Nanjing

I was feeling like I didn't have any interesting pictures to show, but I had forgotten that I had a whole bunch of photos still stored in my camera. I'll get at least a couple of good posts out of them, so I will start out with a daytrip that we took to Nanjing back in the first week of February.

There are two major cities that have, in turns, been the great capitals of China. Nanjing is one, and Beijing is the other. The names are simple, as "Nan" means south, and "Bei" means north. Beijing was the capital during the reign of the Manchus (originally from north of the Great Wall), but Nanjing was the capital up until the success of the Communist Revolution in 1949, when Mao and the gang relocated the capital back to Beijing. For that reason, the Taiwanese often continue to refer to it as the "true" capital of China.

As the capital of China, this city was singled out by the Japanese for especially brutal treatment. There is a major monument and museum to the "Rape of Nanjing", but we didn't go there this trip. We will do that later. In fact, I'm considering going with just John this Saturday, while Lee goes to Shanghai to do some shopping. One of the bargains we made with John to get him to accept this whole China project was that we would take him to see interesting World War II sites, and Nanjing is the closest place to us where there is really something to see. Once we quit worrying about the economy so much, I may eventually take him on a father-son outing to the Philippines. You can get there quite cheaply from here, and there are said to be really good tours of the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor.

I have another motivation to go to Nanjing again soon... it has a very ominous nickname: "The Furnace of China." That sounds like a good reason not to wait for summer.


The grounds of the Nanjing Museum. In the background you can see the slope of Purple Mountain, a site of great cultural importance to the Chinese. Pearl Buck, the American writer of The Good Earth, grew up in sight of this peak, and wrote lovingly of it. I didn't even try for a good picture of the mountain, as it was overcast that day. I'll post pictures another time if I get good ones.


Some funky sculptures on the grounds of the museum


A mixture of clothes and meat hanging out together to dry.


A spot on the city wall. About half of Nanjing's original city walls are intact, more than any other city, I've been told. In the scene are Allyne, Emma, Lee, and Lee's mother Janet, who was visiting us. Once again, a word to you all: visitors are very welcome.



Emma and John on the city wall. On the right, John is standing in an embrasure over the highway facing east. It was from that direction that the Japanese marched through the gate below him and into the city during World War II.

There is one final photo of the Nanjing outing, but Lee has it on her blog. It is very much worth a look.