Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is it. Six and a half weeks in the world's most populated country has finally come to a close. Here, I will describe the excellent time I had in Beijing and then wrap up this year's blog with some comments on the country.
We left Nanjing on a rainy Saturday night after a day of lounging around and playing cards. Our mode of transportation was an overnight sleeper train. The nonstop train was pretty fun- we played cards and watched a movie, then "slept" for five hours or so.
Unfortunately, the train got in at 7 am, so it was too early to check in to the hotel. Thus, we threw our bags in a storage room and headed straight out on our adventure. First, we visited the Ming Summer Palace. It was ok- the complex had a handful of buildings and a covered walkway encompassing a lake. It was really popular with the tourists, but there were many locals there as well - playing Christmas songs (common during our stay in China... I don't understand) on traditional instruments and enjoying the calm morning.
Next, we went to Tiananmen Square. I wish I could describe in words how impressive this place was. Of course, Chairman Mao looked out over the square from the Tiananmen (or 'Gate of Heavenly Peace'..ironic), but each side of the square was bordered by an important building. To the west is China's National Standing Committee building, where the highest officials of the communist party meet to choose policy. To the east is China's National Museum, currently under renovation but set to reopen for the World Expo 2010, hosted by Shanghai. Finally, to the south of the square is Chairman Mao's Mausoleum. Apparently, he lays in a crystal coffin on ice and is brought up for viewing from 8:30-11:30 every day. Creepy? I think so.
After taking in the square, we passed under the Chairman's picture into the Forbidden City. It was clearly a relic of dynasties past with it's traditional architecture and grandiosity. Each building along the central axis (the center of the city- the emperor's walkway in past times) was some building of heavenly peace. The Forbidden City was cool, but I was more impressed with Tiananmen Square. The thing about the Forbidden City was that it just kept going! Each building looked really similar to the previous ones, so it somewhat blended together. Nonetheless, it was amazing to think that generations of emperors walked along the pathway I had. Isn't that cool?
Finally, we returned to the hotel and cleaned up. Some of us decided to try out the subway and go to Hard Rock Cafe. It was your traditional HRC - expensive and generic - but it was still worthwhile. We had a fun evening.
On Monday (yeah, this is going to be a long blog post, but it's the last one so you can handle it), we trekked north of the city to see a section of the Great Wall. oooooh aaaahhhh special! Sure enough, it was great! It was huge! There were lots of stairs. I'm amazed that they could build a wall (not to mention a "great" one) over 3000 miles of mountains! I have yet to witness the pyramids at Giza, but I imagine this is a much greater feat of engineering. (I say this, but two people have already kibitzed at this notion, so I may be fighting an uphill battle! Now for a poll...) Anyway, we spent an hour climbing up a steep section of the wall and the view was amazing! Did I mention that this was the best weather-day of the entire trip? We had temperatures in the low 90s and a crystal clear blue sky. It was beauuuutiful! I could have spent hours up there. You have to watch out letting this civil engineer admire a public works project ;-)
After only an hour and a half, we continued our journey by visiting the Ming Tombs. In particular, we visited the tomb of Ming Chenglu, the emperor responsible for moving the capital from Nanjing to Beijing and constructing many of the famous sites we visited: the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, connecting segments of the Great Wall, and others. The tomb itself was covered by a dirt mound about 100 yards in diameter. Apparently, it has never been opened, so he lays in there just as he did hundreds of years ago. One day, I want to be cool enough to be buried under a mound with booby traps and secret passages. That would be fun.
Tuesday was our last full day in China. To begin, we visited the Ming Temple of Heaven. It is 38 meters high, but built completely without nails or fasteners! It is a round building with three tiers on the outside but only one open hall on the inside. Centered on a circular pedestal of three levels, it was larger than life compared to the bare square courtyard it stood in. Clearly, an emperor wishing to worship the gods would have no distractions with such a prominent structure to focus their attention. Even more impressive was that the roofs were painted a rich, deep blue and the timbers were all painted in the vibrant teal, dark blue, and gold colors that marked many of the ancient structures. It was so impressive!
In the afternoon, we finally got a taste of 21st century Beijing by seeing the Olympic green and buildings. First, we walked in and around the Water Cube. I got to see where Phelps won his eight gold medals! It was a stunning building and I could only imagine the intensity of being there during the Olympics! Next, we walked across the plaza to the Bird's Nest stadium where the ceremonies and track and field events were held. Even though the stage was being set up for a concert, we were still allowed to walk down on the track where all the events happened! Not surprisingly, it was an enormous stadium! I took plenty of pictures and tried to absorb what it must have been like to see athletes from across the world gathered there! If you had told me last August that I was going to stand on the floor of the Bird's Nest, I would have paid much closer attention to the opening ceremony! No worries, however - I got it on DVD for 100 Yuan ($15)!
To wrap up my trip, I spent my evening with two "Peking" activities - duck and opera. I found a restaurant that said "Beijing Duck" over the door, so I went in. Unfortunately, the only sold the roast duck whole. Undeterred, I purchased my $27 USD duck and worked my way through the mu shu wraps. They were sooo tasty, but I could only eat half the duck. *sigh* Next came the opera. The performance consisted of two 30-minute shows. Neither had a very succinct plot (the words were projected in English- that's how I know) but the music was really cool. The orchestra consisted of traditional Chinese instruments and was generally quite percussive. The performers were dressed in bright, elaborate costumes with standard Beijing opera face paint. In spite of the open ended plots, I had a great time and I'm definitely glad I went. It's just a shame that no one else wanted to spend the money to join me!
Finally, on Wednesday we headed to the airport and returned home. Beijing's Central Airport has one of the largest terminals in the world, so it was cool to look around and admire the structure. What wasn't cool was sitting at the gate (on the plane) for 2 hours while they determined which route over Siberia was optimal. Ugh. But 20 hours and 2 flights later I was finally back in Raleigh. Woo hoo!
Well, now I'm back. Six and a half weeks in China. Looking back, it's kind of hard to believe it went so quickly. While I was there, a lot of things seemed just like home- skyscrapers, food, people at work and play, traffic everywhere, and the sun rose and set every day. But now that I'm home, I see plenty of differences; there are many little subtleties that made China worth visiting and studying. From cultural intricacies to facets of politics, China has held a history separate from anywhere I have visited before, yet its rise and fall as a global power through history makes it inextricably tied to most countries across the globe.
This may seem like a contradiction, and in truth it is, for China is a country full of contradictions. It is a country that conflicts old with new traditions; eastern versus western ideals. The contradictions are everywhere, but to discuss them in detail would be too much for the limited scope of this text. Nonetheless, the people and the culture were generally very friendly and I will remember my experiences as long as I live.
So what now? I've traveled to Ecuador, Austria, and China. At this point, it would seem logical to expand my horizons to Australia or Africa, but even in the places I've visited there remains much to see and do. I am already excited for my next international opportunity, whether by internship, study, or independent travel... but for now, I'll merely meditate on the things I've seen and learned in China.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Friday, June 19th, 5:00 PM (Nanjing, China)
Goodbye Nanjing
Happy Friday, everyone! It is with mixed emotions that I write this last post from Nanjing. I intend to spend most of this post discussing the city as a whole and remembering some of the highlights of my stay here. Before I do that, however, I also did a few things this week worthy of mention.
This week’s class was about thermodynamics. I don’t know why, but the material seemed difficult to me. I thought the test was hard, but in the end, I still got an A+ for the course. Woo hoo! My afternoons this week have also been somewhat relaxed. On Monday afternoon, I returned to the Confucius Temple. Again. Obviously I really enjoyed spending time there. On Tuesday, I think I took a nap and hung around the hotel with the group. Nothing special there.
Wednesday’s excitement was going with Jeffrey to get a massage. I’ve never had a massage before, but at 45 Yuan ($6.50) for an hour, I couldn’t pass it up. The guy who did my massage was pretty young, and therefore I question if he knew what he was doing. He massaged my head, arms, legs (front and back), back, and neck. It was great except for my back… where I was sore for about a day! Oof. Nonetheless, it was a fun experience and (I’m fairly sure) I’m glad I did it! After the massage, Jeff and I found a corner stand and bought some authentic salted duck! We one half of two different types: light and dark. On the spot, the lady took each whole duck and hacked it (skin, bones, and all) into neat, cross sectional slices. They put each in a tray and we returned to the hotel with our duck. It was very tasty but also very salty! YUM!
On Thursday, I went for a walk before playing Chinese Chess with Jun, one of our student guides. My record against him is 1-2 now… and only because he let me win when he taught me. It’s quite the game, that’s for sure. It’s fairly easy to pick up the rules, but learning strategy is a completely different matter. Oh well, I have a set, so now I’ll have to teach some people and see if I can get better at it. After chess, we had our closing banquet with our SEU hosts. As usual, the meal came complete with a variety of foods I hadn’t ever tried, the obligatory fish with head and tail, and even a plate of snails! The snails were SO good… I definitely want to have more of those! Mmm. Anyway, there were many gifts to be passed around and we had a nice dinner.
Earlier in this post, I said I wanted to reminisce over my time in Nanjing, but now I think I’m going to leave a cliff hanger. Instead, I think it would be more appropriate to look forward to Beijing. Thus, here is a schedule of our remaining time in China. Currently it is almost 4:30 pm Beijing time or 4:30 am Friday EDT. For the next 24 hours, I will be finishing up packing, relaxing with the group, and maybe going to see one or two more casual things in Nanjing. We will have a couple meals as a group, but I also hope to have a couple more corner-store dumplings. Hmm- should I have rice, meat, or red bean? Or maybe I should have a sesame ball? I don’t know. Maybe all of it.
Tomorrow, we’re catching a 9:30 pm (Sat AM EDT) train out of Nanjing Railway Station, on the north side of Xuanwu Lake. Apparently we have soft berth tickets, so we’ll be able to sleep during the 8 hour or so train ride. For a comparison, Nanjing is at almost the same latitude as Atlanta and Beijing is at the same latitude as Philadelphia. It may not look far on a map, but looks can be deceiving. Arriving in Beijing on Sunday morning (Sat PM EDT), we will probably stop by the hotel and then head on our way. I don’t know what we’re seeing each day, but before we depart Beijing on Wednesday, we will be visiting the Great Wall, the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and (I think) Pearl Market. In addition, evenings are on our own, so I may attempt to go see an opera and/or meet up with the Caldwell group who happens to also be in Beijing, preparing to leave. We’ll see.
Our Boeing 777 flight leaves on Wednesday at 4:10 pm (Wed AM EDT) and arrives in Chicago at 4:30 pm CDT. How about that 20 minute flight to go half way around the world?! We will clear customs *crosses fingers* and then catch an 8:55 pm CDT flight that will arrive in Raleigh just before midnight.
Thursday will be my final blog post with highlights from Beijing as well as enough reminiscing, comparing, and concluding to make everyone tired of reading. After all, I have a 13 hour plane flight (and a “D” seat… UGH!) to write everything I can think of!
Happy Friday, everyone! It is with mixed emotions that I write this last post from Nanjing. I intend to spend most of this post discussing the city as a whole and remembering some of the highlights of my stay here. Before I do that, however, I also did a few things this week worthy of mention.
This week’s class was about thermodynamics. I don’t know why, but the material seemed difficult to me. I thought the test was hard, but in the end, I still got an A+ for the course. Woo hoo! My afternoons this week have also been somewhat relaxed. On Monday afternoon, I returned to the Confucius Temple. Again. Obviously I really enjoyed spending time there. On Tuesday, I think I took a nap and hung around the hotel with the group. Nothing special there.
Wednesday’s excitement was going with Jeffrey to get a massage. I’ve never had a massage before, but at 45 Yuan ($6.50) for an hour, I couldn’t pass it up. The guy who did my massage was pretty young, and therefore I question if he knew what he was doing. He massaged my head, arms, legs (front and back), back, and neck. It was great except for my back… where I was sore for about a day! Oof. Nonetheless, it was a fun experience and (I’m fairly sure) I’m glad I did it! After the massage, Jeff and I found a corner stand and bought some authentic salted duck! We one half of two different types: light and dark. On the spot, the lady took each whole duck and hacked it (skin, bones, and all) into neat, cross sectional slices. They put each in a tray and we returned to the hotel with our duck. It was very tasty but also very salty! YUM!
On Thursday, I went for a walk before playing Chinese Chess with Jun, one of our student guides. My record against him is 1-2 now… and only because he let me win when he taught me. It’s quite the game, that’s for sure. It’s fairly easy to pick up the rules, but learning strategy is a completely different matter. Oh well, I have a set, so now I’ll have to teach some people and see if I can get better at it. After chess, we had our closing banquet with our SEU hosts. As usual, the meal came complete with a variety of foods I hadn’t ever tried, the obligatory fish with head and tail, and even a plate of snails! The snails were SO good… I definitely want to have more of those! Mmm. Anyway, there were many gifts to be passed around and we had a nice dinner.
Earlier in this post, I said I wanted to reminisce over my time in Nanjing, but now I think I’m going to leave a cliff hanger. Instead, I think it would be more appropriate to look forward to Beijing. Thus, here is a schedule of our remaining time in China. Currently it is almost 4:30 pm Beijing time or 4:30 am Friday EDT. For the next 24 hours, I will be finishing up packing, relaxing with the group, and maybe going to see one or two more casual things in Nanjing. We will have a couple meals as a group, but I also hope to have a couple more corner-store dumplings. Hmm- should I have rice, meat, or red bean? Or maybe I should have a sesame ball? I don’t know. Maybe all of it.
Tomorrow, we’re catching a 9:30 pm (Sat AM EDT) train out of Nanjing Railway Station, on the north side of Xuanwu Lake. Apparently we have soft berth tickets, so we’ll be able to sleep during the 8 hour or so train ride. For a comparison, Nanjing is at almost the same latitude as Atlanta and Beijing is at the same latitude as Philadelphia. It may not look far on a map, but looks can be deceiving. Arriving in Beijing on Sunday morning (Sat PM EDT), we will probably stop by the hotel and then head on our way. I don’t know what we’re seeing each day, but before we depart Beijing on Wednesday, we will be visiting the Great Wall, the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and (I think) Pearl Market. In addition, evenings are on our own, so I may attempt to go see an opera and/or meet up with the Caldwell group who happens to also be in Beijing, preparing to leave. We’ll see.
Our Boeing 777 flight leaves on Wednesday at 4:10 pm (Wed AM EDT) and arrives in Chicago at 4:30 pm CDT. How about that 20 minute flight to go half way around the world?! We will clear customs *crosses fingers* and then catch an 8:55 pm CDT flight that will arrive in Raleigh just before midnight.
Thursday will be my final blog post with highlights from Beijing as well as enough reminiscing, comparing, and concluding to make everyone tired of reading. After all, I have a 13 hour plane flight (and a “D” seat… UGH!) to write everything I can think of!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Sunday, June 14th 2009, 11:41 PM (Nanjing, China)
Today was the last Sunday in Nanjing. It’s hard to believe that we’re up to our “lasts” but sure enough, five weeks have passed since we departed the US. Thankfully, this week provided some excellent opportunities for me, so I now feel as if I’ve really taken advantage of the city.
Tuesday – it seems so long ago – we all went to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. The memorial remembers the 300,000 civilians and soldiers who died when Japanese troops raided the city in late 1937. From mid-December through January 1938, the Japanese killed, looted, and raped anyone they could find. They forced civilians to line up in front of mass graves, where they were shot one after the other. People were killed in every way possible: burned alive, beheaded, stabbed, bayoneted, and others. In the end, over 20,000 cases of rape were reported. It was an inhumane slaughter.
The memorial had two parts. First, guests were led through a comprehensive museum of accounts, artifacts, and descriptions from the massacre. It was amazing to read so many accounts of what happened- from locals who escaped (one was at the bottom of the pile of corpses when they burned them with kerosene to hastily) to Japanese soldiers to international witnesses who set up a refugee zone. Two things particularly stuck out to me in this museum. After reading about the deaths of all the innocent civilians, I can only wonder what the Chinese think of the atomic bomb. We in the United States like to say that it saved lives in the long run, but who were we to destroy the lives of so many innocent people? The other aspect that made an impact was Nanjing’s source of international aid. Within the city, Dr. John Rabe set up a zone for Nanjing refugees. Many fled there, seeking medical and emotional aid. Along with Dr. Rabe, several embassies and the League of Nations also contributed support. It seems like a great and noble effort until one realizes that Dr. Rabe was a German ambassador with Hitler’s support! How could the Germans condemn the Japanese-inflicted genocide immediately before committing their own holocaust! The world is upside down. Wednesday’s shooting at Washington’s Holocaust museum proves that as a fact.
The other part of the memorial was a mass grave. We walked around the circumference of the grave – a “field” of tan, baseball-sized granite stones – before entering a climate controlled room that showed an archeological excavation. Skeletons were mixed and piled close together. Signs showed readers where victims had been bludgeoned, stabbed, and carelessly buried. I will definitely never forget it.
Just as I was feeling bitter towards the Japanese for the atrocity they had committed, I read a quote from someone I cannot remember: “What we must remember is history, not hatred.” Indeed. Like the holocaust, we must never let such suffering fade from our memory, lest history repeat itself.
After finishing at the memorial, I desired to reflect on what I had seen, so I walked to nearby Mochou Lake Park. I wandered amongst the ponds filled with lily pads and along the walkways that surrounded the lake. A dragonboat team was practicing about 70 yards off shore while families and couples meandered about carelessly. It was very peaceful; just what I needed.
On Wednesday and Thursday I wandered aimlessly after class. It was good to get out and see parts of the city with no particular destination! I also studied for my Friday test, which went very well.
On Friday, we went to see the Presidential Palace, originally constructed in the Ming Dynasty but since occupied by many heads of state. The complex included many buildings joined by covered walkways, some ponds and fountains, some gardens, and plenty of rocks. Most notably, the palace was occupied by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and the Nationalist Party until the Communists moved the capital to Beijing in 1949.
I thought the best part of the palace was a museum to Dr. Sun. It followed the story of his life and how he fought so hard for democracy. He went to school in Hawaii but used Chinese populations in San Francisco, Japan, Taiwan, and China to build a revolution strong enough to overthrow the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Following the successful revolution, he established a constitution and resigned from the presidency to show he was not another power-hungry dictator. Unfortunately, his successor reverted to old ways by 1914, and Dr. Sun was forced to mount another revolution. Unfortunately, the second revolution failed and he spent the rest of his life campaigning for unity between the north and south and for democracy as a whole. He died of liver cancer in 1925 in Beijing. In his will, he wished to be buried in Nanjing, so his body was reinterred at the current mausoleum on June 1, 1929 (80 years and 2 weeks ago).
Yesterday was my last full Saturday in Nanjing, so I wanted to take full advantage of it. Thus, I set myself three goals: spend an entire day in town, touch the Yangtze River, and visit the Jinghai temple. Thus, I decided to walk an 11.2 mile loop of the north-west part of the city. If you’d like to see my route, go to this link: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2912437. As you can see from the map, I began by walking due west on Beijing Road. I passed the Jiangsu Provincial Government building and the Nanjing Institute of Art before reaching the Qinhuai River. From there, I followed “the mother river of Nanjing” northward. The sun beat down, but the river walk was pleasant (even with no one around). Finally, about 4.5 miles into my trip, I reached the junction of the Qinhuai with the Yangtze. The coast of the Yangtze was lined with private docks – low scale fishermen who were not fishing at all. There was no water access and it was very quiet. Unfortunately, I had to cut in a block because the road on the water’s edge ended. Seeing high rises being constructed all around, I was confident in my location, but as I cut northward again (4.7 miles to 5.4 miles on the map), I realized I was in a completely different part of Nanjing. Gone were the clean streets and fashion stores of downtown. Gone were the VWs and Audis. Here, there were a few taxi cabs, a couple buses, and an otherwise sketchy neighborhood.
Now, I should say here that I never felt in danger while walking this stretch of road. I got plenty of stares and I felt really out of place, but people seemed to go about their normal business. As I said, the street was dirty. A row of really run-down 2-floor concrete shacks lined each side of the street and dingy laundry seemed to be hanging everywhere. The curbs were often filled with murky liquid (it hasn’t rained in a week) and people were sitting around outside cooking food, playing games, and talking with neighbors. I wanted to take a picture, but you couldn’t have paid me to take my camera out of my backpack on that street. It was… a cultural experience.
Finally, I got back on the road following the river. Immediately, the surroundings improved, and normal civilization was back. Go figure! This time, there was a wall between the river and the road, but from what I could tell, the other side was home to some small scale industry, perhaps manufacturing. After a bit, I reached the intersection where I had to turn and I was about to give up, but I saw the next gate was actually open. I neared the gate, thinking I might quickly duck in to take some pictures and duck out. Thankfully, it was a yacht club and restaurant! Imagine that! So sure enough, I got a couple pictures of me touching the Yangtze. The third longest river in the world. One Saturday mission accomplished.
Cutting away from the river, I made my way toward the Jinghai Temple. The Temple was also built in the Ming Dynasty, to recognize and honor the famous Chinese explorer Zheng He. Almost a century before Columbus, Zheng He set out from Nanjing with China’s first naval fleet. He traveled to many adjacent countries via the Philippines and around the Indian Ocean. Most significantly, his friendly tidings toward foreign nations resulted in many international exchanges for China. It was truly a cultural and economic highlight. So it makes sense that a temple would be built to honor such a worthy explorer.
Yet that is not the only history lesson to be learned from the Jinghai Temple. Moving ahead a couple centuries, the British had dominated the world’s waterways and the opium trade was high (pardon the pun) in China. When Chinese leaders decided to ban opium, however, the British resorted to military force to reopen the trade. Finally, after two years of one-sided battle, the British marched into Nanjing in 1842. The Chinese settled for a “treaty:” 2.1 million silver Yuan and Hong Kong. The treaty was signed in the Jinghai Temple and consequently, the temple was also a central point of celebration in 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to China.
All this fun is actually making me much more interested in East Asian history – much more than when I was taking it in AP World History. Mrs. Hoisington would be so proud. Haha.
Well, from there, it was pretty much a straight shot back to the hotel. Straight shot for four miles, of course, but straight none-the-less. Oh yeah, I also came across several consecutive shops that must have been seafood wholesalers. One had a million shellfish. In the next, a half dozen guys were dragging huge ice blocks around. In the third, roughly 20 bins were filled to the brim with water… and EELS! Well, maybe they were water snakes, but they looked like eels to me. Millions of them. Squirming everywhere. It was glorious. I took a few pictures and smiled with one of the guys there.
So, that was Saturday. All three missions were a resounding success. It was a fantastic day.
Today was a normal Sunday. Church was great once again, and I went back to the Confucius Temple market with a bunch from the group. It was a good day.
Anyway, three days of class and an exam are all that’s left. That begins tomorrow! In the next episode, I’ll probably wrap up Nanjing with some general comments and observations. Bye until then!
Tuesday – it seems so long ago – we all went to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. The memorial remembers the 300,000 civilians and soldiers who died when Japanese troops raided the city in late 1937. From mid-December through January 1938, the Japanese killed, looted, and raped anyone they could find. They forced civilians to line up in front of mass graves, where they were shot one after the other. People were killed in every way possible: burned alive, beheaded, stabbed, bayoneted, and others. In the end, over 20,000 cases of rape were reported. It was an inhumane slaughter.
The memorial had two parts. First, guests were led through a comprehensive museum of accounts, artifacts, and descriptions from the massacre. It was amazing to read so many accounts of what happened- from locals who escaped (one was at the bottom of the pile of corpses when they burned them with kerosene to hastily) to Japanese soldiers to international witnesses who set up a refugee zone. Two things particularly stuck out to me in this museum. After reading about the deaths of all the innocent civilians, I can only wonder what the Chinese think of the atomic bomb. We in the United States like to say that it saved lives in the long run, but who were we to destroy the lives of so many innocent people? The other aspect that made an impact was Nanjing’s source of international aid. Within the city, Dr. John Rabe set up a zone for Nanjing refugees. Many fled there, seeking medical and emotional aid. Along with Dr. Rabe, several embassies and the League of Nations also contributed support. It seems like a great and noble effort until one realizes that Dr. Rabe was a German ambassador with Hitler’s support! How could the Germans condemn the Japanese-inflicted genocide immediately before committing their own holocaust! The world is upside down. Wednesday’s shooting at Washington’s Holocaust museum proves that as a fact.
The other part of the memorial was a mass grave. We walked around the circumference of the grave – a “field” of tan, baseball-sized granite stones – before entering a climate controlled room that showed an archeological excavation. Skeletons were mixed and piled close together. Signs showed readers where victims had been bludgeoned, stabbed, and carelessly buried. I will definitely never forget it.
Just as I was feeling bitter towards the Japanese for the atrocity they had committed, I read a quote from someone I cannot remember: “What we must remember is history, not hatred.” Indeed. Like the holocaust, we must never let such suffering fade from our memory, lest history repeat itself.
After finishing at the memorial, I desired to reflect on what I had seen, so I walked to nearby Mochou Lake Park. I wandered amongst the ponds filled with lily pads and along the walkways that surrounded the lake. A dragonboat team was practicing about 70 yards off shore while families and couples meandered about carelessly. It was very peaceful; just what I needed.
On Wednesday and Thursday I wandered aimlessly after class. It was good to get out and see parts of the city with no particular destination! I also studied for my Friday test, which went very well.
On Friday, we went to see the Presidential Palace, originally constructed in the Ming Dynasty but since occupied by many heads of state. The complex included many buildings joined by covered walkways, some ponds and fountains, some gardens, and plenty of rocks. Most notably, the palace was occupied by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and the Nationalist Party until the Communists moved the capital to Beijing in 1949.
I thought the best part of the palace was a museum to Dr. Sun. It followed the story of his life and how he fought so hard for democracy. He went to school in Hawaii but used Chinese populations in San Francisco, Japan, Taiwan, and China to build a revolution strong enough to overthrow the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Following the successful revolution, he established a constitution and resigned from the presidency to show he was not another power-hungry dictator. Unfortunately, his successor reverted to old ways by 1914, and Dr. Sun was forced to mount another revolution. Unfortunately, the second revolution failed and he spent the rest of his life campaigning for unity between the north and south and for democracy as a whole. He died of liver cancer in 1925 in Beijing. In his will, he wished to be buried in Nanjing, so his body was reinterred at the current mausoleum on June 1, 1929 (80 years and 2 weeks ago).
Yesterday was my last full Saturday in Nanjing, so I wanted to take full advantage of it. Thus, I set myself three goals: spend an entire day in town, touch the Yangtze River, and visit the Jinghai temple. Thus, I decided to walk an 11.2 mile loop of the north-west part of the city. If you’d like to see my route, go to this link: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2912437. As you can see from the map, I began by walking due west on Beijing Road. I passed the Jiangsu Provincial Government building and the Nanjing Institute of Art before reaching the Qinhuai River. From there, I followed “the mother river of Nanjing” northward. The sun beat down, but the river walk was pleasant (even with no one around). Finally, about 4.5 miles into my trip, I reached the junction of the Qinhuai with the Yangtze. The coast of the Yangtze was lined with private docks – low scale fishermen who were not fishing at all. There was no water access and it was very quiet. Unfortunately, I had to cut in a block because the road on the water’s edge ended. Seeing high rises being constructed all around, I was confident in my location, but as I cut northward again (4.7 miles to 5.4 miles on the map), I realized I was in a completely different part of Nanjing. Gone were the clean streets and fashion stores of downtown. Gone were the VWs and Audis. Here, there were a few taxi cabs, a couple buses, and an otherwise sketchy neighborhood.
Now, I should say here that I never felt in danger while walking this stretch of road. I got plenty of stares and I felt really out of place, but people seemed to go about their normal business. As I said, the street was dirty. A row of really run-down 2-floor concrete shacks lined each side of the street and dingy laundry seemed to be hanging everywhere. The curbs were often filled with murky liquid (it hasn’t rained in a week) and people were sitting around outside cooking food, playing games, and talking with neighbors. I wanted to take a picture, but you couldn’t have paid me to take my camera out of my backpack on that street. It was… a cultural experience.
Finally, I got back on the road following the river. Immediately, the surroundings improved, and normal civilization was back. Go figure! This time, there was a wall between the river and the road, but from what I could tell, the other side was home to some small scale industry, perhaps manufacturing. After a bit, I reached the intersection where I had to turn and I was about to give up, but I saw the next gate was actually open. I neared the gate, thinking I might quickly duck in to take some pictures and duck out. Thankfully, it was a yacht club and restaurant! Imagine that! So sure enough, I got a couple pictures of me touching the Yangtze. The third longest river in the world. One Saturday mission accomplished.
Cutting away from the river, I made my way toward the Jinghai Temple. The Temple was also built in the Ming Dynasty, to recognize and honor the famous Chinese explorer Zheng He. Almost a century before Columbus, Zheng He set out from Nanjing with China’s first naval fleet. He traveled to many adjacent countries via the Philippines and around the Indian Ocean. Most significantly, his friendly tidings toward foreign nations resulted in many international exchanges for China. It was truly a cultural and economic highlight. So it makes sense that a temple would be built to honor such a worthy explorer.
Yet that is not the only history lesson to be learned from the Jinghai Temple. Moving ahead a couple centuries, the British had dominated the world’s waterways and the opium trade was high (pardon the pun) in China. When Chinese leaders decided to ban opium, however, the British resorted to military force to reopen the trade. Finally, after two years of one-sided battle, the British marched into Nanjing in 1842. The Chinese settled for a “treaty:” 2.1 million silver Yuan and Hong Kong. The treaty was signed in the Jinghai Temple and consequently, the temple was also a central point of celebration in 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to China.
All this fun is actually making me much more interested in East Asian history – much more than when I was taking it in AP World History. Mrs. Hoisington would be so proud. Haha.
Well, from there, it was pretty much a straight shot back to the hotel. Straight shot for four miles, of course, but straight none-the-less. Oh yeah, I also came across several consecutive shops that must have been seafood wholesalers. One had a million shellfish. In the next, a half dozen guys were dragging huge ice blocks around. In the third, roughly 20 bins were filled to the brim with water… and EELS! Well, maybe they were water snakes, but they looked like eels to me. Millions of them. Squirming everywhere. It was glorious. I took a few pictures and smiled with one of the guys there.
So, that was Saturday. All three missions were a resounding success. It was a fantastic day.
Today was a normal Sunday. Church was great once again, and I went back to the Confucius Temple market with a bunch from the group. It was a good day.
Anyway, three days of class and an exam are all that’s left. That begins tomorrow! In the next episode, I’ll probably wrap up Nanjing with some general comments and observations. Bye until then!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Monday, June 8th 2009, 9:16 PM (Nanjing, China)
Monday, June 8, 2009
Today we were sitting in class as Dr. Brown reviewed the schedule:
-Exam tomorrow on Vehicle Dynamics
-2 classes of Electric Circuits
-Exam Friday on Circuits
-3 classes of Thermodynamics
-Exam next Thursday on Thermo.
The End.
We only have 11 full days left here in Nanjing and 16 before I arrive back in the States. In some ways I still feel like there’s a lot to see, but then again, I’ve done a lot too.
So, when I last posted, we were about to begin vehicle dynamics. It has been a piece of cake! Without being cocky, I expect to get a grade in the mid 90s on tomorrow’s open note test, and I haven’t studied yet.
In the world of extracurricular events, the past few days have been fun, but not very busy! On Thursday, I tested the taxi system for the first time by getting a ride to the Purple Mountains, with a goal of seeing the Observatory there. To gain the necessary elevation, I hopped on the Zijinshan Ropeway. Crossing one peak and climbing another, the ropeway covers 1.4 horizontal miles and climbs over 1300 feet. The ropeway was like a ski lift in that I sat on an old park-style slatted bench with a sketchy “lap” bar (it was really about a foot off my knees and didn’t contain anything). The bench hung from a steel aircraft cable that covered the entire 2.8 mile distance. Even though benches were spaced every 20 ft or so, I only saw 4 people going the other way as I went up. Lots of empty benches and a 100-foot drop made the ride… well… eerie! Once I became acclimated to the height and the peacefulness, however, it was actually very pleasant.
So, I went allllll the way up, looked around, and then came haaalllllf way down, where the Purple Mountain Observatory was located. The observatory, built in the 1920s, welcomed the modern age of astronomy to China. They have apparently made a number of discoveries there, although the facility seems somewhat limited. While visitors were not permitted access to the main telescope or room, there were a few displays and some astronomical tools from the dynastic period. Did you know that this year is the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first telescope? I didn’t either.
After riding back to the bottom, I walked back to the hotel – only 2.5 miles – and called it a day. On Friday, I returned once again to the Confucius Temple shopping area for some more fun wandering and spending. I bought myself a Xun – a Chinese ocarina. It is excellent, but will take some practice to do anything relevant with.
Saturday was also a somewhat unexciting day. We took a day tour to Lishui, where we visited a park and had lunch. The park was somewhat fun. Our tour guide showed us a shallow fish hatchery and told us we could attempt to catch one if we wanted. Since we didn’t, he jumped right in, stalked a couple fish for a few minutes, then grabbed one! It was unbelievable! We applauded as he held his fish up happily. After that, we wandered around the park some more before getting on a boat to see a natural bridge. For anyone unfamiliar with a natural bridge, it occurs when a stream creates sink holes, which in turn erode lower layers of sediment over millions of years. In this case (like the natural bridge in Virginia), the result is a deep ravine with a narrow bridge joining the cliffs. That pretty much summarizes Saturday.
Sunday, Sunday. A small group of us decided to try going to church. It was really quite an amazing experience. Here in China, the Christian church is government run. From what I understand, it’s about 90% legitimate, but there’s supposedly some hogwash too. I don’t know, I haven’t been. That said, we chose to go to Nanjing International Christian Fellowship. NICF is a church for foreigners in Nanjing. To get in, one must have a foreign passport. It’s completely led by volunteers in English and the speaker rotates on a weekly basis. The most surprising and exciting thing about the experience was how international it was. As I’ve said before, Nanjing is 98.5% Chinese. Well, I think the other 1.5% was at this service! I’m sure 25 or 30 countries were represented by the couple hundred in attendance. At the beginning, they asked new attendees to introduce themselves. In addition to us, the other new attendees were from India, Lebanon, the Philappines, and Zimbabwe. The guy who gave the announcements was British and the guy who gave the sermon, African. It was truly awesome to see such a group of people, united by all being foreigners and Christians. There were contemporary songs, communion, a Sunday school orchestra performance of Via Dolorosa, an offering, and the sermon – just like home! In fact, the preacher even gave a lawyer-tax collector joke. I guess some things truly are international!
Anyway, it’s time to wrap this up and get to studying. After tomorrow’s test, we will be going to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial, remembering the 1937 rape of Nanking. I perceive it will be a lot like D.C.’s Holocaust Museum, though I haven’t been to that either. Thus, this promises to be interesting, informative, and memorable. Until next time, zai jian!
Today we were sitting in class as Dr. Brown reviewed the schedule:
-Exam tomorrow on Vehicle Dynamics
-2 classes of Electric Circuits
-Exam Friday on Circuits
-3 classes of Thermodynamics
-Exam next Thursday on Thermo.
The End.
We only have 11 full days left here in Nanjing and 16 before I arrive back in the States. In some ways I still feel like there’s a lot to see, but then again, I’ve done a lot too.
So, when I last posted, we were about to begin vehicle dynamics. It has been a piece of cake! Without being cocky, I expect to get a grade in the mid 90s on tomorrow’s open note test, and I haven’t studied yet.
In the world of extracurricular events, the past few days have been fun, but not very busy! On Thursday, I tested the taxi system for the first time by getting a ride to the Purple Mountains, with a goal of seeing the Observatory there. To gain the necessary elevation, I hopped on the Zijinshan Ropeway. Crossing one peak and climbing another, the ropeway covers 1.4 horizontal miles and climbs over 1300 feet. The ropeway was like a ski lift in that I sat on an old park-style slatted bench with a sketchy “lap” bar (it was really about a foot off my knees and didn’t contain anything). The bench hung from a steel aircraft cable that covered the entire 2.8 mile distance. Even though benches were spaced every 20 ft or so, I only saw 4 people going the other way as I went up. Lots of empty benches and a 100-foot drop made the ride… well… eerie! Once I became acclimated to the height and the peacefulness, however, it was actually very pleasant.
So, I went allllll the way up, looked around, and then came haaalllllf way down, where the Purple Mountain Observatory was located. The observatory, built in the 1920s, welcomed the modern age of astronomy to China. They have apparently made a number of discoveries there, although the facility seems somewhat limited. While visitors were not permitted access to the main telescope or room, there were a few displays and some astronomical tools from the dynastic period. Did you know that this year is the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first telescope? I didn’t either.
After riding back to the bottom, I walked back to the hotel – only 2.5 miles – and called it a day. On Friday, I returned once again to the Confucius Temple shopping area for some more fun wandering and spending. I bought myself a Xun – a Chinese ocarina. It is excellent, but will take some practice to do anything relevant with.
Saturday was also a somewhat unexciting day. We took a day tour to Lishui, where we visited a park and had lunch. The park was somewhat fun. Our tour guide showed us a shallow fish hatchery and told us we could attempt to catch one if we wanted. Since we didn’t, he jumped right in, stalked a couple fish for a few minutes, then grabbed one! It was unbelievable! We applauded as he held his fish up happily. After that, we wandered around the park some more before getting on a boat to see a natural bridge. For anyone unfamiliar with a natural bridge, it occurs when a stream creates sink holes, which in turn erode lower layers of sediment over millions of years. In this case (like the natural bridge in Virginia), the result is a deep ravine with a narrow bridge joining the cliffs. That pretty much summarizes Saturday.
Sunday, Sunday. A small group of us decided to try going to church. It was really quite an amazing experience. Here in China, the Christian church is government run. From what I understand, it’s about 90% legitimate, but there’s supposedly some hogwash too. I don’t know, I haven’t been. That said, we chose to go to Nanjing International Christian Fellowship. NICF is a church for foreigners in Nanjing. To get in, one must have a foreign passport. It’s completely led by volunteers in English and the speaker rotates on a weekly basis. The most surprising and exciting thing about the experience was how international it was. As I’ve said before, Nanjing is 98.5% Chinese. Well, I think the other 1.5% was at this service! I’m sure 25 or 30 countries were represented by the couple hundred in attendance. At the beginning, they asked new attendees to introduce themselves. In addition to us, the other new attendees were from India, Lebanon, the Philappines, and Zimbabwe. The guy who gave the announcements was British and the guy who gave the sermon, African. It was truly awesome to see such a group of people, united by all being foreigners and Christians. There were contemporary songs, communion, a Sunday school orchestra performance of Via Dolorosa, an offering, and the sermon – just like home! In fact, the preacher even gave a lawyer-tax collector joke. I guess some things truly are international!
Anyway, it’s time to wrap this up and get to studying. After tomorrow’s test, we will be going to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial, remembering the 1937 rape of Nanking. I perceive it will be a lot like D.C.’s Holocaust Museum, though I haven’t been to that either. Thus, this promises to be interesting, informative, and memorable. Until next time, zai jian!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Wednesday, June 3rd 2009, 10:46 PM (Nanjing, China)
Greetings and salutations!
Today, of course, is Wednesday, June 3. A little higher level mathematics will reveal that I have been in China for three weeks and one day and I will return to the United States in exactly three weeks from now. I don’t particularly have much to write about in the way of events, but the majority of this post will discuss interesting tidbits and quirks that I’ve come across in the first half of my trip.
Sunday, we had class. After class, I worked on my paper for a bit, listened to a presentation about innovative construction by the local DOT (some of the most creative bridges I’ve ever seen- and they offered employment too!), went to dinner, and studied for my exam.
Monday – my birthday – I had a difficult time with the exam and spent all afternoon writing my paper. In the evening however, the hosts were sponsoring a farewell banquet for my Traffic professor, who is returning to the States tomorrow. I pretended like it was a birthday banquet. There were 23 courses in all! It was excellent too. Funny thing about banquets in China… they serve wine and beer. Typically, you don’t drink until someone toasts something or someone. Well, plenty of people toasted me. Good thing I brought my water along and the wine was weak!
On Tuesday, I went to class, then wrote my paper and studied for the final exam.
Today, I took my Traffic Engineering final exam (which went really well), then I spent the afternoon relaxing in my room. Exciting? I think so.
Tomorrow is the first day of CE497 – a crash course (pardon the pun) in vehicle dynamics, electric circuits, and thermodynamics. After Traffic, this course promises to be a piece of cake: no paper, no final, 3 noncumulative tests. I’m excited.
So there’s the scoop on the week’s activities, but now for a sort of rundown on some of the observations I’ve made. The order here is in stream-of-consciousness, and I can’t even promise that the following rambling will make any sense at all, so you’re welcome to turn back now, before it’s too late!
1. Music.
I have yet to find a good theatre performance. I saw a poster with two traditional instruments, but I can’t read Chinese, so I took a picture. I just need someone to translate it. That said, I have heard some music. The lady on the boat was playing the pipa. Since then, I’ve crossed paths with a few poor/homeless people playing some amazing music. Of course, being a sucker for awesome traditional music, I’ve tipped them. The first occasion was a man and women performing over the weekend. As far as I can tell based on memory, one was playing a dizi and the other a qinqin. I think. They were very good. The second occasion occurred today, as our group passed a man playing…uh… Well, based on a photograph and some research, I think he was playing a Sanxian with a bow. That’s my best guess anyway. Whatever the case, it was really beautiful sounding!
2. The sidewalks.
All sidewalks here have a row of tiles running their entire length. Each square tile has a two by 6 grid of raised rectangles that run parallel to the sidewalk. At corners, the tile changes to a grid of raised bumps. It took us a while to learn why these are everywhere, but it’s really quite clever. More extra credit to the first person who can come up with the right answer!
3. Street signals.
They all have countdown timers until the next phase. When you’re stopped, a red timer signals when the next green is. A green timer accompanies a green signal to tell when a yellow is coming. Of course, yellows also have a timer of 3 measly seconds! I think this is a great system that should be adopted by the States!
4. Elderly people playing games.
At the nearest street corner in the mid afternoon every day, one can find 40 to 50 people sitting in the shade, four to a table playing mah jong or Chinese chess. I intend to take my new Chinese chess set and take on someone, with no intention of winning. I have a feeling, if I went, sat down, and set up a board, someone would come up and play me. How cool would that be?
5. Bartering.
I’m not good at it, but getting better ;-) It’s everywhere, and I think being foreign helps. Every vendor has an identical calculator. You ask how much it costs (they understand that, haha), and they type in a number. You type a lower number. The process continues until an agreement is reached. It seems to me that they’re pretty quick to lower the price – I almost feel bad that I’m cheating them out of their product, but it’s their system. As an example, the price of something I wanted was 260 Yuan. I countered with 130 (and I should have started lower!). After about 90 seconds, we agreed on 150. That’s the way it goes.
6. Common Foods.
Sure everyone knows about rice and noodles, but having been here three weeks, I’m seeing trends in other food as well. Watermelon is served as dessert for every meal. Fish is never deboned and everything is cooked in oil. Interestingly, a popular banquet food here is crawfish! Having some crawfish boil experience from home, it fell on me to teach some in our group how to eat them. Naturally, they don’t use Cajun spice, but the best ones I’ve had were baked with cheese! Dinner foods (noodles, rice, green beans, dumplings, rolls, etc) are served at breakfast… with hot fruit juice! Finally, napkins are few and far between. I think that’s China’s attempt at being green, but I haven’t verified that theory yet.
7. Construction.
The design-build process for most projects (sky scrapers, bridges, subway, etc) is under five years. Small scale projects such as pedestrian and two lane overpasses are completed within one year. I’m jealous.
Well, that’s it for now. I can’t think of anything else off the top of my head, and I have to get to sleep. In the next installment, I’ll continue the list if I come up with anything else!
Today, of course, is Wednesday, June 3. A little higher level mathematics will reveal that I have been in China for three weeks and one day and I will return to the United States in exactly three weeks from now. I don’t particularly have much to write about in the way of events, but the majority of this post will discuss interesting tidbits and quirks that I’ve come across in the first half of my trip.
Sunday, we had class. After class, I worked on my paper for a bit, listened to a presentation about innovative construction by the local DOT (some of the most creative bridges I’ve ever seen- and they offered employment too!), went to dinner, and studied for my exam.
Monday – my birthday – I had a difficult time with the exam and spent all afternoon writing my paper. In the evening however, the hosts were sponsoring a farewell banquet for my Traffic professor, who is returning to the States tomorrow. I pretended like it was a birthday banquet. There were 23 courses in all! It was excellent too. Funny thing about banquets in China… they serve wine and beer. Typically, you don’t drink until someone toasts something or someone. Well, plenty of people toasted me. Good thing I brought my water along and the wine was weak!
On Tuesday, I went to class, then wrote my paper and studied for the final exam.
Today, I took my Traffic Engineering final exam (which went really well), then I spent the afternoon relaxing in my room. Exciting? I think so.
Tomorrow is the first day of CE497 – a crash course (pardon the pun) in vehicle dynamics, electric circuits, and thermodynamics. After Traffic, this course promises to be a piece of cake: no paper, no final, 3 noncumulative tests. I’m excited.
So there’s the scoop on the week’s activities, but now for a sort of rundown on some of the observations I’ve made. The order here is in stream-of-consciousness, and I can’t even promise that the following rambling will make any sense at all, so you’re welcome to turn back now, before it’s too late!
1. Music.
I have yet to find a good theatre performance. I saw a poster with two traditional instruments, but I can’t read Chinese, so I took a picture. I just need someone to translate it. That said, I have heard some music. The lady on the boat was playing the pipa. Since then, I’ve crossed paths with a few poor/homeless people playing some amazing music. Of course, being a sucker for awesome traditional music, I’ve tipped them. The first occasion was a man and women performing over the weekend. As far as I can tell based on memory, one was playing a dizi and the other a qinqin. I think. They were very good. The second occasion occurred today, as our group passed a man playing…uh… Well, based on a photograph and some research, I think he was playing a Sanxian with a bow. That’s my best guess anyway. Whatever the case, it was really beautiful sounding!
2. The sidewalks.
All sidewalks here have a row of tiles running their entire length. Each square tile has a two by 6 grid of raised rectangles that run parallel to the sidewalk. At corners, the tile changes to a grid of raised bumps. It took us a while to learn why these are everywhere, but it’s really quite clever. More extra credit to the first person who can come up with the right answer!
3. Street signals.
They all have countdown timers until the next phase. When you’re stopped, a red timer signals when the next green is. A green timer accompanies a green signal to tell when a yellow is coming. Of course, yellows also have a timer of 3 measly seconds! I think this is a great system that should be adopted by the States!
4. Elderly people playing games.
At the nearest street corner in the mid afternoon every day, one can find 40 to 50 people sitting in the shade, four to a table playing mah jong or Chinese chess. I intend to take my new Chinese chess set and take on someone, with no intention of winning. I have a feeling, if I went, sat down, and set up a board, someone would come up and play me. How cool would that be?
5. Bartering.
I’m not good at it, but getting better ;-) It’s everywhere, and I think being foreign helps. Every vendor has an identical calculator. You ask how much it costs (they understand that, haha), and they type in a number. You type a lower number. The process continues until an agreement is reached. It seems to me that they’re pretty quick to lower the price – I almost feel bad that I’m cheating them out of their product, but it’s their system. As an example, the price of something I wanted was 260 Yuan. I countered with 130 (and I should have started lower!). After about 90 seconds, we agreed on 150. That’s the way it goes.
6. Common Foods.
Sure everyone knows about rice and noodles, but having been here three weeks, I’m seeing trends in other food as well. Watermelon is served as dessert for every meal. Fish is never deboned and everything is cooked in oil. Interestingly, a popular banquet food here is crawfish! Having some crawfish boil experience from home, it fell on me to teach some in our group how to eat them. Naturally, they don’t use Cajun spice, but the best ones I’ve had were baked with cheese! Dinner foods (noodles, rice, green beans, dumplings, rolls, etc) are served at breakfast… with hot fruit juice! Finally, napkins are few and far between. I think that’s China’s attempt at being green, but I haven’t verified that theory yet.
7. Construction.
The design-build process for most projects (sky scrapers, bridges, subway, etc) is under five years. Small scale projects such as pedestrian and two lane overpasses are completed within one year. I’m jealous.
Well, that’s it for now. I can’t think of anything else off the top of my head, and I have to get to sleep. In the next installment, I’ll continue the list if I come up with anything else!
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