Charlie and I got in on Thursday after much "air traffic" delays for both of us. When I waited for him I also saw a real dog in the airport -- a golden retriever from Australia with his German daddy! I miss real dogs and get very excited when I see a dog that is not a pekinese or some sort of small drop-kick dog. Then we checked into our hostel and had a really yummy italian dinner, complete with salad, bread, and of course, Qingdao beer. Max got in later that night and after a reunion drink, we turned in for an eventful Friday.
We went to eat some yummy Korean food and then grabbed a cup of coffee before I left them to study for the test. Then I headed out with my new buddy, Ryan, who was staying in our dorm room in the hostel and had my bottom bunk. He had done a semester studying Chinese at Nanjing University so was a great buddy to run around the city with for the weekend.
First we went to Jiming Temple in the northeast portion of the city.
It was really neat and the view from the top of the pagoda was really outstanding. The thing that always amazes me about China is how you will see an ancient temple right next to a huge skyscraper and surrounded by cars, bikes, and people that forget how amazing it all is.
Then we went to the Ming City Wall which was also amazing! The wall has survived 600 years and many wars and invasions. I love seeing city walls because they are just so massive and contain so much history and culture. The wall is the longest city wall in China and is still intact, although does not join in all the places it used to.
The bricks that make up the wall are actually fired clay and are surprisingly light and can be picked up. They also have characters etched into both sides -- one indicating the company that made the brick, the other side the name of the person who made the brick. If the wall crumbled or fell, whoever/the company who made the brick would be held accountable and executed. Now that's quality control!
The wall also has lots of roots and even grows grass at the top, something I hadn't seen at the Xian wall. They apparently have to mow it every so often and the last time Ryan climbed the wall, he said it was past his knees.
After wandering around on the top of the wall and walking near Xuanwu lake, I headed back to the hostel to meet up with Charlie and Max to have some celebratory drinks. Then we met up with our friend Nate's girlfriend's friend and little sister for dinner at a traditional Nanjing-style restaurant in the heart of town. It was really delicious and we had some great food, including an excellent fried fish, shrimp and my first real 臭豆腐, or stinky tofu. We also consumed copious amounts of Qingdao beer and had a very, very funny night.
After dinner we headed out to Castle bar to meet up with Ryan and his friends from Nanjing University who had just ended their final exams. There were a ton of students, both from the Johns Hopkins program and from the main Nanjing programs. It was fun to be with college and post-college kids that were doing the whole abroad thing again.
The next day we emerged from the hostel and went to the Nanjing Massacre Museum. It is a huge complex and an interesting museum, albeit kind of boring just because of how the Chinese design their museums. The Nanjing Massacre was when the Japanese invaded the city and killed approximately 300,000 Chinese men, women and children in six weeks in 1937.
I just find it a shame that in America our World War II history is so Europe-centric that many are unaware of the atrocities that occurred in Asia. There are even still problems as a result of the Japanese invasions as there are problems in Europe because of the Nazis.
So after this uplifting afternoon, we came back to eat dinner and hang out with some new friends we had met at the hostel for dinner and night out. Overall, it was a great weekend with some good new friends and great old friends that definitely contribute to my happiness in China.
(post to be continued...)
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