A Special Person – China

A Special Person
Xian and Nanjing, China

November 27
Xian is a fairly poor city in relation to Beijing. The Chinese interior is not as wealthy or modern as the eastern coast. I saw a lot of people cooking over an open fire and in general the buildings were not as well constructed. They also have a dodgy red light district, which I didn’t see in Beijing.

A hotly contested game of chess

One activity I did enjoy was walking the city walls in Xian. The walls are about twenty feet up and a few feet wide. I walked up the steps to the top of the city walls and walked for a couple of miles. It’s an interesting vantage point as I noticed how compact the city streets are.

I also bought my train ticket to Nanjing, which is a 21-hour ride. I didn’t want to stand or sit that long so I had the person that set up the Terracotta trip write a letter indicating that I wanted a sleeper even though officially the train was sold out. He said I was a special person and they would find me a special place for me to sleep. Fortunately, they did not charge me a special price. I just gave them a wad of money and based on what they gave back it seemed like a reasonable price. So, I have twenty more hours until I reach Nanjing.

The trip to get on the train was also fun/scary. Many people at the station were lined up waiting for the arrival of the train, which was coming from a point farther west. When they opened the doors to go to the train, a mad dash occurred with people falling down stairs and pushing each other. Running is difficult with one thirty-pound backpack on my back and another ten-pounder on the front.

November 28
I arrived in Nanjing and was mobbed by people suggesting a hotel room. I went with one to a place but it was far from the center, they lied to me when they said it was within walking distance. I insisted that they take me back which they did. I then settled in at the university where I originally planned to stay in the first place. They sometimes have extra rooms in the dorms and that is where I went. They even have TV. It showed an old farmer and also an anti-government college student who has now converted and has seen the light of Communism. Actually, the CNN and BBC websites are blocked in China but the TV has those two stations.

Nanjing has the same amount of people as Xian but is more attractive, seems more modern and is a little more spread out. I went on a walking tour along the river and watched people playing chess in the parks, which seems to a popular pastime. Eventually, the river led me to the Nanjing Confucius Temple. As you might expect, it is a holy shrine for Confucius and was originally built in 1034. There is also a Bell and Drum Tower like Xian as well as a city wall but it is not as accessible. It’s also warmer here; Xian was a bit chilly for walking around.

November 29
There are several attractions on Purple Mountain, just outside of Nanjing. It was attractive because of the fall colors. There are several buildings to visit here including the Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum. Sun Yat-Sen is considered the father of modern China before the Communists took over. In addition to just getting to the mountain by bus, there is a long series of steps to get to the actual museum. The actual museum wasn’t that great but it’s probably more important to the Chinese.

Hungry? Visit an “anything on a stick” store

To the east of the Sun Yet-Sen, is the Linggu Pagoda, which is nearly 200 feet tall. It’s a tiring walk to get to the top. There are several buildings and a park in the area including the Beamless Hall. It is built entirely of bricks and doesn’t contain one nail in the whole building.

I ate at a place right next to the university. It’s a nice, basic place with a good atmosphere and a wide range of food. I’m getting much better at using my chopsticks but still drop a lot. The cat at the restaurant recognizes me because when I walk in he sits by my table. It’s a free meal for the cat, but I’m learning. They really don’t have forks for my use; some restaurants have spoons that are helpful.

November 30
What’s nice about staying at the university is that a lot of people speak English. So there is a lot of opportunity to talk with people about the world around us. Nanjing is important historically as this is where the Opium War ended and the agreement between Britain and China was made for Hong Kong. Also, it is home of the Japanese slaughter of 1937, when the Chinese leaders told their citizens that everyone must fight on and then high-tailed out of the city making sure the city walls were closed behind them. After finishing with Nanjing, I moved on to Shanghai via a very crowded train. Again, there was a university student that tried speaking to me. I ended up proofreading her paper.

In Shanghai, I stayed on the sixth floor of what was a very nice old hotel. It was a prominent hotel here about 100 years ago and although it is no longer considered top-notch, it still is very nice. There is one big room with several beds (no bunk beds) and I am in a back mini-room with just two beds, which is fairly peaceful. There is also HBO in the room; I haven’t watched a movie in a while.

I went to the People’s Park and relaxed there. Then, I walked back to the Bund, or the waterfront, via the pedestrian walkway. There is a ton of people on the pedestrian walkway as well as a lot of shops. The Bund also has a lot of people, mostly tourists taking pictures, as there is the large Orient Ball in the area. Shanghai seems bigger than Beijing and is more international with more neon lights.

December 1

The Bund is the waterfront hang-out in Shanghai

Most of my time today was spent in Frenchtown. There are several large department stores in the area. I went to Sun Yat-Sen’s residence and another museum dedicated to the birth of Communism in China. There are not as many historical buildings here but the Frenchtown neighborhood is a good place to see China’s colonial past. At night, Tok – a Japanese guy and Waif – a Pakistani via London, and I went out. We went to a club, the 555 Club. Unlike the clubs in Southeast Asia, there was a big dance floor and it was crowded. It was western with a couple DJs and the waitress wearing short skirts.

December 2
I did some shopping today in the old part of town. There are a lot of really nice gifts to pick up. I bought a series of wall hangings; one for each season and it tries to relate to one’s life changing, as people grow older. Also, since I was in China I bought a China Doll. I’ll have to come back here again because there is a lot of nice artwork and gifts to be bought.