Sunday we drove to Yentai. The tour guide had scheduled a tour of the Wine Museum. I opted out and went to the Municipal Museum with a few others instead.

The drive from Penglai to Yentai was rather interesting. It is a wine area and as you pass the vineyards every so often you see a French Chateau, no joke. I wish I had gotten a picture to prove it. The Chinese love to imitate that’s for sure. It was so random, rundown cinder block homes, dusty vineyards, yup French Chateau!

Yentai has a very modern feel

The Community Center

The Temple of the Sea Goddess

The oldest Buddha statue I've seen so far

The old Yentai Hutongs

The trip was short and sweet. I would like to return to Yentai as there seems to be much more to see. There is a mountain to the south that is famous for its temples and pagodas. I have a few students from Yentai and hope to return this summer.

Qingdao University often does weekend trips for their foreign teachers. This last trip they were kind enough to open it up to anyone interested.

Penlai is on the North side of the Shandong Penisula. It is a city steeped in Chinese lore, this is the spot from which the Eight Immortals departed. As I’ve tried to research the Eight Immortals it has turned out to be your typical Chinese story, many different versions with little cohesiveness. The rough story from Wendy, Eight immortals who exemplified various attirbutes admired by the gods. They were made immortal with the intention they would hlep mankind devlope those attibutes. Antoher version, they were eight famous literary characters combined during the Yuan Dynasty. The few consistancies are their names, symbols and the fact that they lived and departed from Penglai.

The Eight Immortals

http://www.chinapage.com/8-immortal.html

Fishing Boats off the beach

Restored Pavillions

The Chinese equivelent of Alcatraz

This island lays of the north coast of the penisula. It was originally colinized as a prison for the empires worst criminals. The swim back is long and trecherous, it is believed only a few have made it. Durring one dynasty it reached maximum capacity and to clear space for new prisons the worst criminals were executed each month.

Where the North Sea and the Yellow See meet

The Fortress

This is the fortress in which the Eight Immortals lived. It was built as a defense against the invading Japanese and houses the temple of the Eight Immortals, the Sea Goddess and the Dragaon God.

The Bell Tower

Victoria and I

Ancient vessels recovered from the area

The City of Penglai

The Shandong Vegetable Festival

The decorations around the exhibition halls were all out of vegetables.

So some signs are great because of the poor wording, this one well the water is less than a foot deep you figure it out.

 

Between the vegetable beds were long covered trellises.

As I walked from exhibit hall to exhibit hall I could only think of you Dad. You would have loved it. I’ve never seen such thriving plants. The trellises were spectacular. It was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Vegetable Version.

A piano made of egg shells.

  

Mr. Cheung, Mr. Kobayashi, Me, Kelly

The overhead decorations looked leathal.

 The overhead veggies were a little too large for my taste. Seriously some looked pretty ripe and a little to close to falling off the vine.  

Some of the art was large and intricate.

The mosaics were composed of corn kernels, beans, and chili peppers.

My zodiac - the Bunny

Another sculpture

These looked like sleeping bats to me. Not exactly something I was thrilled to walk beneath.

Never really considered corn kernels optimum mosaic material but I've been wrong before.

Nothing like a vegetable house, Hanzel and Gretal - healthy version.

The pumpkin patch was a collection of the largest pumpkins I've seen in real life.

Life is complete! I've found a tomato tree, I'll take two.

 There were a number of plants shaped into trees to optimize the fruit bearing surface area. I believe the tubs were filled with water rather than soil.  

Rotating Hydroponics, innovated.

There were a dozen different methods of planting being shown off.

More amazing murals of kernels and chili peppers

This is a model of the China Pavilion at the World Expo 2010.

So these two random strangers asked to take a picture with me so I insisted on a picture with them.

 Living in China you have to get use to being stared and pointed at, but being asked for a picture is not something I will ever get use to.

Kelly and James showing off their new purchases

At the Festival vendors were selling the spidery metal head scratchers all over. They were a huge hit. People were walking all over with them resting on their heads. Kelly and James couldn’t resist the urge.

The Festival was wonderful. It reminded me of home and the Central Valley.

After we were thawed out and rested up we bundled up once again and headed out for the evening. As directions to the Ice Festival were rather hard to come by and even more difficult to decipher we opted to just take a taxi. Of the entire trip this was our only real hiccup but a large hiccup it was. The festival is an International event that was covered in the London Times, Boston Globe as well as many other national newspapers that we had looked at online, but no where in Harbin could you get a straight answer on how to get there, when it opened or how much it cost! Welcome to China!!

After trying for 45min (no joke) to flag down a cab one finally picked us up as a double fare. Double fares are ALWAYS a rip-off but when you are desperate and freezing who cares. I had a basic idea of the direction we needed to go but I soon realized that was not the direction we were headed. Thanks to Bonnie’s level head we remained calmed and sat back to enjoy the rather lengthy confused tour through Harbin.

When we finally approached the Festival I was overwhelmed with the sheer size of the sculptures or should I correctly say, ice buildings. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

11th AnnualHarbin Snow and Ice World

Buddhist temple

The lights just made everything magical

After a 20 min I couldn’t keep quiet about my freezing condition. I admitted my hands were about to fall off, Bonnie agreed and suggested sticking my hands in my mouth. I asked her to repeat the instructions, she laughed and promised it would work. Sure enough, I was a sight to see with double gloved hands crammed in my mouth but soon they didn’t feel like Popsicles about to snap in two.

Looking into the park was just fantastic.

Hindu God

Hindu Goddess

St. Basil's and the Great Wall

The Sphinx - those are ice slides descending from his shoulders

Chinese Pagoda

I've no idea how she got this icy but it was probably one of my favorite pics!

A steaming cup of hot chocolate!

We decided to warm up in one of the class boxes they had strategically placed around the park. My Camera fogged over when I pulled in out after freezing in the outside weather! As we were warming up we both admitted how cold we both were although we’d been afraid to admit it to the other. Haha. Some how our bodies did adjust to the cold and we stuck it out to the end.

Another Cathedral facade

Skyscrapers a must in China

No matter how many sculptures we went to the size never ceased to amaze me.

Bonnie got her picture with an arctic fox!

Bonnie’s mom had shared an article withher about the Harbin Ice Festival, in which a prominent picture was of visitors posing with an arctic fox. Bonnie was determined to get her picture and we were thrilled when we found the booth.

 

 

Looking out over the Park

It wouldn't be a Chinese Party without back up dancers!

In the center of the park was a large ice rink.

A Northern European Church

Nothing like walking on ice!

Angkor Wat

The Colosseum

A view from the top.

Can you recognize the bundle?

Our final stop was a larger than life Chess board.

We stuck it out to the end and both felt the fight with the coldwas worth it. We found a taxi driver at the exit who was looking for passengers and bargained our way down to 40 kuai for a return trip. It wasn’t until we got to the taxi that we realized yet again we were a double cab.

Once in town we stopped by a local resturant for a little piece of home.

We'd spotted this restaurant during the day.

Can I just say, I love traveling with Bonnie we were up and out the door by 8am. On the train we had listed, crosschecked and plotted our two days in Harbin.

Our list included:

• Saint Sophia (Eastern Orthodox Church)
• Snow Park
• International Ice Festival
• Pedestrian Shopping Street
• an authentic Russian Meal

The top half consisted of 6 layers!

Before leaving the hotel we had to put on just about everything we had brought. We quickly learned once you start getting dressed the clock starts, you have about 10 min to get dressed then outside to avoid heatstroke in all your layers. There was a drop of about 90* between the 70* hotel and the -20* outside!

I had brought just about every thermal item I owned!

The bottom half was five layers - two pairs of fleece lined stockings, thermals, track pants and last but not least jeans.

Our Hotel was close to downtown so we decided to walk to the Church first. As it was still early the view was breathtaking. The church was constructed in the corner of a large plaza. The snow was fresh and untouched, light flakes still dusting the ground.

Saint Sophia - Eastern Orthodox Cathedral

How could someone do such a horrific thing?

Not too many shots of us together, downside to traveling with only one other person.

After the church we headed for the Pedestrian Street and breakfast. We soon found both and enjoyed a hour of pastries and souvenir browsing.

Yumm...nothing gets you going on a cold morning like Hot Chocolate and an warm pastry.

Yes, I'm aware I'm the Christmas edition of the Michelin Man! Main Pedestrian Street.

Привет из России - Hello from Russia! Can anyone beat that mamuska doll?

Harbin Flood Monument

The steps down to the river become the bleachers for the community ice rink in the winter!

The main river in town turns into another road during the winter. INSANE!

Some times as a tourist you have to be a tourist.

Total tourists we payed Y100 to take a horse carriage across the frozen river. Although we had to have been the 1000th carriage this river I was still not completely comfortable crossing the river in a 1000lb buggy.

After getting completely ripped off at least the driver allowed us to take a picture together on the top of the carriage.

On the other side of the river we entered the Snow Park. The snow park is on an island in the middle of the river. Teams from all over the world come to construct HUGE snow sculptures. The annual winner get’s their sculpture immortalized in white concrete.

I was shocked by the smooth texture of the sculptures.

I love the fact you could climb on the statues.

How would the park be complete without the triple emperial arch?

The sheer size of these sculptures were amazing and the craftsmanship was stunning.

The details were just incredible. The face alone is about 9ft.

Beijing Olympics?

Traditional Dragon

Did you know your eyeballs can get cold? Yep its true, mine did.

This year's contestants.

Work in Progress, yes that's a tractor on a river of ice.

Pirates of the Caribbean

When in China, do as the Chinese!

Sorry Canada that's just weird

The crowning achievment for this year! Look at the size of this one!

We decided to save money and walk back.

After two falls in the park I wasn't about to chance these icy steps. Hey at least I provide the locals with entertainment!

One of the past times is ski chairs!

I pulled my Thermos out at lunch to find the hot water I'd poured in that morning had turned to ice after a few hours outside!

For lunch we had a hearty Russian meal, borsch and mashed spinach soup.

These are our stern Russian faces.

After 7 straight hours outside we decided to head back to the hotel for a rest before heading out to the Ice Festival in the evening. I’ve never appriciated heating like I did upon our return to the hotel.

Well if anyone asks where the Ice Queen lives, it’s Harbin, China. Somehow I got in my mind  I was up for going to the coldest place in China.

Bonnie was more than happy for a travel buddy so we began planning. Harbin is in the northern most province of China and is known for its Russian influence and its World Renown Ice Festival. Some how I managed to block out the weather warning on all the travel websites, winters annually reach 40* below zero which is were the Fahrenheit and Celsius scale’s meet by the way!

As we are both English teachers with a limit salary we decided to take the cheap route and call it an adventure. We got prices for the Hard Sleeper Trains, ¥620 round trip – what’s 26 hours on a train? Everyone has to do a long distance train trip at least once in China right?

To keep from rambling, purchasing our tickets turned into a fiasco! You can purchase tickets 10 days prior to departure, we waited to long. 6 days before, the hard sleepers to Harbin were sold out and we had to purchase soft sleepers which were about double the cost. Thanks to Wendy we got the whole mess worked out and tickets bought. We would have been in deep trouble if Bonnie and I had tried to figure all that out on our own.

So Sunday night we set out. I had a backpack, Purse, and Bag of food! We met up at the Train station and joined the masses waiting in the hall, we of course were the only foreigners and got all the stares.

And the Adventure Begins.

With found our compartment and to our surprise were the only ones in it at the Weifang Station. We figured we’d be joined at the coming station. Well we could easily tell why the tickets went from ¥300 for a hard sleeper to ¥600 for the Soft Sleeper. The Compartments are amazing.

Home-sweet-home for the next 26 hours!

There are four to a room. The bottom bunk is the communal bench during the day for two. The Compartment is closed to the hall which makes the room warm and private (Later on this was not an upside to the soft sleeper. )

I had the top bunk and Bonnie the bottom. I was surprised at the storage room too. The beds were your average Chinese bunk, and the duvets were to die for.

We stayed up and chatted until about 11pm then hit the sack. I was a little restless wondering at each stop if someone would come in at the next stop. I was quite relieved in the morning to find the other two bunks still empty.

okay so after 20 hours in a cramped cabin what were you expecting, prom night?

We spread out in the morning as it didn’t seem like anyone would be joining us! We settled in for a long day. I decided to go comfy rather than flattering, wrong choice it would turn out.

Around lunch time we had gotten too warm and had opened the hall door. Soon a stranger wandered in wanting to talk to the foreigners. We soon realized our Chinese was better than his English. Most Chinese will give it an honest shot but give up as soon as they realize the pointlessness of trying to converse with Foreigners who don’t speak Chinese. This guy only seemed encouraged by the lack of communication and before we knew it he had invited his friend to come join us for lunch.

Before we could say ‘不要 we had two Chinese Guys drinking Baijiu and eating Chicken Feet in our compartment, not the most appealing situation. There are those situations in life which make you eternally grateful for choosing an Alcohol-free life, this was one of them. As true Chinese, they were not picking up on the hints we were throwing at them by the time 3 hours had passed, that we would prefer lunch to be over. So we fell back on the Chinese love of nap taking and said we would like to sleep.

One of them seemed rather keen on Bonnie which was not reciprocated! We had a good laugh at that thought once they left and decided to take naps to kill time. Half way through my nap I heard Bonnie calling my name, when I turned over in my bunk one of the Chinese guys was back and standing right next to my head. Turns out he was really keen on Bonnie and had come back for a chat. Not what anyone wants to wake up to. After a rather interesting 15mins we got him to leave and decided to look the door rather than just close it.

Front of the Train station, this is kids stuff compared to the Festival.

As we stepped off the train in Harbin it was like hitting an ice wall. Warm lungs don’t like icy air! My lungs ached at first as they adjusted to cold. Instead of jumping straight into a cab we walked around the front of the station where small ice sculptures were arranged. The ground was complete ICE. I had opted for warmth rather than traction but soon began to question my footwear choice.

Lights are frozen inside and the color illuminates the entire block.

I’ve been to Qingdao countless times yet I always see the same thing: Train Station, Bus 304, University, Church, Bus 5, Jimo, Bus 202.

Since we had arrived on Friday for Christmas we decided to take advantage of a full Saturday. After a restful night surprisingly at the Hostel, we took the bus to the University and met up with Victoria for my favorite and day at a museum!

Victoria had already been and gave great reviews, she warned it was a provincial museum so don’t get lofty expectations she said but she had been presently surprised. For a provincial museum it blew my socks off.

It was huge from the outside but that is the Chinese way, empress with shear size to compensate for quality.

I must admit I was impressed with the translation someone who actually studied English seemed to have translated.

Wouldn't be a real museum without a controversial piece or two. These are Japanese and still claimed by them from what I was able to gather.

Chinese also love their dioramas. This one depicts a historical battle victory in which the besieged city tied bayonets to the herds horns and lit their tails on fire. Letting the rampaging beasts lose on the surrounding army.

It was such a pleasure going through the museum with fellow Art History buffs - Katie and Victoria.

I was quite impressed with their selection of artifacts.

There was also the history section which had the life size dioramas, just couldn't resist the photo op.

Of course the end of the museum had the triumphant liberation of China and the birth of Modern China.

Thomas wandered into a side exhibit that turned out to be a print making center. We all did our Chinese zodiac.

 I met up with Wendy at 8:40 this morning. The chairman’s daughter and her classmate met us at the at t

 

Wood-Cut station, amazing details.

 

Watching the printing was breath taking, the maticulous efforts that are applied are awe inspiring to say the least.

 

The kites are made from thin sheets of silk. The paint is applied one color at a time let each color dry before applying the next.

 

Bamboo framework, all done by hand from selection to completion.

 

 

 

All the kites are handmade. The large one was Y600, reasonable I felt after seeing the entire process.

 

Yi, me & Yi, the wood-cuts on the door are protective deities to keep evil spirits from entering.

 

Intricate Paper-cuts, handmade

 

"Original" Ming Dynasty home.

 

Yi & me, can you see our personal stoves?

 

Hot Pot, it just might be my new favorite.

 

Driver, Yi & Wendy

 

Lobby, Largest Kite Museum in the World

 

My favorite kite in the Museum. Gold meddal winner at the Kite Festival.

 

An international kite donated to the Museum after one of the International Kite Festivals

 

a Ledgendary kite that is recognizable all over China

 

How many old men do you see? (answer: 3)

 

An aerial of Weifang, really if only I could expereince such a clear day.

 

Cabbage is a winter flower here, it does provide beautiful color in an otherwise dull landscape.

 

I never asked what this particular pagoda is currently used for but my guess is observation.

 

The path ran right along the water, more than once I gave Wendy a scare by walking too close to the edge.

 

______ Park, I just loved the Pagoda.

Today was delightful. From start to finish it was a great.

Were both up and ready by 7am so we headed out the door, no point in wasting daylight. Traveling with Victoria was a real treat. As soon as we were both ready we hit the road, we were both eager to see all the sites so it was a marathon of sorts.

Hotel Subway stop.

Before we headed up to Purple Mountain we decided to find the metro stop next to the hotel. As not everything was in Pin Yin I found it easier just to take a picture rather than try to memorize the characters. One plus to Chinese subways is that each entrance/exit is numbered which makes getting out on the right street a breeze. Some of the stations will dump you out on to as many as 8 different locations depending on the exit.

Jumped in a cab to head up to Purple Mountain, this time we had an illiterate cab driver. The night before the concierge had written out the instructions for us in Chinese to show the cab driver. He looked at the paper and shook his head, then I showed him a picture from my travel book and he brightened pulling into traffic.

Unfortunately we didn’t understand the mountain and the cab driver didn’t understand what we wanted so he pleasantly dropped us off at the foot of the mountain and took off. We looked around and I panicked for a min. Not a single English sign and no big ticket office. Okay this is a big site with more than one HUGE historical attraction so where are all the people? There was a nice couple by the big wooden sign with the layout of the mountain, thanks to Victoria’s nifty guide book we were able to match up characters and point to where we wanted to get to. The one thing I do have down in Chinese is numbers. So after a lot of gestures and the number 20 二十 repeated a half a dozen time we figured out we could take bus 20 up to Sun Yet-Sen’s Memorial.

The bus ride up the hill was another adventure in itself. One sure trick I’ve learned, chant the name of the place you are trying to get to in the poorest Chinese possible (which is no challenge) and when you get to the right stop half the bus is happy enough to kick you off. We finally made it to the top and found our way to the clearly marked ticket office. We purchased the full park pass but were unable to figure out where to catch the shuttle between sites.

The first stop was the Sun Yet-sen Memorial. It was magnificent. Victoria told me the memorial is almost identical to the Memorial in Taiwan.

Entrance to Sun Yet Sen's Memorial

Brief History: Sun Yet-sen is considered to be the Father of China. He is revered and loved by both China Mainland and Taiwan as he was the first official President of China. He was the leader of the Nationalist party prior to the split of Chiang Kai-Shek and the Communist party. He was a great man who was a true visionary for what China could become.

View from the top.

The memorial and view was breathtaking, both visually and physically after the hike up the stairs. The hike provided plenty of time for a history lesson on the founding of China and the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty. After China I think I’ll just laugh at a StairMaster. As they love to say in China, “It’s good for your health”. They use that line as an excuse for just about everything, especially their lack of elevators and love for long walks UP stairs.

Memorial Room

As we entered the Coffin Chamber there was a guard reminding visitors to be quite. This was the first place I’ve been in China that has requested reverence. It was a beautiful tomb. (I was not able to take a picture at the tomb, this is a postcard) Victoria said it was the complete opposite of Mao Zedong’s tomb in Beijing years ago.

Field Trip!

On our way back down from the Tomb we came across school groups on their way up. Of course I had to take pictures, it is only fair right. I was asked to be in two photos on the way down. Oh the stardom of being a foreigner in China. After a small rant of having your picture taken oh so obviously by Chinese Victoria reminded me that I too take pictures of Chinese to catalogue my trip and they are just doing the same. Okay so then I felt bad and had to agree.

The grounds were just so peacful.

Just didn't really fit the overall mood in my opinion.

We contemplated walking to the next area of the mountain but as we could not accurately judge the distance we finally just decided to find the shuttle. It is horribly convenient speaking English because really there is always a student who can muddle through directions. We found a group of school girls who helped us locate the shuttle, which turned out to be a tram. Victoria and I think someone here visited Disneyland. What do you think?

Bought my Chinese Christmas tree ornaments.

Designed by an American as a memorial.

Climbed to the top of the 8-story Pagoda. I had debated whether to go all the way up and boy am I glad I did, I’d  hate to lose face with the elderly man with a cane coming down the top flight. The view from the top story was well worth the work out. Some of the leaves were beginning to turn purple. I wish the view of Nanjing was clearer but that is too much to ask in any Chinese city it seems.

View from the top of the Pagoda looking down on the entrance.

Temple Courtyard

Visited the Buddhist temple. The temple was moved to the present location to make way for  a tomb. There are three major tombs on Purple mountain dating back to the Ming. Learned more about Buddhism.

Last stop on the Mountain was the Ming Tomb Complex. We took the tram from the Temple. We were not informed that the tram dropped us off at the end of the complex. Half way through the self tour we figured out we were going through the complex backward. We just assumed the DIY tour book was horribly organized, whoops.

We started at the final stage of the tomb. This is the Entrance into the burial section.

Further down the processional. It was one long complex with numberous buildings along the way. Each held significance in the funeral process ensuring a prosperous afterlife for the decesased emperor.

Another stop along the way, China is a very hands on country regardless of what the signs say.

The final Gate House before the Burial Mound. You just got to love the incomplete guide book. If a half constructed picture in the guide book does scream replica I don't know what does.

The book said they don't clean the walls because the grim gives the "ruins" an ancient feeling.

Thr burial mound, There was a path leading up to the top. I couldn't help but think of the burial mounds from the Lord of the Rings, the first book not the movies.

 

Remember this is backwards... This is the end of the Sacared path before you reach the tomb complex.

After touring the complex backwards we stumbled into the back door of the museum and proceed through the exhibits backwards, no joke. So the Ming Tomb was great backwards. Hint for park transportation, drop non Chinese guests off at the front!!  or at least have clearly marked signs reading EXIT at the drop off point.

We caught the bus into town and were able to find a metro stop back to the hotel. We crashed for an hour and then headed out to find a restaurant that served the local speciality, Nanjing Duck. Turns out the local speciality is hard to find unless you want the flash freeze foil take home. Our hotel provided the flash freeze take home version but did not provide a meal, go figure. We ended up settling for chicken wings and breaded pork. We were both pleased with our stay in Nanjing. We were able to see everything on our list with time to spare. I was so excited to have extra time in Shanghai!

Okay the only way I’m actually going to get everything posted is if I take it a day at a time. Please remember I am printing my blog as my scrapbook/journal for the year so please feel free to just skim through and look at photos. I know I get long winded so you’ve been warned. 

We left Victoria’s at 6:00am to catch our flight. She had arranged for a cab to pick us up and he was waiting just out side the building. When we got to the airport we found our ticket counter and were thrilled at the short lines, then out of nowhere a Chinese tour group saddles up next to us and we realize the first customer in line is the tour guide who is getting tickets individually for each member. Needless to say all the foreigners in line were ticked, there was a group of Russians in front of us.  After a few min a kind Chinese women tapped us on the shoulder and pointed to the other side of the counter to open lines. Thank you, check-in was a breeze from there.

Plane Food! and in China wet-naps get handed out at every meal.

The great thing about airports is the fact that check-in is pretty universal. You just hand the person your reservation and your passport, when they point to you bags you shake your head and make a carry-on motion and you are good to go. All relevant information is in numbers and letters and tickets are bilingual with English as the second language. The flight to Nanjing was only an hour and they gave you an entire package of crackers with a beverage. Do they even serve snacks on 1hour flights in the US?

Quick history Lesson:

• Nanjing literally means ‘Southern Capital’. It plays a prominent role in Chinese history as the seat of many of the dynasties. Beijing was actually only established as the main capital for the last two Dynasties, Ming and Qing. Nanjing as the power house of Ancient China became the headquarters for many of the riots and revolutions that have taken place in the last two hundred years. Many of the sites we visited reflected these historical ties. With Victoria as my guide I got a walk through of Chinese history as we visited each site.

Took a bus into the city easy enough. Most people have a background in English and with a combination of horrible Chinese, basic English and exaggerated hand motions things are fairly simple to figure out. Having all our reservations in Chinese was helpful too of course. Once at the hotel we asked directions to the first site and hopped on the bus hoping for the best.

Map of Nanjing, I'm pretty proud of myself for getting around with only a Chinese map!

We started with the Heavenly Palace also known as the Presidential Place in later years. It was a large complex with few English signs, and those were sent through google translate it seems. (not to diss google, Dad can attest how much I’ve come to love Google, but really you can NOT just translate Chinese word for word it just DOESN’T make any sense.)

Originally built as two successive ducal palaces in the early Ming Dynasty. It really saw its hay day as the headquarters for the Taiping Rebellion in the late 1800’s, Sun Yet-Sen was sworn in as President in the Early 1900’s and finally as the headquarters for the Chiang Kai-Shek and the Nationalist Party before fleeing to Taiwan.

The Chinese love models! So here is the first model of the trip. The Heavenly Kingdom Palace

The decorations throughout the rooms were phenomenal.

The Gardens were beautiful, I have fallen in love with the moon gates

the gardens were extensive so this is one pavilion of many throughout

The ancestor worship hall within the complex

More gardens

A modern picture of Sun Yet-Sen and the Nationalists

Chiang Kai-Shek's office

Next we took the bus to the South Gate. It was huge, well preserved and unlike most of the historical sites in China, original. Built in 1368-1386 by the first Ming Emperor Hongwu, it was the most extensive in the world at the time. (DK-China)

 okay can you tell what college drilled into me? Mom how do you site a guide book?

Zhonghua Gate -  On the south side of Nanjing, this is the city side of the Gate complex.

 

Side view of the Gate complex, there is a ramp on the side that leads to the Gate house area on the very top.View from the entrance

Ramp to the Gate house. Got to love the Cheesy Soldiers.

View from the top of the inner stairs looking towards the city

Some of the blocks contain the signatures of the brick maker and crew with the date.

View of the city wall extending out from the Gate

We decided to risk the walk to the Temple and set out with our Chinese map to find the Confucius Temple. Originally built in 1045 it was the seat of Confucius teaching the area for hundreds of years. Rebuilt in the 1900’s.

The entrance to the walking street on which the Temple was located. We just stumbled across it.

It was a pleasant walk and to be perfectly honest we just lucked out in finding it because I took a turn and was lost on the map for a second. The temple was tucked away down walking streets.

The Fuzi Miao Temple

Burning Incense in the temple courtyard

The stone inlay was spectacular. They represented various stages in Confucius Life.

Scenes of Confucius Life, all in stone

The dragons were my favorite

one of the many structures with in the temple compound

 

Prayer tree in front of the temple.

Market Stalls around the temple, great finds!

Went shopping in the market stalls. Found some beautiful fans, wasn’t sure if I really like the first few so I decided to wait, yeah should’ve gone back but oh well. I did find my NANJING piece of jewelry though. A beautiful jade pendent. (I collect a piece of Jewelry from each city I visit. Light weight non dusty collecting souvenirs, that are functional and bring back memories each time I wear them.)

China towns look like Chinatowns in the states!

 

A good taco pot-sticker! Yumm.

I have to admit I was dissapointed in the lack of enthusiasum by the person who lit this monument.

 We walked back to the South Gate hoping it would be all lit up in true Chinese fashion (aka completely tacky) but were disappointed to find it rather dull. I had the map and was the designated navigator. I still say according to the map the closer metro was to head south for what looked like three blocks. Well China maps seem to say one thing when reality says another. We ended up along a shady street that just made the wrong side of the tracks look pleasant. Finally we saw a metro sign but couldn’t find the entrance when we asked the shop keeper about the metro we just got confused looks. So when all else fails hail a cab and hand over the hotel business card!

Now for the part, a cab driver with a bad optometrist! He couldn’t read the business card, he even held his lighter up to it before finally giving up and asking a teenager on the sidewalk to read it to him. We did make it back to our hotel and turned in for an early morning!