Our weekend trip to Nanjing got off to a great start with a leisurely breakfast at the station. We hadn't yet spotted our train on the departures board but we were not too concerned as this had been the case when we went by train before. When, with 15 minutes to departure, we still couldn't see our train we decided to go to the help desk. The woman was very helpful in telling us that we were in the wrong station and that we'd never get accross Shanghai in time to catch our train! However, this must be a common problem as she proceeded to exchange our ticket for ones that did go from this station!!
The journey to Nanjing was interesting once we'd left the city and we got up to high speeds which pleased the boys. All was going well until William announced to the whole carridge that he needed to visit the loo! This was my worst nightmare and armed with tissue and baby wipes Sam nervously took him to the train toilet. I was shouting instructions along the lines of touch nothing! They both emerged smiling so Oliver and I decided to brave the loos. It was a pleasant surprise. They were the cleanest I've ever been in!
After checking in to our hotel we headed out to find lunch, we found a great restaurant that not only served great food but offered entertainment for Oliver and William by serving the entire duck!
We then headed to the city wall. Nanjing boasts the largest city wall in the world which is predominantly Ming Dynasty with some modern touches! All of us enjoyed looking at the four gate section with caves where the soldiers used to hide. At any one time 3000 soldiers could be stationed there. Oliver enjoyed playing the role of the guard and keeping us all in the caves!
Some leftover new year decorations had been left on top of the wall and were quite erie with the wind blowing through them.
On the way back along the wall we ran in to a tour group who decided that two small boys were a better photo opportunity than the largest city wall in the world!!
Worn out from sightseeing we returned to our hotel for a swim and to make the most of the complimentary drinks and canepes. William had the shock of his life when he dipped his finger in the wasabi paste!
Sam and I put the boys to bed and then sat outside our door with some snacks and a bottle of wine. After about an hour and a half the manager and two others cane to move us along! I think we were an unorthorised gathering!
The following day it was with trepidation that we set off to a scenic area to take a chair lift up a mountain. Health and safety is a bit suspect in China but all looked good so we set off. The views were fantastic and a highlight was a huge Buddha carved from the rock.
The top of the mountain seemed to be an exercise haven! We spotted one old lady who gave us a demonstration of her flexibility!!
One claim to fame of Nanjing is that it contains the tomb of the only emperor to be buried outside of Beijing. We were quite excited about seeing it and set off along the Sacred Way. The surrounding area was beautiful. The sun was out and the plum trees were all in blossom.
The Sacred way was lined with ancient, huge stone animals which William and Oliver loved climbing on (when in China...!). We didn't actually find the tomb, the area was huge, the map not clear and there was a large sign informing us that most monuments had gone!
We were very frustrated in our attempts to find a good place for lunch. Sam had read about a restaurant where the walls were covered in Chairman Mao memorabillia, the staff dressed as revolutionary soldiers and the food was good! We headed off only to find the menu in Chinese with no pictures! We attempted to tell the waitress in our limited Chinese what we liked. She also invited us to have a good look at the other diner's food and a school boy tried out his limited English! However, we couldn't be sure that it wasn't going to be too spicy for William and Oliver so after providing the days entertainment we went in search of the second place we had read about, a dumpling and noodle shack. Unfortunatly, Chinese lunch hour had passed and the girl serving couldn't comprehend that we might want more than a snack - apparently four dumplings constitute a snack! That was not going to be enough so again we had to leave and despite our best efforts at trying to sample some local food we ended up in a western restaurant!
In the afternoon we headed to the market to buy some tat! We stumbled accross a great food market setting up and decided that Sam would head back later to get our supper.
Oliver and William again tucked in to the canepes and whilst I put them to bed Sam went out to get our feast! Learning from our mistakes of the night before we had our supper in a dimly lit corner of the room whilst William and Oliver slept.
Nanjing was the capital of China during the Second World War. During the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s Nanjingwas occupied in 1937. The Chinese government fled leaving untrained soldiers to guard the city. During the following six weeks the citizens of Nanjing were subjected to horrific treatment at the hands of the Japanese soldiers. By the end of the six weeks over 300,000 people had been murdered, including young children. I was planning on going to the museum dedicated to this, however when I got there, there was a huge queue! I think it is the largest queue I've ever seen. We would still like to visit so are planning on another trip!
At breakfast on the last day we tucked in to the Chinese section of the buffet after the full English!
Getting our train on the way home was straightforward and we made sure we went to the right station! We had dejavu on the way home when William decided to visit the train loo again!
