That's right, folks, snow. White, wet snow on the rooftops of Nanjing. I might not have mentioned this yet, but it is cold here; like winter cold. Liz was able to borrow an extra coat of Jodi's, and I'm doing my best with my sweatshirt and raincoat, hat, and gloves. Justin normally doesn't have class on Tuesday, but he had one moved to this afternoon, so time was at a premium. We set out and grabbed Chestnut rolls and watched the pastry chef decorate another cake before heading for real adventure.
The weather continued cold and wet through the day, although it only snowed for a few minutes early in the afternoon. The sun also paid occasional visits, and we welcomed his warm presence when we could get it. Today's adventure was Lion Mountain, a mountain with a tower along the old city wall. It was spectacular to behold, and I took a multitude of photos, although many of them were just me trying to capture beautiful images that I might one day frame. I thought of you, Marquie, while I was framing up beautiful shots like this one:
The tower is surrounded by various outbuildings and gardening, and I was sad that it was still too cold to fully enjoy the gardens. We climbed and climbed and climbed to the top of the mountain, and, not surprisingly, it was even colder up there. Inside the tower is a museum explaining the tower, its function, as well as art and artifacts and vendors selling crappy souvenirs. It was seven stories high, and we visited each one in turn marveling at the art, architecture, and information. There was a floor with portraits and descriptions of each of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, and here is Liz with Tai Zhu, the first emperor of the dynasty, who declared Nanjing the capital of his new empire.
The mountain and tower sit near the Yangtze river, and you can see the far past the river on a less foggy/smoggy day, proving it an excellent vantage point for protection.
After a couple of hours there, Justin had to go to his surprise class, and I was feeling cold and vulnerable, so we headed back for an afternoon of work and rest. We stopped at the video store, checked in to see if there were any cakes being decorated (I love it!) and settled ourselves for our dragonfruit snack and complaining about the internet being down. Jodi made plans for dinner, and we enjoyed her favourite squirting dumplings before walking to the grocery store to pick up a birthday cake.
The walk was cold, but it was so fun to be out and about together.
Since it was my birthday last week, Justin and Jodi thought it would be fun to have a party, complete with fireworks. It was too cold to do the fireworks, so we saved them (and half the cake) for the continuation of the party tomorrow. I don't like to think of myself as a wimpy traveler, but these long days of walking and wind and cold really wear a person down. I fell asleep while we were watching Invictus, but what I saw was excellent.
More things I've learned in China:
1. They are conscious of the "dfferently abled" of their population, and every sidewalk has a path for the blind that they can feel with their feet. Sometimes there are cables and trash cans in the middle of them, but I guess they figure the blind won't notice.
2. Mao, the brilliant, declared that everything South of the Yangtze was warm, while everything North was cold. Positively Medieval, don't you think? As a result, heat is not necessarily a standard commodity in shops, homes, or public places. After all, if you're in warm China, why would you need heat? Luckily we've been above freezing most of the time here, although not at this moment.
3. China is communal as well as communist. People are always up in each others' business, piping in their advice, completely unsolicited, whether you can understand them or not. They will tell Jodi that her baby is not warm enough and gather on the street to fight with one another about who to blame for a scooter/bike accident.
4. Justin is a wall compared to the Chinese women on bikes. I don't want to accuse anyone of anything, but someone just might have stepped in front of someone else on a fast moving bike and stopped her in a dead crash. Just sayin'.
3 comments:
Justin...Bryce wants to know if you really caused that crash?
How did "the wall" fare? What a great narrative. This week is so much fun for Grandma reading about the adventures and grandkids everday!
Yes, I did cause the crash. And I have to admit I laugh every time I think about it. It really was about like she hit a wall. I feel bad, too, of course :) A sore shoulder for a few minutes, but the baby I was carrying was safe.
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