the world. Try asking for expresso coffee and a glass of hot water on the side (if you happen to prefer fast-food quality American coffee).