Culture Corner: Nanjing - Part III

It snowed a total of three times in Nanjing while I was there, and each time the sky kind of sputtered for a while, dropped a little slushy snow, which promptly melted before the following day.  I guess the tropical trees outside my apartment coated in snow above are a reminder of what kind of climate I lived in.

This is not a war zone.  This is a designated “fireworks ignition area” in Nanjing.  Some people used it – as seen, but most others simply used the sidewalk in front of their house (not seen J).  It was impossible for me to walk past this place and not stop.  The idea it was a special place to come blow stuff up was too good to ignore.

This is one of many fireworks salesman who plied their trade in the special fireworks area.  (Where else would a good salesman be?)   You have to love the giant boxes of rockets he has for sale.  Just like the other companies around the world who put on fireworks shows, I often wonder what these people do outside of national holidays or Chinese New Year…  

This is the Fuzi Miao area of Nanjing once again, except this time it’s time to celebrate Sweet Dumpling Days, which start a week or so after Chinese New Year’s.  What better to go with giant explosions than large quantities of neon lights? 

Chinese emperors do not like to go quietly, just check out the tomb of the terracotta warriors, a stone army like no other created to guard one of them in death.  Well, that is the most famous tomb, but many, many only slightly less extravagant tombs of emperors exist in China and one of them is in Nanjing.  The thing that really gets me is that the real location of the dead emperor’s body remains a mystery so no one will disturb his “sleeping” soul (and steal the horde of valuables he is buried with).  In other words, people slaved their whole lives to build a tomb so the emperor would not be buried there.  Above is the path leading to the Ming Xiaoling tomb in Nanjing, a procession of stone animals – both real and imaginary – guiding those paying their respects to his burial mound.  

Near the Ming Xiaoling “tomb” is a place called Meihua Shan, or Plum Blossom Mountain.  Plum blossoms hold a special place in Chinese hearts and in their poetry, and so every year, just at the time winter is beginning to warm, these trees blossom, bringing out the Chinese in droves to smell their fragrant flowers (and to be photographed amongst them).

I had to agree, they were quite lovely.  (But don’t take any, as I learned, you’re an evil person if you do.  They make good tea, though… or so I’ve heard.)

(This is the end.  If you missed Part I it is here, and if you missed Part II, it is here.)

Culture Corner: Nanjing - Part II

This is a moped parking lot in the downtown shopping area of Nanjing.  Yes, a moped parking lot.  I want to know how people could find one in this sea.

An intersection near my apartment featuring many things typical of China: men gathered around a Chinese chess board, an abandoned fruit stand to watch said chess game, cyclists, and a dash of color to offset the gray that is urban China. 

A street scene on a rainy walk to school one day.

 The pinball machine that is shopping in Nanjing at night.  Some of the most delicious food in the world can be found amongst this glittering chaos.

A nice Sunday morning near my apartment.  On either side of the street are makeshift restaurants, bicycle repair shops, people’s homes, fruit sellers, dumpling makers, and all other manner of Chinese city life.

This is a broader street towards the downtown area.  On the right is a temporary wall and behind it is undoubtedly one of the dozens of skyscrapers under construction in Nanjing.

This is the chaos known as Nanjing – and China.  Bicycles, pedestrians, cars, buses, mopeds, you name it and it’s on the streets, all mixed together and taking no heed of who’s bigger than who.

Fish tubs in a local meat market.  You just come here, point, and the butcher kills the fish, cleans it, and gives you the cut you want.  And if you like the taste of fresh kill, you can also get the fish alive and bring it home in a plastic bag and do those things yourself.

A back alley fruit and vegetable market.  

A shopping, eating, tourist, and general market area (you can buy anything from high quality silk to squalling puppies, pirated CDs to first class Chinese food, handmade crafts to jade…), this is Fuzi Miao, or in English, Confucious Temple.  You are looking at the river that flows through the area, some of the restaurants that overlook the water, and the small electric motor boats you can rent to putter about.  Out of sight of the photo to the left is the actual Temple.

(This is the end of Part II.  Part III is here.  And if you missed it, Part I is here.)

Culture Corner: Nanjing - Part I

Located in Jiangsu Province, Nanjing is the city I spent my first year living in china.  I couldn't have asked for a better introduction.

This was the view from my balcony: the quiet back lanes of Nanjing.  My apartment building looked exactly like the others here, so I don’t need to include a photo.  (Except mine didn’t have bars on the windows…)

“And that’s the chalkboard we played hangman on… And that’s the desk where little Johnny passed out after drinking too much Kool-Aid… And that’s the bare concrete floor where Isabelle scraped her knee when she was trying to do a cartwheel…”  Actually, this is a university classroom, my little home away from home.

Not the picture of modernity inside, but something more from without.  My classroom was the third window in on the ground floor.

And these were my students at Nanjing Normal University.  From left to right, translating their Chinese names into English, they are: Circumference Meteor Shower, Post Very Happy, King Clever, Poplar Snow Beautiful, a blurry Display Quiet, yard gnome, Laura (I forgot her Chinese name), Yellow Happy Earth, and Leaf Favor.  Hiding in the back is Kang Chen, which doesn’t matter because this was probably the only day he came to class.  They are wearing jackets because according to them, 4 degrees Celsius was a bit too chilly a classroom to go only in a t-shirt.

(This is the end of Part I.  Part II is here, and Part III is here.)