***This is a two part post. Please click here for Part One***
Hello all, and welcome to my adventures in Nanjing part two. In part one, I blogged about transportation via train, sightseeing, and the nightlife I encountered. I will now discuss how I spent my second day in the historical city of Nanjing....
Nanjing: Day Two
Even though I had went to bed early the previous night, I ended up sleeping in later than I had expected since I woke up in the middle of the night with a stomach ache (luckily I had brought some medication which me). Before going back to sleep, I changed my alarm clock and altered my schedule for all the sightseeing I had planned the next day. By the time my alarm went off the next morning, I quickly jumped out of bed and ran to my first stop, the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall...
The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall
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| A woman holding her dying child |
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| Series of statues before entering |
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| To the 300,000 victims |
The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall (the full name is: Memorial for
Compatriots Killed in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Forces of
Aggression) is a memorial site commemorating the lives that were lost during the Nanjing Massacre of 1937. Upon entering the memorial site, there were a series of
statutes depicting various atrocities committed by the Japanese. The captions
on the statue were very straightforward (for example one caption read: “Grandfather
holding his teenage son who was just shot in the head”) and as I made my way to
the entrance, somber music was playing from a loudspeaker. Once I entered the site, there was a giant
wall that stood before me stating the number of people who were murdered
(300,000) in seven different languages.
After passing the memorial wall with all of the names of the people who
had perished, I entered pit where the first bodies were discovered several
decades ago. There was another larger pit that had bodies and artifacts of
those that had perished very close to the first one as well as a beautiful
quilt which was made to “never forget.” I entered a memorial hall with candles
everywhere for visitors to pay their respects and then, I got to the exit which
had large peace statue overlooking the entire site.
Besides the memorial site, there was an incredible museum
attached to it full of artifacts, documentaries and various exhibits
chronicling the Nanjing massacre and the aftermath. Since I was on a time crunch, I was unable to
see as much as the museum as I would have liked, but overall, the Nanjing
Massacre Memorial Site is a must-see for any tourist visiting the city of Nanjing.
Zhongshan Men Wall
After visiting the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Site, I made my
way to the second activity of the day which was Zhongshan Men (pronounced: jung
shan men). Zhonghan Men was part of a
series of defense walls that were erected during the Ming dynasty many
centuries ago. A few parts of the wall
are still up around Nanjing with Zhonghan Men, being one of the best preserved
and one of the only two you can climb.
Once I arrived, I carefully made my way up via the small stone steps and
what lied before me at the top was a breathtaking view of the city of
Nanjing. I paced up and down the wall
for some time taking in the view of the city as well as, the view of the lake
not too far from it. After taking a few
pictures and a few extra breaths, I made my descent back to street level since
it was on to my third and fourth activities….
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| Zhongshan Men Wall |
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| A view from the top |
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The Purple Mountains (Dr. Sun Yatsen Mausoleum and the Ming
Tombs)
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| Dr. Sun Yatsen's Mausoleum |
I heard from several people before my departure that the
purple mountains and the sites there were one of the must do things while in
Nanjing. Due to my time constraints, I was unsure if I was going to be able to
fit them in, but I decided to try (Hey, you only live once). The downside to this idea is that the purple
mountains lie a bit beyond the city center and even though my guidebook said I
could reach there by bus, I was unsure (okay scarred) to navigate the bus
system so I decided my best bet was to get there by taxi.
Unfortunately, I could not get a cab to save my life. They
were either full, or I was standing on the wrong side of the road. After walking
up and down the street and crossing the road several times, I almost gave up,
but then I saw an available cab and I jumped for joy when he stopped to let me
in. I told him where I needed to go and we were off to the first site, Dr. Sun
Yatsen’s mausoleum.
The mausoleum is located on a hill, with a series of steps
to get to the stop (one of my coworkers said one must ‘climb to heaven’ to
reach him). I walked up the steps as fast as I could and despite the number of
steps, I made it to the top quite quickly.
I paid my respects and took in the moment (and I few breaths since I was
winded) before making my way back down.
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| Looking Down |
After getting to the bottom, I continued
onward to the Ming tombs, the burial place of the founder of the Ming
dynasty. I only stayed for a short time since it was getting dark and I had no
idea where the exit was. After some more
observations and walking, I found the exit, but once again, I had to wait some
time for a cab. I was getting scarred
since time was of the essence and I still needed to get back to the city
center, get my bags from the hotel, and make my way to the train station. I
started to panic a bit about the possibility of missing my train, but I wouldn't have to worry too long since a taxi arrived to answer my prayers and we made the trek back to
the city center. I managed to get back
to the hotel somewhat on schedule and thankfully, I made it to the train station with no
problem. As soon as my train was called and I located my seat, I immediately
passed out after an exhausting day of sightseeing.
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| Ming Tombs |
All in all, my visit to Nanjing was great and it’s a city I
would recommend to anyone spending some time in China! Thanks again for
reading!
It’s that time of year yet again…Christmas time! I will be
celebrating Christmas abroad for the third time (This will also be my third
different country). Just like Halloween
(you can read about that here), Shanghai has surprised me yet again with the amount of holiday
cheer typically reserved for this time of year (hey, I had to rhyme). With only ten days to go, many stores both
local and multinational have some type of Christmas decorations on their
windows or door fronts, and I’m hearing all types of Christmas music throughout
the shopping mall that I work in and in various stores around Shanghai. I was pleased to learn about two different
Euro-style Christmas markets that have recently opened in Shanghai ( I will be
visiting one next week during my off day) which sell a variety of gifts and
food goods from their stalls. Not to
mention, all the trees, lights and ornaments that I see all around the
city. The other day on the metro, I
noticed not one, but two different Chinese people lugging plastic Christmas
trees and decorations (one of them even had several rolls of wrapping paper). Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera, but I'm hoping there's more to see in the upcoming days.
