Don had arranged for a one-day tour to see the tourist musts in Nanjing.
We started at 9:00 and had a full day. We could see that Nanjing is a large, but
charming city. With one third the population of Guangzhou, at only 8 million, it
seemed manageable. All cities, except Guangzhou and Hong Kong, have a lower
profile since tall apartment building jungles are less dominant.
First we saw a lovely Ming Dynasty garden compound (Zhan Yuan Garden). Many of the sites are from the Ming
era, which is basically the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. This housed the Taiping Kingdom History Museum, but we
weren't taken to it, and I am still feeling sad about not being more aware of what was there.
For all of you who may be interested, the Taiping story is a fascinating story with pseudo or semi-Christian undertones.
Then we visited the Confucius Temple which is in the centre of the tourist area. The temple has beautiful jade relief carvings
that tell the story of the life of Confucius. The surrounding area was busy with tourist rickshaw rides, shops and fun. We ate a
traditional Chinese meal and enjoyed the Nanjing specialty of salted duck.
After lunch we made a quick visit to a park that honours the famous Ming admiral, Zhenge He, who sailed the world with
his treasure ships. His story, including his personal life story, is equally interesting.
The Presidential Palace was another good visit. Since Nanjing has played such a prominent part in Chinese history, the
Presidential Palace was useful in putting the history in some sort of order. It had been a Ming compound when Nanjing was the Ming Dynasty capital, then the
headquarters for the Taipings, a headquarters for Dr. Sun Yatsen and later the headquarters for Chiang Kai Shek when his Nationalist party had
to leave Shanghai.
After, we visited the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum. This is in a beautiful area on Purple Mountain and the grounds were lovely with pink shades of
blossoms on the trees. The approach to the tomb had huge, cement animals facing one another. The tomb itself has not been opened. It was
an impressive and lovely place.
Day 1 in Nanjing was great.
1 comment:
You didn't miss much by not touring the Taiping Kingdom History Museum. It did not mention anything about the religious roots of the rebellion and only talked of the military conquests. I found it rather disappointing.
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