30th Sept

Red shoes, pink socks, blue leggings, black shorts, purple vest top, blue hoop earrings, blue nails and sweat bands - I was so meant to be born in the 80's!
80's night to celebrate the first day of freedom from teaching for 5 days!

3rd Oct - 5th Oct

Where?

Nanjing - A bright bustling city, full of history and charm.

Who?

Connie, Lindsey and my little red bear, Obe.

What did we do?

Bought Obe-
Obe is now my mascot of China and will touring in my backpack wherever I go.
Being a foreigner staring and photographs are common practice but Obe took it to another level. Everyone fell in love with him. Taking photos of him, I was asked to move by other as I was stood in the way of their shot!

Visited the Nanjing Massacre Museum -
The Nanking Massacre or Nanjing Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was a mass murder and war rape that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing (Nanking), the former capital of the Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
During this time China estimated that 300,000 Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers were murdered and 20,000-80,000 women were raped by soldiers of the Japanese Army.

Walked the City Wall of Nanjing-
It took 21 years for the completion of the wall and today, 600 years later it remains in good condition and has been well preserved.
Nanjing City Wall originally stretched over 30km which made it the longest city wall in the world. Now, with about two thirds of the wall still intact it still remains the longest city wall in China.
Zhonghua Men is the most famous gate of the wall. It was constructed with 1000kg vertically sliding doors and contained 27 vaults that could hold thousands of soldiers. The idea was that if an enemy entered the doors could be slammed shut. The enemy trapped inside, would then be ambushed by soldiers inside.
Stood on the City Wall, looking down at the many red lanterns lit up under the dark night sky, stood gazing into the distance and thinking how lucky I am. There were many of these silent spells on our trip to Nanjing.

Went to the foot of the Golden Mountain to see the Ming Tomb-
The Ming Tomb is a joint burial tomb of the first Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma in the Ming Dynasty. Construction of the mausoleum began in 1381 and was completed in 1431.
Being one of the largest existing imperial tombs in the ancient times, it has a more than 600 years history and is now listed by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site.
The Sacred Way, a 3 mile stretch before the tomb is lined with pairs of stone animals guarding the tomb. Camels, Elephants, Lions… all carved out of one stone.
It is said that the underground palace was completely modelled on the Nanjing Imperial Palace of Ming Dynasty. It is estimated that the underground palace is larger than the excavated Ding Ling (Ming tomb in Beijing) which is one of the 13 tombs built for emperors in Ming Dynasty. The Ming Tomb is a masterpiece of ancient architecture. When excavated in the future it will be another archaeological wonder of the world.

Saw the 'night club' Confucius Temple-
The Confucius Temple in Nanjing was originally constructed in 1034. This temple suffered repeated damage and has been rebuilt on several occasions since that time. In 1984 the temple was rebuilt under the support of the local government. Many tourist shops surround Confucius Temple, with music pumping out, trying to entice you. Walking into Confucius Temple, with its brightly lit trees and lanterns hanging everywhere, we weren't too sure if perhaps we'd paid for a night club ticket and not a temple tour. Very bizarre and defiantly not spiritual!

Ate from the many street vendors-
Chesnuts, kebabs, meat on a stick, jackfruit to name a few. De-lish!

And travelled in style back to Shanghai-
Thinking the cost of our train ticket was just because it was the holiday season, turned out to be three seats in the first class carriage! Oo la la!

Nanjing was a very pleasant city. It felt a bit like Hong Kong as so many people spoke English and there wasn't one person who was rude or unhelpful towards us.

National Holiday, you brought another interesting adventure my way and refreshed me for my final 3 months in Songjiang - xie xie (thank you) x x