Halfway point of our tour found us traveling by bus to Nanjing, once known as ‘a home of emperors and kings.’ We met up with our tour guide, Shane and he brought us to our first stop, a freshwater pearl factory.
Did you know that unlike regular pearls, many freshwater pearls can be harvested from one mussel? Unlike the usual one pearl in an oyster.
Afterwards, we drove to nearby Mount Zijin where Dr Sun Yat Sen’s Mausoleum is located. However, being that it’s Monday, the attraction was closed.
Sidebar: why would the tour operator schedule us to go the mausoleum on this day, if they knew that it would not be opened? Such bad planning. The park with its hundreds of sycamore trees was beautiful though. The tree tops were cut and shaped while it was growing in order to make it have that umbrella effect today.
Also, it wasn’t a total loss as there were so many delightful school children also there on a field trip. And I got to photograph a few of their shiny, happy faces.
I’ve been utterly charmed by the kids I’ve seen on this trip. They’re my favourite subjects to shoot.
We headed back into the city and attempted to walk on the double-decker Nanjing River Bridge, which crosses the Yangtze River. But with so many speeding scooters on the narrow pedestrian sidewalk, Shane thought it might be too dangerous to attempt.
Oh, and did I mention that in China, it is the pedestrians who must yield to scooters, buses, cars and trucks?
Because there was heavy construction everywhere, due to building a new university, the traffic was absolutely horrendous. I’m afraid Nanjing didn’t leave a good impression on me, as we ending up on the bus more than out walking around and seeing the sights. Plus the botched attempt to see the famous bridge and the mausoleum.
It was redeemed somewhat when we were taken to the main shopping area, the Confucius Temple Bazaar and given an hour on our own. Unfortunately, an hour was not nearly enough as there were so many cafes and retail shops. I even had to press for a few more minutes, so that I can check out the dragon wall on the other side of the Qin Huai River. All that wasted time at the bridge could have been given to us here. Boo.
There is not enough free time on this trip. I wonder if this is commonplace on all tours? I’m looking forward to being on my own schedule in Chengdu and Shanghai.
View more photos of my trip on my Flickr album.
No Comments