Nanjing Trip - July 29 to Aug 2

We tagged along with Kathy when she visited Nanjing. To get there, we took our first sleeper train. Train travel is very common in China. The system is extensive and widely used. Our Lonely Planet says “At any given time it is estimated that over 10 million Chinese are traveling on a train in China, except during Chinese New Year when most of China seems to be on the railway.”

There are different classes of seats / sleepers. We opted for the soft sleeper because there were fewer bunks and a bit more privacy. There are 4 bunks in the compartment and a door to shut out the noise. The adventure for us came from our bunkmates who were complete strangers. You don't have much choice since the tickets are only available for purchase only 5 days before the departure date, and they go fast. My impression of the train system is that while it may be efficient, the ticketing leaves a lot to be desired. Tickets are hard to get and you have to wait till the last minute to buy them so it’s hard to plan.

We had 2 different sets of compartment mates in our 9 hour journey to Nanjing. Even though we got sleepers, we slept little. We got on the train at 6 p.m. and arrived at our compartment to find 2 tiny old men in worn clothing. We spent a few silent hours with them. While I read on the upper bunk, they offered Don tea. Trying to climb to the upper bunk on a moving train was fun for me. The guys had one visitor during that time. I’ve made up a story for them. They are “experts” at some trade that warrants them traveling in “style”. The visitor was their boss. Their luggage consisted of a small cloth bag and a bucket of belongings for one man and a big black cloth bag for the other. They left after a few hours.

Our next compartment mates were more talkative. The first one was very curious about us and the language barrier didn’t slow him down. When the other man arrived, his first question to him was “Do you speak Cantonese?” He didn’t so man #1 filled him in on what he was able to find out about us. Then we settled down in the lower bunks and had a conversation with the help of all of our resources (phrase books, Lonely Planet and electronic translator). Surprisingly, we were able to find out a little about each other. We found out where they were from and what they did for a living. Being true Chinese, they quickly asked our salary and why we didn’t have children. Amazing how you can get to those topics without a common language!

We checked into our hostel at 2 a.m. and was a bit disappointed. It was located in the middle of a very historic area, the Fuzi temple, the centre of Confucian study for more than 1500 years. Now, the area surrounding the temple is a pedestrian zone filled with shops, restaurants and night life. We found this place on the Internet and while it was extremely convenient, we learned a very important on how photos can be deceptive. Things can appear much larger than they are.

Touring Nanjing

Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu province. It's one of the furnaces of China but we experience a very wet Nanjing thanks to the tail end of a tropical storm. Even in the rain, we saw that it was a very scenic city with its wide tree-lined streets. It is also very historic. It was China’s capital twice and was the site of the worst war atrocity Chinese civilians suffered under Japanese occupation.

Sun Yatsen Mausoleum – It's set in the middle of the mountain in a national park, a sanctuary from the heat and humidity. Dr. Sun is acknowledged by many as the father of modern China and is a popular tourist site. The mausoleum is at the top of a stone stairway and 392 steps!

This is the path leading up to the tomb of the only Ming emperor buried outside of Beijing. It is lined with stone statues of lions, camels, elephants, horses, mythical creatures and soldiers.

Since it was raining constantly, we weren’t really able to enjoy the natural beauty of Nanjing. We had to look for inside activities. The memorial hall of the Nanjing massacre is one of the most disturbing places we’ve visited. We saw exhibit after exhibit documenting what the people of Nanjing suffered at the hands of the Japanese soldiers in 1937. The photos too vividly told the personal stories. It seemed very appropriate that we exited that memorial to pouring rain, like the tears we shed for the 300,000 victims.

Kathy was a great travel companion since she speaks Mandarin. Everything was easier. We tried local specialties such as river fish and duck head. She got us around by taxi. This would have been impossible for us to accomplish since we didn’t have any of the tourist attraction names or addresses in Chinese.

Our travel plans were fluid and was going to depend on the weather. Since the rain did not let up much, we decided not to check out any nearby towns. She got us seat sales to Hong Kong while she headed back to Jinan. Since she got us cheap flights, we escaped a 28 hour train ride. Thank you Kathy!

We took the train to Shanghai so that we could catch a flight to Shenzhen, Guangdong. From there, it would be a short bus or train ride to Kowloon. We chose this option over flying straight into HK because the fares were much more reasonable.

When we arrived in Shanghai, we almost got scammed at the train station. This man approached us and asked if we needed a taxi. We must have looked like the perfect marks. Two people who were clearly tourists, carrying knapsacks, and were disoriented. I had asked Kathy to write our hotel name in Chinese so that it would make it easier to get a taxi. This guy said he could take us there for 300 Yuan. At that point, we were willing to go along with it even though it seemed steep. It was 36 C and very hot. It seemed like a good option but as we got led a bit too far from the station, we started feeling like it wasn’t such a good idea. When we saw the minivan, we knew it was a bad idea. We said no and started walking back towards the station. Then the guy followed and flagged down a real taxi but when he tried to get into the front seat, the taxi driver said no. Guess he was going to try to get something out of us still. We managed to lose him and find our own taxi and it only cost us 47 Yuan. We had booked a hotel at the airport since we were leaving early the next morning and had hoped to see more of Shanghai in the afternoon. Since we were far from the main tourist area and the temperature was too uncomfortable, we decided to rest up for HK instead.